Chapter 1 Frustrated Rea

Rea felt helpless and even troubled by Chen Hero's performance regarding tactics.

The boss had spent a lot of money to bring him to Naples from Russia, certainly not to let him warm the bench. Moreover, this was a player the boss had personally brought in, and Rea was well aware of his affection for this player.

In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Chen Hero would definitely start in the league, occupying a main position—at least at the beginning of the league season.

However, his presence was disrupting the team's current tactics. Because of him, Lavezzi, Hamsik, and others couldn't coordinate at all. It was as if a link had suddenly broken in an otherwise smoothly running chain, abruptly halting the entire fluid process.

Last season, under Rea's leadership, Napoli played this tactic, relying on Lavezzi's flexible positioning and agile dribbling to create scoring opportunities, with Hamsik in charge of organization. Leading the front line was either Zalayeta or Roberto Sosa, a center forward with a height of 1.9 meters and excellent heading skills, to draw the opponent's defenders.

This was also why Zalayeta played in twenty-two league games but only scored four goals… because in this tactic, he wasn't the main scorer at all. The main scorer was Lavezzi!

This genius, handpicked by Maradona as capable of wearing his number ten jersey in Naples, was considered by many to be another "Maradona II"—now this saying was no longer sincerely about finding a successor for the King of Football, but had evolved into a honor similar to "World Footballer of the Year." To be called "Maradona II" meant you had extraordinary talent, outstanding potential, and unlimited prospects…

Lavezzi joined Napoli last season and quickly became the team's star player and was deeply loved by the fans. He had excellent dribbling skills and also possessed perfect explosive power and speed. His good physical condition made it difficult for opposing defenders to defend against him.

Last season, he played in thirty-five games and scored eleven goals, making him the team's top scorer.

As a result, he won the love of Napoli fans.

His performance was so outstanding that transfer rumors about him emerged. Napoli reporters had been pestering him since the second half of last season about whether he would transfer to a bigger team. For the northern powerhouses and those world-class giants, Napoli was indeed just a small team.

But Lavezzi didn't go anywhere. He stayed in Naples, which made Napoli fans like him even more.

But for Chen Hero, Lavezzi might not be considered a good forward partner. Because this extremely fast Argentine little guy played… very selfishly. He seemed particularly selfish near the penalty area. Although his crossing skills were good, he preferred to shoot and score himself.

A center forward paired with such a partner could only shed tears.

Rea also developed tactics around Lavezzi's characteristics. He clearly regarded Chen Hero as a forward with unimpressive scoring ability like Zalayeta. In his view, buying Chen Hero was to compensate for the losses to the team's lineup caused by Zalayeta's injury and Roberto Sosa's departure.

He hadn't thought about developing a new set of tactics around Chen Hero. If he did that, the entire team's year of coordination efforts would be wasted. This season, the team faced a two-pronged battle, and he had to be careful. It was impossible to overturn the entire team's tactics at this time. No matter how much Italian coaches liked change, they wouldn't play tricks at this critical juncture.

So Chen Hero was tragic…

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Chen Hero smelled danger—he seemed out of place in the new team's tactics. Everyone on this team could integrate perfectly, even Maggio, who had just joined the team, had no problem. In the 3-4-1-2 formation, Maggio had a place on the wing.

But he himself could never fit in with the whole team.

He knew where the problem lay. One reason was that his tactical understanding was not as good as his teammates. Another major reason was that in Rea's mind, the main scorer was Lavezzi, not himself.

This disappointed him.

At Zenit St. Petersburg, Chen Hero had become accustomed to being the team's main attacker, the heavy artillery for the team's sieges. His days at Zenit St. Petersburg could be described as smooth sailing, commanding wind and rain. He was the team's top scorer, and the entire team was built and operated around him. Any player who conflicted with his characteristics would be ruthlessly abandoned by Advocaat, all to create a tactical environment where he could freely and fully exert himself.

But all of this ceased to exist after he arrived at his new team, Napoli.

He was no longer the core of the attack, surrounded by stars, nor was he the coach's favorite.

Looking at it now, Advocaat really doted on Chen Hero at Zenit St. Petersburg… In the end, Chen Hero, whom he had carefully cultivated, ruthlessly abandoned him in order to pursue a bigger stage.

I really don't know what he thinks when he sees Chen Hero's current situation in Naples.

Chen Hero wanted to change his situation. He planned to use the same trick he used at Zenit St. Petersburg—go directly to the coach.

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In the coach's office, Rea was face-to-face with Chen Hero. This was the first time he had spoken to this player alone in the dozen days since he joined the team.

