Monday, September 9th, 2022
Bortolotti Training Complex
9:00 AM
The squad gathered for recovery training exactly as scheduled, everyone moving slower than usual as Sunday’s rest day hadn’t quite eliminated the fatigue from Saturday’s ninety minutes, and the morning air felt crisp as players filed onto the training pitch in small groups.
Demien arrived with Højlund, the Danish striker having picked him up from his apartnt that morning, and the mont they stepped out of the car several teammates called out greetings.
"There he is!" Lookman shouted from near the equipnt shed. "Mr. Five Goal Involvents!"
"Shut up," Demien replied, but he was grinning.
Tolói walked past and ruffled his hair without breaking stride. "Good weekend, ragazzo?"
"Not bad."
The recovery session was deliberately light—stretching routines, foam rolling, light jogging around the periter of the pitch to keep muscles loose without straining them, and the coaching staff monitored everyone carefully to ensure nobody pushed too hard when rest was what bodies actually needed.
After thirty minutes of stretching, the squad broke into small groups for low-intensity possession work—rondos with minimal pressure, just keeping the ball moving and maintaining touch without competitive intensity.
Demien ended up in a circle with Malinovskyi, Pasalic, Muriel, and Boga, and they passed the ball around casually while keeping the intensity low.
"Five goals involved," Muriel said after a few passes, shaking his head. "You made it look easy, kid."
"Cremonese made it easy," Demien replied.
Boga laughed. "You scored a free-kick from twenty-five yards. That’s not Cremonese making it easy."
The ball moved around the circle without any real pressure, just light touches to keep everyone’s feet sharp, and the conversation drifted naturally between Saturday’s match and what was coming next week.
The session ended at 10:30 AM, and as players dispersed toward the changing rooms one of Gasperini’s assistants called out across the pitch.
"Everyone back at two o’clock! Napoli eting!"
A few groans went up from players who’d hoped for a full day off, but nobody complained seriously because tactical prep for matches like Napoli required ti.
12:45 PM -
Demien grabbed lunch at a small trattoria near the training complex—pasta carbonara, grilled chicken, mineral water—and he ate alone at a corner table while his phone stayed face-down beside his plate.
He finished his al in twenty minutes, paid, and drove back to the training complex for the afternoon tactical session.
2:00 PM -
The entire first-team squad gathered in the analysis room—a modern space with comfortable theater-style seating, a massive projection screen at the front, and tablets distributed to each player for individual note-taking—and Gasperini stood at the front with his laptop connected to the display.
"Napoli," he began without preamble, and the word hung in the air with weight because everyone knew what that ant.
The screen lit up with Napoli’s 4-3-3 formation and player nas filled each position: ret in goal, Di Lorenzo and Mário Rui at fullback, Kim Min-jae and Rrahmani at center-back, Anguissa and Lobotka as the double pivot with Zielinski ahead of them, and the front three of Politano, Osimhen, and Kvaratskhelia.
"They’re top of the table for a reason," Gasperini continued, his voice asured. "Spalletti has them playing fast, direct football with exceptional individual quality across the pitch. We’ll face different challenges this week compared to Cremonese—Napoli press aggressively, they transition quickly, and they punish mistakes."
He clicked to the next slide showing Napoli’s pressing structure.
"When we build from the back, their front three will press imdiately if they sense hesitation. Osimhen closes the center-backs, Politano and Kvaratskhelia cut passing lanes to our midfield. We cannot hold the ball too long in our defensive third against this team."
The screen changed to show Napoli’s attacking phase.
"Their fullbacks push very high—Di Lorenzo especially on the right side. That creates space in behind that we need to exploit on transitions. Watch how Kvaratskhelia drifts inside from the left—he’s their most dangerous creator right now alongside Osimhen."
Gasperini clicked through several video clips showing Napoli’s recent matches—their quick transitions, Osimhen’s movent in the box, Kvaratskhelia’s dribbling in tight spaces, Lobotka’s passing from deep positions.
"This week’s training will focus on three areas," Gasperini said, his tone shifting to instruction mode. "Tomorrow, we drill defensive compactness and pressing triggers. Wednesday, we work on quick transitions and exploiting space behind their high line. Thursday is recovery and set pieces. Friday, final tactical walk-through and squad selection. Saturday, we travel to Naples."
He looked around the room, making eye contact with multiple players.
"This week’s training will be intense. Tomorrow morning, defensive organization and pressing drills. Afternoon session focuses on transitions. Wednesday, attacking patterns and exploiting their high line. Thursday is recovery work and set pieces. Friday, light session and final walk-through. Questions so far?"
A few heads shook.
"Good. Saturday morning we travel to Naples."
The analysis continued for another hour—Gasperini breaking down Napoli’s set-piece routines, their defensive shape when protecting leads, specific patterns they used to create chances—and the squad took notes while occasionally asking tactical questions.
"How do they defend crosses?" Hateboer asked.
"Zonal marking with Kim Min-jae dominating the near post area. Their goalkeeper ret is aggressive coming for balls in the six-yard box but vulnerable to crosses driven to the back post."
"Their counter-attacks?" De Roon followed up.
"Extrely fast. Kvaratskhelia and Politano both have pace to burn, and Osimhen’s runs are intelligent. If we lose possession in their half, our wing-backs need to recover imdiately or they’ll isolate our center-backs."
More questions ca—about Napoli’s substitution patterns, their performance away versus ho, how they handled teams that sat deep versus teams that pressed high—and Gasperini answered each one with tactical detail that showed he’d studied every match Napoli had played this season.
At 3:05 PM, he closed his laptop.
"That’s enough for today. Go ho, rest properly, hydrate, eat clean. Tomorrow we start preparation at nine sharp. Be ready to work."
The squad filed out slowly, conversations starting imdiately about Napoli’s quality and the challenge ahead, and Demien walked toward the parking lot with Højlund beside him.
"Want a ride ho?" the Danish striker offered.
"Yeah, thanks."
They drove through Bergamo’s quiet afternoon streets, the radio playing low in the background, and when they reached Demien’s apartnt building Højlund pulled over to let him out.
"See you tomorrow," Demien said, grabbing his bag from the back seat.
"Later."
Demien walked toward the building entrance, his mind already shifting to the evening ahead—shower, dinner, maybe so film study on his laptop—and as he reached for his keys his phone buzzed with an incoming call.
Marco.
He answered imdiately.
"Marco, what’s up?"
"Demien! Are you ho right now?" Marco’s voice had that particular energy that ant sothing important was happening.
"Just got here, yeah. Why?"
"Perfect. I’m in Bergamo—just arrived actually. The Adidas contract is finalized. My legal team finished reviewing it last week and everything checks out. I need you to sign it today so we can send it back to them and close this deal. Are you free for the next hour or two?"
Demien unlocked his apartnt door and stepped inside.
"Yeah, I’m free. You want to co over?"
"Perfect. I’m about an hour away—had to et with another client first. I’ve got the contracts with , you just need to sign and we’re done. See you soon."
"Alright, see you soon."
The call ended, and Demien set his bag down in the hallway before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower, the water hot and therapeutic against muscles that were still recovering from Saturday’s exertion.
He dried off, changed into clean clothes—black joggers and a simple white t-shirt—and made himself a coffee while waiting for Marco to arrive.
3:52 PM -
The knock on the door ca fifty-two minutes later, and when Demien opened it he saw five people standing in front of him—three won and two n.
User Comments
0 comments from readers