"Look at this photo. Who else besides Leo could get all these academy directors to sit together in the same room?"
"These academy directors represent different Premier League clubs, so naturally they aren't going to cooperate with one another. Not unless there's someone capable of getting them to sit down peacefully and discuss how to improve youth development across the Premier League as a whole. That's why Leo is in this picture!"
The Premier League had not publicized its invitation for Leo to meet with all the academy directors.
Only after the discussion ended did they release a group photo of Leo with all of them.
Not long afterward, Leo received another invitation.
The person in charge of La Liga's youth development system also wanted to invite him to sit down and talk with the academy directors from every La Liga club.
So Leo traveled to Spain as well.
After attending two youth development discussions in succession, Leo began to realize just how much importance modern football placed on talented young players.
Many clubs were now making youth development a priority, combining promising youngsters with experienced veterans already in the squad to steadily improve the team as a whole.
When the photo was released, Gullit and Rivaldo were discussing the upcoming UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
It was the club competition that attracted the most attention in world football every year, the tournament that ultimately crowned Europe's club champion.
Liverpool had been one of the biggest winners in the Champions League over the past few years.
They might not have consistently won the Premier League, but they had certainly collected plenty of Champions League trophies.
"If you force me to choose which of these two teams will win, I'm still going with Inter Milan."
"After all, this is a very strong Inter Milan."
Once again, Rivaldo was backing Liverpool's opponent.
This time, however, Inter Milan really were being favored by many people.
Under their new head coach, Simone Inzaghi, Inter had not only re-established themselves as one of the favorites for the Serie A title, but had also developed several talented young players.
One example was center forward Lautaro Martínez.
He had gone from the bench to the rotation, then from the rotation into the starting lineup, eventually becoming Serie A's top scorer.
Lautaro Martínez and Džeko had formed a formidable strike partnership for Inter.
Out wide, there was also the young Dimarco, widely regarded as one of the leading candidates to become the best left wingback in the world someday.
A young wingback who was strong, fast, capable both offensively and defensively, and also possessed excellent technique and passing ability was not something you came across very often.
Dimarco was definitely a player worth watching.
Even Gullit didn't dare claim that Liverpool were certain to beat Inter Milan.
Inter really were that strong.
So this time, rather than arguing with Rivaldo, Gullit carefully explained Liverpool's strengths and how they needed to use them if they wanted to overcome Inter.
"It's actually been a long time since I seriously broke down football tactics, but this time I want to give it a proper analysis."
"I think Liverpool's best chance of beating Inter Milan is to make full use of their advantage in midfield. Mac Allister, Rodri, and Leo need to drag the midfield battle into an area that favors Liverpool and prevent Inter's midfielders from influencing the match."
"If they can do that, then no matter how good Dimarco is, without support from the middle he'll mostly be limited to creating things by himself out wide. That alone won't be enough to help Inter score."
"In a lot of Serie A matches, Inter's goals come through Lautaro."
"Lautaro Martínez is quick, but speed isn't all he has. He's also an excellent finisher and very good at battling defenders while running at full pace."
"Van Dijk absolutely has to shut Lautaro down, and I think Gvardiol should start at right back. I don't think Joe Gomez or Alexander-Arnold can deal with Dimarco effectively."
"After all, Inter play with three center backs, and Simone Inzaghi's three-center-back system is very impressive."
For once, Rivaldo found himself genuinely enjoying Gullit's analysis in the commentary booth.
Whenever Gullit was willing to seriously analyze a team, he could always come up with something useful.
Helping Inter gradually return to the top, find success again, and become a championship-caliber team was enough to prove that Simone Inzaghi was a top-class coach.
To prepare for the Champions League clash with Liverpool, Inzaghi held a tactical meeting about Liverpool on each of the three days leading up to the match.
And every single time, the player he emphasized most was Leo.
"Serie A obviously has plenty of excellent midfielders, but none of them can compare with Leo."
"I don't want to compare players directly, so let's focus on Leo's characteristics."
"First, he can control the ball. Second, he can pass. When he has possession, he can initiate attacks by carrying the ball himself. Without the ball, he can create attacks through his movement."
"He can direct his teammates and even get them to create opportunities for him."
"He can turn himself and everything around him into part of the sequence leading to a goal, and then help Liverpool finish it."
On January 5, during the final tactical discussion, Simone Inzaghi decided to stick with his three-center-back system.
But unlike in Serie A, he would not allow both flanks to attack freely in this match.
One side would be given additional defensive responsibilities.
And naturally, the player they were being asked to defend was Leo.
Inzaghi wanted to draw inspiration from the previous UEFA European Championship final between England and Spain, when Southgate had used Trippier to provide extra defensive help against Leo.
But Inzaghi intended to modify that approach.
Dimarco would be the wide player tasked with helping defend Leo.
"Dimarco can't match Leo for pace, but if his teammates help him, they can slow Leo down first."
"Then Dimarco can make the final defensive intervention."
Inzaghi planned to attack in the first leg and try to score as many goals as possible against Liverpool at home.
The more goals Inter could take into the second leg, the better their chances of advancing.
Although most outside observers seemed to favor Inter Milan, Inzaghi himself couldn't understand why.
During his pre-match press conference that evening, he openly admitted his confusion.
"I'm the head coach of Inter Milan, so naturally I'm happy that so many fans believe in us."
"But I don't really understand why so many people seem convinced that Inter will definitely eliminate Liverpool."
"This is the Champions League, and Liverpool have been the most successful team in this competition over the past few seasons."
"And there's another statistic that some people seem to have overlooked."
"Over our last dozen or so Serie A matches, the combined market value of the eleven players in our starting lineup has generally been somewhere between €300 million and €400 million."
"Yes, that's the combined value of all eleven starters."
"And Liverpool have a player named Leo."
"He's the kind of player I'd have to sell my entire starting eleven just to afford."
Inzaghi and the reporters around him all laughed.
Only then did some of the journalists realize just how striking that comparison was.
Many of Inter Milan's starters were older, which meant their market values were relatively low and didn't fully reflect their actual ability.
Even so, the combined market value of Inter's entire starting eleven was only tens of millions of euros higher than Leo's alone.