Chapter 253: Devil's Preseason Training

All of Napoli's players found themselves utterly drained, having severely underestimated the intensity of the summer training camp.

Whether it was Callejon and Parejo, the former Real Madrid players, or those who had played for the team last season, everyone was aware that the level of training under Gao Shen was always demanding. Each session lasted 90 minutes, packed with exercises designed to squeeze out every last drop of their energy.

They had benefited from such rigorous training before, but this time, it was different.

The intensity was even higher.

More importantly, what had once been two training sessions per day had now increased to three. This new schedule felt like a life-draining rhythm.

Buenaventura, acting like a merciless taskmaster, even told the players that the team's running distance this season would be significantly greater than before. Even a target man like Pelle would have to cover more than ten kilometers per game.

And as for the full-backs and midfielders? They were expected to run eleven or twelve kilometers, if not more.

To meet these goals, the team needed to build sufficient physical reserves during the preseason training camp. That's why the players were enduring this "devil's training camp," leaving many of them feeling utterly defeated and, in some cases, even hopeless.

"How comfortable your vacation was will determine how painful this is now!" Buenaventura laughed with a wicked grin.

With three training sessions each day, the focus wasn't just on building endurance. There was also extensive ball work.

For instance, before each session, the players would engage in a round of circle drills commonly known as "monkey in the middle." This is a familiar exercise in many top clubs, particularly at Barcelona and the Dutch national team.

Gao Shen had often used it at Real Madrid, not just for training purposes but also to lighten the mood.

Callejon and Parejo thought they were familiar with the drill, but when they joined Napoli's version, they quickly realized it was at a different level compared to what they had experienced at Real Madrid.

Napoli's version of the circle drill featured two players in the middle attempting to intercept passes between eight others on the outside. This drill was designed to improve ball control in tight spaces and teach players how to maintain effective triangular positioning at all times.

The players in the middle would practice pressing, blocking passing lanes, and predicting their opponents' moves all replicating real in-game scenarios.

Though the drill seemed simple, its effects were profound. It was especially useful for teams that relied on pressing and short-passing games. The Dutch national team, Ajax, Barcelona, and any team coached by Louis van Gaal all relied heavily on similar drills.

Moreover, the difficulty and purpose of the drill could be adjusted by changing the number of participants, such as reducing the outer circle to five or six players or increasing the number of defenders in the middle. This flexibility made the drill invaluable.

However, Gao Shen had raised the difficulty even further, turning what was once a fun game into a serious training exercise.

He enforced a rule that players could only use one touch and could only use a specific foot for either passing or receiving.

This made the drill significantly harder.

Additionally, there was a punishment mechanism in place, so while the drill was still fun, it came with high-intensity training and valuable skill-building.

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As Spanish players, Callejon and Parejo were no strangers to the circle drill, but they were shocked to see how well Napoli's players executed it. Led by Rakitic, Biglia, and others, the team moved the ball quickly, zipping it back and forth as if it were a bullet.

Vidal and David Luiz, the two players in the middle, were giving their all to intercept the ball. They nearly succeeded several times, shouting and laughing as they chased it down.

Seeing this, Callejon and Parejo quickly put away their arrogance.

The level of skill on display, especially in this particular drill, was something even Real Madrid had not achieved.

Of course, the Naples players were well-versed in this training, but it also demonstrated that their mastery of passing and movement on the field wasn't a coincidence it was a product of hard work and dedication.

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In addition to the circle drill, there was shadow training designed to practice pressing as a team, as well as targeted training exercises like the seven-on-four group confrontation drill.

Although it was called seven-on-four, it was effectively a four-on-four drill with three neutral players who would join whichever team had possession. The primary goal was to improve players' off-the-ball movement.

These drills were all brought to Napoli by Gao Shen last season and had been refined over time to suit the team's needs. After seeing the positive results, the coaching staff continued to fine-tune and increase the difficulty to maximize the players' training benefits.

At the end of each training day, players would receive detailed reports analyzing their performance. These reports included individual assessments as well as team evaluations, highlighting both positive actions and mistakes.

For example, a forward's report might analyze why they missed a shot in training, breaking down what went wrong and how it could be improved.

