Vakıfbank Istanbul 2013/2014

    Quote from ravens#7

    I'm pretty sure Eczacibasi will be stronger than VakifBank next season. We'll see...

    I dn't think so.. let's look at all the players separately first..


    1. Setter - Naz > Hanke/Assuman/Ozge (talking about CL and TL because we don't know the line up for TL)
    2. Opposite - Brakocevic >/= Nesihan (many would disagree but Jovana is playing great right now, Neslihan was not spectacular last season) Vakif has Polen too, who is a great back up, Ecz has none
    3. Outisde - Gozde > Senna, Costagrande > Havelkova.. there are Esra and Guldeniz as back up and still Guldeniz > Esra
    4. Middle - Furst = Poljak, Bahar < Harmotto, but Bahar > Busra (this is the position Ezc is strongest bur for CL only)
    5. Libero - Gizem < Gulden


    Vakif has Nikolic too but not sure abput her since she is injured


    And Vakif has a great team spirit something Ecz lacked last year... we'll see but judging by this.. I don't see them beating Vakif

    1. Naz is better, though Hanke during Grand Prix wasn't impressive at all and she can be only better, however she will be under pressure in new environment.
    2. Jovana is in really good shape, what proves her performance at Grand Prix, Neslihan is in my opinion overused and she may have serious health problems. Comparing backups of course Polen is better than Gozde Yilmaz, but now when Yilmaz is loaned Eczacibasi is without real backup for Demir, there is only Seyma Ercan.
    3. Totally agree, especially reception should look better.
    4. Again agree, though I don't understand people who underestimate Christiane. She achieved so many exeperience both in NT and in clubs and she can be comparable with Poljak both in spike and block abilities.
    5. Gulden is better overall, but remember that in club season Gizem's preformance was outstanding and it can look the same in next season.
    Summing up, in league competitions from Eczacibasi only libero is better, for CL we can add middle-blockers. As we could see in previous seasons Vakifbank worked really good as team and change of only one key player (Costagrande for Glinka) shouldn't change it. Of course there was also change Nikolic for Saori, but Jelena won't be so important player and the same situation was with Kimura.

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
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    no one underestimates furst but her abilities are not yet at par with the thaisa's and the foluke's

    Real challange starts for Vakıfbank without Glinka,coz she was the leader of team in field,without Glinka they couldn't win anything ^^

    2010/2011 Eczacıbaşı VitrA - Turkish Cup Winner :cup:
    2011/2012 Eczacıbaşı VitrA - Super Cup Winner :cup:

    Quote from StarNight

    Real challange starts for Vakıfbank without Glinka,coz she was the leader of team in field,without Glinka they couldn't win anything ^^

    Leader was Gozde, if you mean spiritually.. And if you mean a leader-scorer, first Jovana scored more and second Vakif is a team where all the players contribute equally so no leader in that sense either.. And now they have Costangrande who I think clould do exactly the same job as Glinka

    the only game Vakıfbank played against Ecacıbaşı without Glinka ended 3-0 in favor of Vakıfbank last season.So it's hard to judge at the moment. Let's wait and see :win:

    Quote from USAvolleyfan

    Leader was Gozde, if you mean spiritually.. And if you mean a leader-scorer, first Jovana scored more and second Vakif is a team where all the players contribute equally so no leader in that sense either.. And now they have Costangrande who I think clould do exactly the same job as Glinka


    I agree. I really don't expect that level of Vakıfbank would decrease if not increase. I believe Gözde would play more comfortable when she doesn't have to cover half of the court due to Glinka :roll:


    I know it might seem weird to most of you guys but I have a feeling that Nikoliç will make a great come back and even take the starting position from Costa :whistle: She is a better attacker than Costa and as good as Glinka. Also she is not as bad as Glinka at reception. Thus, Nikoliç would contribute as much as Glinka if she manage to recover her recent injury (I don't know how serious it is indeed :S )

    We should take into account that Glinka's loss is not only her point contribution. She was ''mother'' of the team as some of the players have already mentioned and one of the biggest creator of Vakıfbank spirit. Every player in the team respected her A LOT. Gözde seems doing very good job as a captain but for me the hidden hero in the team was Glinka. She was always there when the things were going hard for the team or in crucial moments(just remember her performance in the last match of final serie in Turkish league when Gözde had to go to hospital during the game. She showed her leadership and played amazing).


    On the other hand, I think Costagrande can score as much points as Glinka, receive and defence better. However, I don't expect her to be the leader of the team just like Glinka that is why other players must work hard and help Costa to get into the Vakıfbank mood.


    I hope eveything goes well for them :win:

    I agree the comments above partly. I would never compare Costagrande or Nikolic with Glinka. Players like Glinka are really special and can carry their team further when they are needed. I think both Costagrande and Nikolic are good players but whenever team performance goes down, their performance will go down as well and they wont be able to help. In that case I trust more on Brakocevic than the two OHs. Even Gözde can fire the team when needed but not Costagrande or Nikolic :)


    Comparing Neslihan and Brakocevic. Mmm that's also difficult. I think Jovana is a very good player and she is very stable. I barely saw a gap between her performances and she doesnt get affected mentally easily. Neslihan is more of an emotional player. What I like with Neslihan is, she is full of surprises. That's maybe because due to her experiences, but she gets really incredible points when you expect a fail. She doesnt only have hard spikes but I also like her choices when it comes to spiking and her soft touches are really special as well. I very often see Brakocevic spiking, very often to the same direction. She lacks soft touches and alternatives. That's why IMO she is a bit easier to block. One addition might be that Brakocevic plays more guaranteed compared to Neslihan and she makes less mistakes. However lacking a potential scorer like Glinka on court, her teammates will set even more balls to Brakocevic and again that makes her more vulnerable against good blocks.

    I think make-up artist is from the walking dead sets :lol:

    2010/2011 Eczacıbaşı VitrA - Turkish Cup Winner :cup:
    2011/2012 Eczacıbaşı VitrA - Super Cup Winner :cup:

    So, we lost Saori to GS? This is a big mistake by Vakif board and especially by Guidetti as we know he is the only authorized person in transfers.
    However..., I won't blame them much.. as I claimed last year, Saori was probably being hiddenly sponsored by a Japan company when she was at Vakif and this is clear now when I read Japan Daikin will pay half of Saori's cost at GS.


    People were objecting me about Saori issue a lot last year. also, they were questioning her performance, etc. Now, after olympics, we seen once again she carried her NT to finals of Grand prix. She is best transfer of GS, even better than Montano. GS will be a good defensive team. If they utilize Asli who is a good blocker as good as Poljak and with Saori, GS has become the best team in the league this season as their attack weapons too, Montano-Neriman, are the bests in the league.


    So, we got Costagrande? Unnecessary totally. Not that about her quality, but, Vakif's need wasn't old and experienced players this season. With addition of a youngster or two, Vakif could still compete for top 2 as long as they keep team spirit. With youngsters, this could happen. Now, with Nikolic and Costagrande, as well as due Bahar-coach relation, I foresee Vakif's team spirit will be lost this season and can not be more than 3rd in the league this season.


    This year, my favorites:
    1. GS definitely (unless Barbolini sh*ts.)
    2 and 3. Ecz or Fener
    4. Vakif