Turkish NT 2019

    2019 possible super wide roster: players I expect in NT


    S: Cansu Özbay (VB), Ezgi Dilik ,Arelya Karasoy, Naz? Gamze?

    Opp: Ebrar Karakurt (VB), Meryem Boz, ¿ Melis Durul? Lol ¿Ceren Kestirengöz?

    OH: Şeyma Ercan, Hande Baladın, Fatma Yıldırım, Meliha İsmailoğlu, Saliha Şahin, Fulden Ural?

    MB: Eda Erdem (c), Zehra Güneş, Bahar Guidetti, Aslı Kalaç, Janset Cemre Erkul, Beyza Arıcı

    L: Simge Şebnem Aköz, Gizem Örge, Berrin Yıldırım? Aylin Sarıoğlu?



    Players in italics are question marks. Others I expect a call for.


    For setter w/o Naz, Cansu is by far the main choice, Gamze Alikaya & Çağla Akın are not playing well and I don't expect a call for Çağla in particular. Gamze has also drama surrounding her so I doubt her as well.


    Ebrar Karakurt will be the main opposite this year taking role of Meryem Boz who had been ignored vs Polen and Yilmaz all these years while she was clearly the best between them. Turkey has been too late with her, but ofc we had Ferhat before this so... lol Polen is just bad nowadays, Yilmaz doesn't have the mental strength to be main Opp of a NT. Meryem is also reaching 31 this year and probably past her prime, she is having a bad season but of course a setting dependant player together with Çagla Akin and Nursevil... I mean what did GS expect XD I hope she won't mind being back-up of Ebrar or we have to call Melis... Or turn Hande into 2nd Opp.


    For OH it will be tough, Hande should be at her best by now but she can not receive if her life depends on it, and she gets blocked easily, still I expect to see her. Meliha will be there, but she benched all season... Şeyma is having only an OKish season. Saliha imo is improving the most and must be called at all costs. Fatma definitely deserves a call and I expect her there. I feel like OH is our weakest spot though nowadays, hopefully the girls prove me wrong.


    MB: EDA + ZEHRA of course, thank god for them or we had no chances. Bahar Guidetti is playing really good and deserves a call by her husband. Asli and Beyza are so so. I like the way Janset improves every single year, I wish she got a call also even if it is for smaller tournament.


    L: Simge and Gizem will get the job done. A possible 3rd libero will be between Berrin and Aylin.



    So this is my current opinion only after half a season, everything is still out in the open and nothing is over. Who are the players you noticed? Do you agree with me here. Who else do you think deserves a call, or is there someone you think should never receive a call? Share me your thoughts.

    i like MB Aslı so far..she could be the fourth MB (she has a good serve and if Çağla gets the secon setter spot,she and Çağla know each other well)..i wouldnt object to any other name either if Aslı couldnt be chose etc

    what about Gözde Yılmaz as OPP ?

    choosing Meryem Boz makes sense (she is a starting OPP in her team unlike Yılmaz) but Yılmaz is younger than Boz and as you said Meryem hasnt played that well so far .Gözde Yılmaz has a knack of killing the sets in a way..lol

    if Guidetti doesnt consider Meryem an option then Ebrar-Gözde..or Melis Durul>she has played as main opp of her team


    btw.. i didnt get why Ilkin would be Ebrar's backup ? isnt she an OH ?

    Ilkin Aydın's reception is quite shaky and she did great job as OPP at ECH.


    My NT:

    Cansu-Naz

    Eda-Zehra-Beyza-Aslı

    Meliha-Hande-Şeyma-Fatma

    Neriman-Ebrar (if Neriman doesnt come, Meryem should be)

    Simge-Gizem

    I would pick Bahar as well just because, remember guys in VNL everyone was great but in Wch when the MBs were underperforming everyone was starting to play bad. Beyza brought some fire to the team but didn't have the experience to completely lift the team, Asli would be the same story and I see her merely as a serve sub anyway if she joins. An experienced player that doesn't mind taking the lead is what we needed at that time, Bahar or Kübra are the only options. But current Kübra is also not really an option so I would not mind seeing Bahar in the team as she would be the only one able to take Eda/Zehra's main role in times of crisis imho.


    Neriman would be nice as both OH or Opp, since our attacking OHs are not really great either esp. compared to her. Gio has again another puzzle to solve this season. But I think as Tamer that he will mainly keep the last team and opt to play like they did in VNL again which was great! Turkey hasn't been world nr2 really in such a big tournament, and everyone did their job there so he will want to re establish that dynamic and not change things too much which is probably indeed the right decision. Fatma is probably the only player that must be added who wasn't yet last time. Though some more additions could be nice also, I don't expect much.


    Other then that of course we still have a whole 2nd round to go for in Turkish league so lets see how that goes :D I'm hoping some players step up and maybe some new faces show something

    Whose choice has it been that Neriman hasn't played for the NT? Hers or Gui's?

    Quote from sitenoise

    Whose choice has it been that Neriman hasn't played for the NT? Hers or Gui's?