This level of analysis was made possible by Napoli's investment in modernizing their facilities.

Fort Volturno's training center, though limited in size, underwent renovations and upgrades over the summer. Cameras were installed all around the training pitches, with every session being recorded and sent in real-time to Lucas's analysis department. There, the data was promptly processed and summarized.

Once the players received their reports, they were encouraged to reflect on their mistakes, think about why they had occurred, and consider how they could be corrected and avoided in the future.

Before the following day's training session, the coaches would meet with individual players to discuss their reports, offering suggestions and solutions to help them improve.

If a player had a recurring issue, or if there was a common problem among the squad, the coaching staff would organize additional, targeted training sessions to address it.

This level of attention to detail was not only unique in Serie A but also advanced compared to most European football clubs.

The financial investment wasn't particularly large. What was key was the introduction of advanced technology and the club's emphasis on hiring skilled analysts.

Lucas's two assistants had been carefully selected by Gao Shen, Lucas, and the club. Though they were new to the role, they showed great potential.

And this was something the outside world didn't know about.

However, the players at Castel Volturno were experiencing it firsthand. They found the detailed analysis reports both novel and incredibly beneficial. It gave them clearer insights into their own performance and the team's weaknesses.

This process helped every player grow.

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Since last season, Gao Shen had become increasingly aware of the importance of managing players' psychological states.

After all, football is a human game.

Benítez once said that if he had eleven robots, he could win every match.

The reason was simple robots don't experience emotions, they don't have mood swings, and they remain 100% focused at all times.

While training can address many aspects of a player's game, there are some things it can't control, like mood swings.

This is especially true for younger players.

A simple, universally acknowledged example is that after a team scores a goal, there's a higher probability that another goal will be scored within the next ten minutes.

This is because players' emotions fluctuate dramatically after a goal.

Last season, Gao Shen had noticed a fascinating trend: players' emotions would rise and fall depending on the flow of the game. When things were going well, they'd become overly excited sometimes to the point of losing focus. But when things took a turn for the worse, they'd get discouraged, complain about their teammates, or even feel defeated.

This was natural.

It's not just young players who experience this adults do too. It's almost impossible to avoid such emotional highs and lows.

However, in high-level football, those emotional fluctuations could lead to mistakes, which in turn could lead to goals being conceded.

Too much excitement could cause errors. Too much negativity could do the same.

So, Gao Shen had been thinking: was there a way to regulate players' emotions, to keep them within a reasonable range so that they wouldn't get too carried away or too downhearted?

To address this, Napoli hired a renowned Italian sports psychologist. He believed that controlling emotions required ongoing psychological development and training, helping players build mental resilience.

However, it was still unclear how effective this approach would be. It was a new area for exploration.

At the very least, no other team in European football was experimenting with this yet.

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Whether it was the grueling physical training, high-level ball work, tactical analysis, or psychological development, all of it served one purpose: to push the team to an even higher level of performance on the field.

But before the season could begin, every player had to endure this hellish preseason training.

With three sessions a day, each 90 minutes long, and additional drills throughout, the players' schedules were packed. By the end of each day, they were completely drained, both physically and mentally.

As Cannavaro joked in the locker room, "By the time I get home, I don't even have the energy to applaud my wife!"

It wasn't surprising.

By the time they left the training ground each day, most players were practically collapsing.

But it was in these harsh conditions that they continued to fine-tune their fitness, recover, and grow stronger.

After two weeks of brutal training at Fort Volturno, the team was finally ready to begin their intensive summer warm-up matches.

********

I'm working on translating a Fate ff that I found really interesting. I've read up to chapter 60, and it's pretty decent overall. I've translated some of it, but since it's a typical Chinese ff, there's a fair bit of nationalism and some aspects of the MC's powers that might feel off-putting. But don't worry, I've edited and changed most of the elements that could make it unbearable.

If you're interested, I'd love for you to check it out and help me decide whether it's worth continuing to translate, or if I should wrap it up to avoid spending time on something that might not be well-received.

Fate: Question And Answer System of Traversing Heroic Spirits

Also, please check out my One Piece: King of the World! It's a solid fic, though it doesn't have a lot of traction yet 🥲. Thanks