Chapter 276 Adjusting

These past few days, Mazzarri and his coaching staff had been focused on adjusting the team's condition. Considering that the Champions League matches were all held in the evening, he even arranged a ninety-minute intra-squad match one night to get the players used to the game time, so they could be in top form when the time came.

The coaching staff unanimously believed that Napoli's 2:1 victory over Inter Milan at home had almost pushed them to the brink of elimination because they were too slow to get into the game at home.

Especially Chen Hero, who didn't score until the second half. If he could have scored in the first half, establishing Napoli's lead early, the match would have been a different story.

In fact, even in the second leg, Chen Hero's scoring form didn't arrive until the second half. In the first half, he only assisted his teammates in scoring two goals, but he didn't show his own prowess.

Therefore, Chen Hero's condition had to be maximized in this game.

To this end, Mazzarri decided to have a talk with Chen Hero.

He even felt that this would probably be the last time he would talk to Chen Hero alone as the coach of Napoli.

Since joining Napoli, he had talked to many players individually, and more than once, but he had talked to Chen Hero the least. Because he had figured out Chen Hero's temperament—he was actually a very opinionated person, a person with such ambition, how could he not be?

So the best way to manage Chen Hero was to keep to oneself. As long as you could score goals, he wouldn't care what absurd things you did, and even had to support you sometimes. So when Chen Hero went crazy at the Champions League awards ceremony, saying that he wanted to defend his top scorer title while playing six fewer group stage games, Mazzarri immediately went crazy as well, expressing his support for Chen Hero, and saying that in terms of scoring ability alone, Chen Hero was streets ahead of Messi.

The result of doing so was that Chen Hero scored like crazy, proving that Mazzarri wasn't lying with his actions.

The bottom line was that Chen Hero was still like a child, he had to be coaxed and befriended, not opposed.

※※※

Mazzarri's one-on-one talk with Chen Hero took place on the night before the game, after the tactical meeting. He kept Chen Hero behind.

The two of them sat in the conference room provided by the hotel. The conference room, which had previously been crowded with more than twenty people, suddenly seemed a bit empty, and only then could people notice that it was actually quite a large place.

Mazzarri crossed his arms and casually sat on the table, while Chen Hero sat in his previous seat. Because Mazzarri had asked him to stay before announcing the dissolution, he hadn't gotten up.

"Well, I think we should have a talk alone like this, Hero," Mazzarri said.

"Actually, I used to like chatting with the head coach alone, sir, ha!" Chen Hero couldn't help but laugh when he thought of when he had just become a professional player. He was so naive back then... Of course, he wasn't much better now, but he didn't realize it himself.

"If nothing else happens, Hero... Are you leaving the team after this season?" Mazzarri finally said it.

He had known for a long time that Chen Hero might leave the team, but he had never said it to Chen Hero. Since he had already greeted the boss, what was the point of him saying it again?

Chen Hero wasn't surprised either. It would be strange if the head coach didn't know about such a big thing.

He nodded, admitting it.

He had promised De Laurentiis that he would win at least one championship for the team as a way of repaying their kindness in discovering him, so that he wouldn't appear ungrateful. Judging from the current situation, the Champions League and league titles were still uncertain.

Napoli faced Manchester United in the Champions League semi-finals, and there were still two games to go before the final. Even if they made it to the final, it didn't mean they could win the championship. Getting into the final wasn't that easy. So among the four teams, the odds given by the bookmakers for Napoli to win the championship were the lowest. Whether it was in Europe or Asia, bookmakers all over the world were not optimistic about Napoli winning the championship. For them, reaching the Champions League semi-finals was already a remarkable achievement.

Moreover, the opponents they had encountered along the way weren't that strong. Lyon wasn't strong to begin with, and Inter Milan was the defending champion, but after two changes of coach, Leonardo's coaching level was also questioned. With internal and external troubles, how much combat power could they have left?

Manchester United, on the other hand, was a formidable opponent. Rooney was in good form this season, and the old coach Ferguson was experienced, and the team's lineup was stable. It wouldn't be easy for Napoli to win.

So Napoli's chances of winning the Champions League were still up in the air.

As for the league title, they had never shaken off AC Milan, and the two sides were only two points apart, with AC Milan closely behind. This would lead to Napoli spending a lot of energy on both fronts at the same time, and in the end, it might lead to a complete collapse.