Standing next to Chen Hero was the translator and language teacher the club had hired for him, a local Neapolitan—Francesco Antonini.

He was translating for Rea a long string of words that Chen Hero had just rattled off.

“…I hope to be the main attacker in the team. I am confident in my scoring ability, and I believe I have the ability to conquer cities and seize fortresses for the team. As long as you, coach, develop tactics around me, I will definitely not let you down. I was able to score fifty-eight goals in fifty league games at Zenit St. Petersburg, and that has a lot to do with tactics…”

After all, the translator was not Chen Hero himself, and he was unable to reproduce the momentum of Chen Hero's words at all. But that didn't matter, Rea only needed to know what Chen Hero meant by coming to him.

Chen Hero's meaning was that he wanted him to be the core of the attack, responsible for scoring goals, not responsible for drawing defenses and providing cover. He wasn't good at the latter, so he didn't do it well enough. But if he was allowed to score, he believed he could do much better than Lavezzi—although he didn't say it that directly, Rea felt that was what he meant.

Rea's understanding of Chen Hero's scoring ability came entirely from a few UEFA Cup match videos and statistics, such as the example Chen Hero gave of scoring fifty-eight goals in fifty league games, and scoring twelve goals in a single UEFA Cup season… These.

But he still lacked the most direct understanding.

There was randomness in competitions like the UEFA Cup. Chen Hero was able to perform a hat-trick against Bayern Munich, but what Rea saw was that he scored a goal in the fourth minute, and then Bayern Munich collapsed and completely lost their fighting spirit, so he was able to easily perform a hat-trick.

Moreover, even if Chen Hero was really good at scoring goals, and his scoring ability was extremely superb. But he was a center forward, his dribbling and ball control were not worth mentioning, and he needed support from the midfield and defense. If he were to be the main attacker, it would mean that the team's tactics would have to be changed, and everyone would have to abandon the way they were already familiar with and re-practice a new tactic with Chen Hero as the core, re-learn, re-adapt, and re-coordinate. Rea felt that the price was too high while having to play in both the UEFA Cup and the league. Because once the team's performance fluctuated, the one who would be unlucky would definitely not be Chen Hero, the "favorite general" personally brought in by the boss, but himself, the coach.

In Italy, coaches are always habitually treated as scapegoats, taking the blame.

Rea was very clear that if the team's performance was affected because he wanted Chen Hero to be the core, he would not be able to continue staying in Naples.

So would he jeopardize his career prospects for a new player who had just arrived?

The answer was no.

After listening to Antonini's translation, Rea shook his head: "It is impossible for me to modify the team's tactics at this time, overturn them and start over, just for you alone, Hero."

After listening to Antonini's translation, the disappointment on Chen Hero's face was obvious.

He had repeatedly gone directly to Advocaat at Zenit St. Petersburg to make suggestions, and all of them were successful. Even if he went to nightclubs, he could be saved after talking to the coach face to face.

So he always felt that anything could be solved by going directly to the coach, as long as we sat down and talked properly. We persuade people with reason.

Who would have thought that this time he had spoken for so long, wasting a lot of saliva, but Rea was unmoved and did not listen at all!

A simple sentence: "That's impossible" blocked Chen Hero's mouth.

There was no way to talk about it, because even the preconditions for the conversation did not exist.

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After coming out of Rea's office, Chen Hero frowned. He was considering what he should do now.

If Rea didn't change his tactics, then he would only have two options—either change himself to adapt to Rea's tactics, or seek a transfer.

Letting himself be a tactical center forward, doing the work for others? Chen Hero was firmly against it. Passing the ball to teammates occasionally was fine, but he could never accept being a full-time assistant, playing a covering and supporting role!

Why did he want to be a forward in the first place? Wasn't it because he liked the feeling of scoring goals? Did he like the highlight moments when thousands of fans shouted his name after he scored? If he couldn't do that, why should he suffer here?

Did he really have to seek a transfer?

But he had only been here for a dozen days. Was he really going to come to Naples as a star, but leave with his tail between his legs as a failure, covered in dirt?

Chen Hero pondered bitterly in the car.

His bodyguard and driver, Christine Cabrera, glanced at her protectee in the rearview mirror.

In the past, this person would always chat with her in very broken Italian in the car, saying it was to practice his spoken language.

Today, he didn't say a word, which was really strange.

But she was just a bodyguard. Although she held four positions, she did not have the job of "psychologist." She was only responsible for the personal safety of her employer, but did not care about her employer's inner distress.

So she only glanced at him, then withdrew her gaze and drove quietly.

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