Chapter 1 Looking Back

Looking at the surprised faces, Mazzarri repeated, "Yes, I apologize to you guys. I must apologize to you. Everyone knows that our tactic for this game was counter-attacking defense, and we prepared a lot for this, studied the opponent's tactics, and showed you their game videos many times. We've been training against them all this time... But on the field, our performance was terrible. Do you want to know why?"

The group of people looked at the head coach with confusion.

Professional football has a clear division of labor. Players are only responsible for playing, while the head coach is responsible for telling them how to play. Therefore, even if some players have superb skills, they may not think about so many things. They only listen to the head coach's arrangements.

"I ask you, what do you think of the city of Napoli?"

The head coach didn't talk about tactics or strategies, but instead brought up local customs? Viviani could only worry secretly, not daring to remind him aloud. After all, the head coach was the most important person in the locker room, possessing absolute authority. Assistant coaches? They were nothing here, only having some status on the training ground.

Many head coaches have all sorts of quirks. For example, the famous Argentine head coach Bianchi forbade his assistant coach from listening to his speeches to the team in the locker room. So, when his team played before a match, the assistant coach and others were all kicked out, leaving only him, the head coach, facing more than a dozen players preparing to take the field.

But no one would express dissatisfaction with this, because the head coach had this power. In the locker room, a place so sacred and full of superstition, everyone understood that the head coach would have some of his own quirks.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what the head coach was up to. No one dared to answer.

Mazzarri directly called out a name.

"Hero, you tell us."

Chen Yingxiong was lively and carefree, and nothing seemed to make him feel restrained. He was suitable to be the one to step forward.

"Uh, the people here are very enthusiastic and open, and of course, also very cunning... The traffic isn't very good, it's very chaotic, but the city scenery is very beautiful..." Chen Yingxiong scratched his head and replied. In fact, he didn't know why the head coach was asking these questions, but he still expressed his impressions of the city. "Oh, right, the people here are also very, very passionate!" He thought of the fan riots that had happened because of his words, which led them to confront the police in the streets, overturn police cars, throw stones, and charge the police barricades...

If they weren't passionate, they wouldn't be able to do something like that.

Mazzarri nodded, very satisfied with Chen Yingxiong's answer. "Hero is right, guys. Naples is a city full of passion. Therefore, Napoli's football should also be full of passion!"

He opened his arms, as if to embrace this passion.

"But I made a mistake. I asked you to cautiously maneuver around your opponents, but clearly, this isn't Napoli's football, and this isn't the football you're used to. So I have to apologize to you. The terrible situation in the first half isn't your responsibility, but the responsibility of me, the head coach."

Mazzarri spoke very sincerely, not like he was giving an impromptu speech to inspire the players' fighting spirit—that kind of thing could also have miraculous effects, but after using it a few more times, the players would develop immunity. Today's players aren't like those ignorant, simple, big, and rough guys from decades ago, each one of them is shrewd.

"But I think this may be an opportunity, an opportunity to reshape our Napoli's style and spirit. Guys, although we got fourth place in the league last season, I want to say that there was a lot of luck involved, it was a fluke. It's rare for something like that to happen even once, and it's wishful thinking to expect it to happen more often. There's no such thing as a free lunch in the world. We need something to make our victory justified... That thing is, our spirit and style!"

"Naples is a warm and passionate city, and the football here, like its fans, should be the same. This is the football that the people of Naples want to see, and it's also the football that best suits Naples. Since the Maradona era, we've been like this, but after a trip to Serie C, we seem to have forgotten it. Now, I want to face Liverpool in the first Champions League group match after our rebirth, this is an excellent opportunity. Let us find what we once lost, guys! The Napoli of the Maradona era was a team that dominated all over Europe, they were afraid of no one, and that's why you have the Napoli name that you are so proud of today!"

The more Mazzarri spoke, the more excited he became, and in the end, he spoke with impassioned fervor.

