2022 Women's Volleyball Nations League

    Not a popular opinion here but Saliha is doing an OK job considering it is her first big international tournamet. We dont have a superstar spiker like Egonu, Boskovic or Zhu to compensate lack of offense from our second OH. Meliha is doing a great job at backrow but she is like a ghost in front of the net and that forces Cansu to avoid setting to zone 4 which makes the game more predictable. Saliha is a great improvement over Meliha in terms of attacking and she should be used more, actually both of our OHs.

    And one more not a very popular opinion; Cansu is definetely a worls class setter for me :super: Her improvement over the years is amazing and she is just 25, can be considered a young age for a setter.

    Quote from Irina

    What is xenophobic with what I said? I only related the fight among the audience that happened in the Turkish club (which is not a lie). And Ebrar is not innocent from being rude at times. The same thing can be said if it's another player from another team doing that.

    I support Irina. there's no xenophobic element in her comment. she happens to mention that lousy Bolu fans' debacle. truth be told, bolu has a xenophobic major. Turkish users need to accept the shortfalls in Turkey and there's no overgeneralization. unfortunately seen much less among volleyball fans, Turkey has a common hooliganism issue deep rooted in its society fed by jingoism, left right doesn't matter except a marginalized liberals/universalists.

    I think Italy and Brazil are clear favorites but the match ups will be very interesting because:


    1- Brazil - Serbia

    Both teams have shaky opposites. Serbia relies a lot more on their middles scoring while Brazil relies on the OHs scoring. However, if Serbian middles can keep up good blocking, Brazil might have troubles to score from the wings. It all depends on Brazil's receiving which has been difficult to shake this VNL thanks to Gabi-Natinha and Bergman trio. Disadvantage for Brazil was Macris not having a good connection with middles which commentators mentioned a lot in quarter finals (though it worked well in the last set). But I won't be surprised if Serbia gives Brazil a really hard time.


    2- Italy - Turkey

    Italy relies a lot on Egonu and she delivers very well so far. However, if someone in the world knows how to slow down Egonu, it must be Guidetti. They did it with Vakifbank vs. Conegliano in CL finals to some extent. For Italy, it will be crucial for OHs to contribute against Turkey as well as how they will hold on receiving. For Turkish side, it all depends how well the girls will be at the serve line. Once they find a good rhythm there, everything else improves. Today the receiving was shaky and we saw how Italians gave a hard time to China with serves. The only clear advantage of Turkey over Italy is setter position, don't think Malinov and Orro deliver that well. But considering all other elements, Italy is a clear favorite and Turkish girls have to play at their best to serve well and slow down Egonu.


    In overall, I see Serbia's chances of beating Brazil more than Turkey's chances of beating Italy.

    Quote from Meatballs

    2- Italy - Turkey

    Italy relies a lot on Egonu and she delivers very well so far. However, if someone in the world knows how to slow down Egonu, it must be Guidetti. They did it with Vakifbank vs. Conegliano in CL finals to some extent. For Italy, it will be crucial for OHs to contribute against Turkey as well as how they will hold on receiving. For Turkish side, it all depends how well the girls will be at the serve line. Once they find a good rhythm there, everything else improves. Today the receiving was shaky and we saw how Italians gave a hard time to China with serves. The only clear advantage of Turkey over Italy is setter position, don't think Malinov and Orro deliver that well. But considering all other elements, Italy is a clear favorite and Turkish girls have to play at their best to serve well and slow down Egonu.

    I think Turkiye has at least 50% chance... Italy did not look good China was just bad.

    Quote from jt1267

    Yelling across the net and following up with a cute statement makes it okay I see:win:

    Lol at least she understand her mistake. Goncharova did that in a sneaky way her entire career, yelling at young and unexperienced players to tease them. Maybe Ebrar should put some lip stick on and pose with her cute dogs too to get forgiveness too.

    I have such thoughts before the semi-finals

    Our team cannot make so many mistakes and Ebrar cannot start with 17% in attack because the Italians will take advantage of it quickly.

    I am very curious about the Serbia-Brazil game, because Brazil is a great blocking team, but after what Serbia showed in the US game, I would not be so sure about the outcome of the game.

    There is a chance for a European podium :super:

    Well, as much as I understand that people may dislike Ebrar for her behavior, she's always been for me more over-energetic fighter-spirit than sassy b***h like these vintage divas from Cuba, that's why she made this statement, I believe.


    About semis, I believe Brazil won't get outmatched technique-wise like the USA, while Turkey-Italy has no favorite for me since Italy played some awful volleyball today.

    I would like to see Italy in a match like this without Egonu~A razor blade game and the moment the whole world knows the ball is going to Egonu:)

    Our advantage is that we play as a team and if we manage to slow down Egonu it may be a happy match for us :flower:

    i can't remember a game where turkey slow down egonu or win in an important match recently

    Quote from jt1267

    She sees it as ambition not mistake. If she knew it's a mistake why would she keep doing it every year?

    I guess she gets fired up that way on the court unlike other sassy girls who try to insult opponents and bring them down.


    When we comment on players, I think we get biased by their physical appearance a lot. When they look beautiful and feminine (hi Goncharova), then it looks elegant but when someone like Ebrar does it, we take it to other extremes.


    I wrote it earlier, I don't approve what she did and that made me feel ashamed to watch it. But I am glad she at least had the balls to apologize unlike others, who just pose in a cute way and pretend it never happened.

    Quote from Jules

    i can't remember a game where turkey slow down egonu or win in an important match recently

    Well there is always a first...CL finals was one although it was not Turkish NT. After all she is a human too (unless she opens god mode).