    Neriman said she retired from NT (which was a shocker), she was like 28 and many people said there was drama surrounding her and Guidetti. Apparently he said something like 'We don't need you anymore' or something like that but I think others should know more about the rumours then me. Apparently Gio was very critical of her performance at the last EuroVolley and they had some bad arguments... Neriman can still be important for Turkish NT so its sad.


    Someone else here more into the drama stuff will be probably clear it up, but this is all I remember happened : D

    S: Cansu Özbay, Gamze Alikaya

    OPP: Ebrar Karakurt, Meryem Boz, Neriman Özsoy

    OH: Meliha Ismailoglu, Hande Baladin, Seyma Ercan

    MB: Eda Erdem, Zehra Günes, Bahar Toksoy, Beyza Arici

    L: Simge Aköz, Gizem Örge

    (Aylin Sarıoglu can be added as a receiving specialiast insted of Beyza Arici)


    S: Cansu will be the main setter as the last year so I am not sure if Gamze will accept that. Naz is definetely needed here but she will probably be back to European Olympic qualifier in 2020 (I assume we wont be able to win against China) If Gamze doesnt accept being back up I would love to see Ezgi Dilik in the team.(Please no more Cagla. I dont want to see her anymore. Sooo many chances has given her and she couldnt use it)


    OPP: I really hope Neriman would be back. We desperately need her. She also can play as OH with Meliha helping her with the reception. Otherwise Ebrar should be starter.

    (I see there are people saying Melis Durul can be a choice. Oh please! Can you imagine her playing good against big teams in the world. She has no chance)


    OH: We dont have much choice. Saliha Sahin and Tugba can be added but i dont have big hope for especially Tugba. Saliha is better.


    MB: Eda- Zehra is a great duo. I like Bahar unlike many users here. She is experienced and probably 2019 and 2020 (if we qualify to the Olympics) will be her last years with NT. Asli and Busra having quite a good season doesnt mean anything to me. We have seen so many times what they are capable of in international area so NO! I prefer Yasemin Guveli.


    L: Not much to say. These 2 are the best local liberos.

    I remember Melis Durul continously bombing the ball 50m out of court in Boris Yeltsin Cup :rolll::rolll:and then she looked at it like: 'yea.... Pretty close' :lol:


    Only players I can see in Opp position in upcoming years besides Ebrar/Meryem/Neriman/Hande (which is already a lot of options tbh) would be Gözde Yilmaz ONLY if she plays as starter somewhere next season and does a good job at it, definitely not now. If we would see her now with NT that'd be a scandal. Or imagine Polen gets a call :lol: and then cries about being 5th back-up... I'm very happy to see Gio doesn't reward such players anymore like other coaches.

    Bahar said she is retired from NT so I don’t think that is going to happen.


    Both Gamze and Neriman are needed in this team, hopefully Gui will solve the problem. I think Neriman has some problems of her own as well. If rumors were ture, Gui was guilty but we really don’t know what happened actually. Voleybol Defteri was the one who told this drama so i don’t believe it 100%.

    Representing your country at Olympics can be a motivation for both Bahar and Neriman. They wont be in the team after 2020 Olympics for sure. However they are definetely needed for Olympics qualifications

    I don't have any hopes for the Turkish NT. Look at this roster and mostly are bench players. Meliha went from having a good season to back to the bench. Ebrar is getting some playing time but it is still not enough for her to develop. And I already can see her as Polen 2.0 she will spend her whole career on the bench. Same as Tugla.


    At this point Turkey shuld try in naturalize a couple of Cubans like Vargas, Casanova, etc.


    I don't believe they can beat China.. Lang Ping will want to win these 3 games and get done it. Can Turkey beat Italy/Netherlands? I don't think so.... They certainly would have a much better change against Russia.

    Quote from pope

    I don't have any hopes for the Turkish NT. Look at this roster and mostly are bench players. Meliha went from having a good season to back to the bench. Ebrar is getting some playing time but it is still not enough for her to develop. And I already can see her as Polen 2.0 she will spend her whole career on the bench. Same as Tugla.


    At this point Turkey shuld try in naturalize a couple of Cubans like Vargas, Casanova, etc.


    I don't believe they can beat China.. Lang Ping will want to win these 3 games and get done it. Can Turkey beat Italy/Netherlands? I don't think so.... They certainly would have a much better change against Russia.

    i agree with you on "the bench part" of your post however you're too pessimist..these are kinda young players and we should demand the better from them..why not ?

    btw..its Tuğba not Tuğla which means "brick" in turkish :lol:

    Before VNL we were also a hopeless team for the tournament then we won silver medal ;) I believe Turkish NT has a lot of chances this season. The Netherlands is definitely a team Turkey can beat, so is Russia. I'm not saying they will beat them, but they definitely have the chance to do so. China is in a fairly tough group and they are in denial as a team a little lately, I don't expect an upset but I don't think it's as much in the bag as people think. Ebrar gave them a good run already last season and let me remind you she is born in 2000.


    Imo Turkey has better MBs then most teams, and despitr not having the greatest OHs maybe, Turkey is also one of the few countries that can assure good reception with the OH options. Good reception + Good MBs is always a killer. Cansu + Naz are also imho one of the better setters in the world. To sum it up: Turkey is a team to watch I'd say the least.