Even Chen Yingxiong was infected by his emotions and words, and he lowered his head and thought about some things. He had previously said that if Napoli wanted to rebuild its glory, it had to completely break free of Maradona's shadow, but now it seemed that he had been abrupt... Because some things you can't get rid of no matter what, those things have been passed down from that era, and they have long had nothing to do with Maradona himself. They have become something that this club, this team, is proud of, and people call it "tradition."

The tradition of Naples...

Chen Yingxiong really hadn't thought about this before. He knew very little about Napoli before, limited to knowing that this team had Maradona playing for them, and was famous because of it. As for other things, he knew nothing about them.

That's why he would say such things.

Why were there so many fans against him, even those with mild attitudes? Perhaps it was because he had inadvertently offended not Maradona, but the name of Naples...

It is said that Maradona is a god in the hearts of the people of Naples, but even for this god, the people of Naples do not always obey. One thing can prove this—there have always been rumors that, because of Maradona, Naples betrayed its country during the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Italy, collectively cheering for the Argentine team. This matter has been widely spread and is also regarded as a major proof that Maradona is the true god of Naples.

But this is a rumor.

The truth is—when the semi-final between Argentina and Italy was decided to be held in Naples, Maradona relied on his huge popularity in Naples to call on the Napoli fans to cheer for Argentina during the match instead of cheering for Italy.

But what was the result? During the match, the Napoli fans gave their loudest boos to this superstar they revered as a god.

Yes, a very spectacular scene, just like the treatment Chen Yingxiong had just enjoyed when he played at Napoli's home stadium.

These people love Maradona, but they love Naples even more.

—These things were all things that Chen Yingxiong heard and saw little by little after joining Napoli and interacting more with the people here, which formed his impression of Naples.

Mazzarri's impassioned voice still echoed in the locker room, impacting everyone's eardrums and hearts. Some players who had deep feelings for this team had even clenched their fists, muttering something in their mouths, their facial muscles distorted by excitement and agitation.

"We are not afraid of Liverpool, because we are Napoli, even if this is at Anfield, in their hearts' sacred place, we are not afraid of them! Now, we have returned to the European arena, we must revive the Napoli name, and let the whole of Europe know—"

Mazzarri paused here, he took a deep breath.

"We're back! Napoli is back!"

※※※

When Chen Yingxiong walked towards the field again from the player tunnel, he saw the metal plaque hanging above the visiting team's tunnel door again.

"This is Anfield!"

It was as if Liverpool's legendary coach Shankly was widening his eyes and demonstrating to every opponent walking from here towards the field.

That old man did this with that thought in mind. He wanted every one of Liverpool's opponents to know how different this stadium was, and how different their opponents were.

It is said that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth, and this sentence has been repeated tens of thousands of times, so naturally there is also a certain psychological suggestion. When many teams come to this stadium, just seeing this sentence will make their breath stagnate, as if they really feel the majesty of the great Red Army.

This has become a legend.

After the legend was magnified, it in turn promoted Liverpool's home win rate. Many teams regard this as a hellish stadium. Charlton has only won once in this stadium in the past fifty years, and Newcastle has only tasted sweetness twice in the past sixty years when visiting Anfield.

Chen Yingxiong suddenly stopped.

Anfield Stadium is an old stadium, and the player tunnel is not wide, but very narrow. Chen Yingxiong was tall and burly, and he was walking in the front, so when he stopped, his teammates were blocked behind him. Everyone couldn't move, like a traffic jam, blocked here.

Everyone was very strange, turning their attention to Chen Yingxiong.

They saw Chen Yingxiong looking up at the words on the metal sign.

Captain Paolo Cannavaro squeezed to the front and patted Chen Yingxiong: "Why aren't you moving, Hero?"

Chen Yingxiong raised his hand and pointed to the metal plaque.

"This is Anfield," he said to everyone.

But everyone knew this sentence, he wasn't the only one who could speak English, and besides, this sentence was so famous, how could they not know it?

Chen Yingxiong stretched out his arm, and then with a "slap," his palm pressed against the plaque.

"And we are Napoli!"

He said, raising his head.

Hello, Anfield, Napoli has come to visit!