In the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-final held on April 21, AC Milan was held to a 2:2 draw by Palermo at home, and their hopes of reaching the final were slim. Only the domestic league title was something that AC Milan still had a good chance of competing for, so AC Milan was now chasing after them like they had been injected with chicken blood, clinging on tightly. Allegri's strategy was also easy to guess, which was to put pressure on the leaders and drag down the inexperienced Napoli.

Everyone knew that the pressure on leaders in long-distance running and marathons was very great, especially those who had been leading for a long time. When they were about to reach the finish line, if they found that they had not shaken off the pursuers, they would be physically and mentally exhausted, and their legs would be weak...

Therefore, the Italian media were promoting Napoli, focusing on Chen Hero's crazy scoring momentum, and not mentioning Napoli's possible league title. AC Milan had more experience in fighting for the league title...

Therefore, the media weren't too optimistic about Napoli being able to win the championship in the end.

In other words, none of the championships he had promised had materialized yet, but he still nodded. The above were all the views of the media, bookmakers, and ordinary people. He, Chen Hero, was not an ordinary person, and his views were different from those of mortals.

He didn't care about the bookmakers' odds, he just wanted to get into the final. If the opponent in the final was Barcelona, then it would be simple. Winning the championship and revenge would come together, which would save trouble. If the opponent in the final was Real Madrid... he could only win one championship, and he didn't know when he would have to wait for revenge.

Yes, that was what he thought. When he promised De Laurentiis to win at least one championship in exchange for his freedom to leave the team, he had already thought about it. The league title was just a bonus. It would be good to have it, but it didn't matter if he didn't. Why did he have such an idea? Because...

He knew that Napoli had won the Serie A title in the past, and twice at that. So he felt that Napoli shouldn't care much about this league title.

On the other hand, no matter how strong Napoli was in the Maradona era, they were never able to achieve the goal of winning the Champions League. If he could do it, wouldn't that prove that he was stronger than Maradona?

His idea might be sneered at by many people. But that was his logic.

If I do what you, Maradona, didn't do, then I'm stronger than you, Maradona!

In his opinion, the Champions League title was destined to belong to Napoli.

This could also be considered a farewell gift he was giving to Napoli.

※※※

"But I heard you promised the boss that you would win a championship before leaving..."

"I want to win the Champions League," Chen Hero said.

"How confident are you?"

"Not at all." Chen Hero spread out his hands. "But I'll try my best. You always have to try to know how confident you are, right, sir?"

Mazzarri nodded. Chen Hero was right.

People who fail may have many reasons for failing, but people who succeed always have the same characteristics. Mazzarri believed that one of the characteristics of success was to dare to take risks and dare to try. On this point, he and Chen Hero shared the same view—how do you know if it will work if you don't try?

"I'm very happy that you have this idea, Hero," Mazzarri said after nodding.

It would be foolish to directly tell Chen Hero that he wasn't satisfied with his slow start and only scoring in the second half of the last two games. Offending Hero and causing discord between the coach and the players before a big battle would be disastrous.

He was just here to understand Chen Hero's thoughts. If Chen Hero's desire to fight and win was very strong, then it meant that his condition wasn't a problem, and he just needed to knock on him a little bit, of course, the knocking had to be light.

"Manchester United is a very strong opponent," he said.

This was a knock, meaning Hero, the opponent is very strong, you must take it seriously, it's best to score one for me within the first twenty-five seconds.

Chen Hero punched his palm: "To be honest, sir, I can't wait for the game to start. I watched both games in the group stage, and I've wanted to play against Manchester United for a long time!"

Mazzarri's face was filled with smiles, and they were genuine. With Chen Hero saying this, there was basically no need to doubt his condition in the game against Manchester United.

"Very good, Hero. Now go and get some rest. I hope that when you leave, you can really bring a championship trophy to Napoli, although even then, I wouldn't want you to leave the team," Mazzarri said sincerely. He liked championships, but after seeing Chen Hero's crazy performance this season, he liked Chen Hero even more.

To trade Chen Hero for a championship, he really didn't know what De Laurentiis was thinking. He had won the championship, but only one. If I had Chen Hero, I could get you more championships, boss!

※※※

ps, there will be an update tomorrow, please vote for me~~