I expect a big flop from Eczacibasi. They have to use Maja-Voronkova-Boskovic (Fabris) trio + 2 local middles. Gap between Maja and Elif is too large. Maybe Voronkova can rest time to time and make one of the foreign middles play but still, I am not sure what did they improve compared to last year. Also Simge+Aybuke seems very risky considering how terrible Simge is.
Elif was super shaky whenever she was subbed in. Zero improvement. Hope she somehow breaks through a treshold this year
this is literally the mess making its way back.
Tijana will join Eczacibasi team on Wednesday.
Ugh. To think of the dumpster fire she is getting back to...
Somebody call social services or something, please...
One of the local MBs is Sinead Jack...
Maja-Boskovic
Hande/Saliha-Voronkova
Sinead Jack-Yasemin
Simge
Tbh to me this is the best squad they had in recent times, last year they pretty much went with local OHs and mediocre local MBs, what do you expect... ok before that they had some flop seasons but you are only as good/bad as you are right now. I'm only worried about Simge... She is so bad recently
One of the local MBs is Sinead Jack...
Maja-BoskovicHande/Saliha-Voronkova
Sinead Jack-Yasemin
Simge
Tbh to me this is the best squad they had in recent times, last year they pretty much went with local OHs and mediocre local MBs, what do you expect... ok before that they had some flop seasons but you are only as good/bad as you are right now. I'm only worried about Simge... She is so bad recently
I well know that impulse to pump up and deceive yourself that something worthless will finally become something of worth, B. One can call it "adequate" squad if by "adequate" one is to mean a 3rd place in the regular season and a loss in the semis, and no titles. That in itself would only be par for the course for Eczacimessy of the better part of last decade. But when it is paired with an arguably even stronger Vakifbank than last year (a year in which they won every single competition they entered, mind you), then the whole thing becomes a kind of a sad farce.
Tbh to me this is the best squad they had in recent times, last year they pretty much went with local OHs and mediocre local MBs, what do you expect... ok before that they had some flop seasons but you are only as good/bad as you are right now. I'm only worried about Simge... She is so bad recently
Better than 2 previous season, Yes, but is it enough for better result at the end, there i'm closer to the Janko's point, even with subjective enthusiasm which i cultivate towards Eczacibasi.
For me it is really questionable does it Vakif better then last year or not and i expect mess during first half of the season, by both Vakif and Fener, but nevertheless i don't see potential in this Eczacibasi squad to beat either of them in some title battles.
They keep several issues because of which they struggled last year as well. Coach, local OH's, block/defense game, and even Maja, she doesn't age like wine anymore.
- Eczacibasi is so loyal to their choices, so there it is what we have about coach untill some big flop
- local (Turkish) OH's is problem which exceeds the possibilities of Eczacibasi
- Voronkova as interesting upgrade, positive
- Jack, great job, she supposed to be solid upgrade attacking wise even in comparation with Heyrman, let alone that she will play as local, but she is not famous as monster blocker, which IMO was one of if not the biggest problem in Eczacibasi last year.
- Yasemin as possible blocking issue solution, but she is just back from injury, her shape is big question mark plus who knows how long she can keep be healthy.
But hey, Ognjenovic and Boskovic, the two greatest (serbian, LoL) volleyball players in history is more than enough reasons that i always keep positive expetations for Eczacibasi, let alone that i can hate them.
p.s. I give them better chances for CEV CL then domestic cups
when is the first match?
I mean yes you guys make valid points but still no need to be pessimistic yet ahaha. At least I'm always optimistic.
I love Hande but I also gave up on her after for the first time she also had a horrible NT season besides her regular club failures. But Saliha was good in NT she had some good moments in Ecz last year as well, maybe she'll take the role as starter more, I like her development. Besides Yaprak Erkek had a great season in Poland and did well with the NT when she got a chance, she is very versatile and the youngest among the three. Voronkova will help ease responsibility for them most importantly but overall they have enough options to make it work on OH imo. I mean FB will have to deal with Meliha. VB with Bajema and Derya which are also question marks, even Daalderop is.
Sinead Jack was a good blocker no? She seems an all around MB to me and an underrated one as well. Hope she has a great season again. Hoping for Yasemin fitness as well, they could be the strongest MB duo in the league if both are healthy, Beyza is not for this level.
Maja is aging and Elif needs to step up at times it looks like indeed, I don't trust her for that either so I can agree. The coach is definitely a question mark as well, he ruined Croatia in 1 summer 
Eczacıbaşı on brand with their choice here ahaha.
Overall I'll continue being Eczacıbaşı propaganda machine as it pays my bills.
Overall I'll continue being Eczacıbaşı propaganda machine as it pays my bills.
they actually pay you?
I'm not as pessimistic about eczacı as most people here (this eczacı hate comes from avid nonstop anti-propaganda probably 😂)
Voronkova is a very good OH, previously she was only an offensive OH but over the years she improved her reception to a point I would call her a balanced OH. I think besides Gabi, Voronkova is the most balanced OH of the league. Both Hande and Saliha had good matches during the NT season, they are very inconsistent so playing with these two as starter didn't work well last season but they could work well as each other's backups. Also Yaprak is a strong backup for this position
Jack is a great scoring MB but as mentioned above, he is not the best blocker. Very similar to Heyrmann indeed. That's why Yasemin's comeback performance will be very crucial. Playing with both Jack and Heyrmann would be suicidal for eczacı.
Simge's performance is very worrying, she dropped from one of the best liberos in the world to a mediocre one who might loose her spot to a youngster. Let's hope Aybüke can step up
Boskovic will be playing with her favourite setter. No more excuses as many members here complained about setters in Eczacıbaşı. Let's see she can bring her team to championship or at least to the final in Turkish league and CL. Because I wouldn't call it just eczacimessy (most popular excuse in this forum) boskovic would be on the grill too. If she is the best player in the world as claimed by many, I expect her to lead her team to trophies which she failed to do so for many years.
TBH, after Larson's leaving, Eczacıbaşı had serious OH problem, even YKK-Natalia duo could not fill up this hole (they were not best shape, that's another issue). On the other hand, Voronkova could be a good answer for this problem, just Hande-Saliha-Yaprak trio should be used in efficient ways and times.
Sinead could be an another solution for MB position. We do not have that type of MB for a while. She and Yasemin (and also Beyza) would be good MB duo, especially thinking that other front row players like Boskovic, Voronkova, and Hande, which are average height is around 190-192 cm. Very high blocks.
Looking for wide squad, I think Ferhat could do more rotation than ever, especially in Sultanlar Ligi matches. I am expected to see many different starters.
I must admit that Ferhat Akbaş is a big question mark for me, last season is passed like settling his game mentality, and he might still want to be set many plays on MB, but I do not accept that he "ruined" Crotian NT. They won Challenger Cup, and now they are VNL team, though (Even Santarelli could not do such thing in 4 years with them). About their last WCH performance, I think it is related with tiredness and very long and densed summer for them. They attended five different tournaments which are Golden League, Mediterranean Games, Challenger Cup, ECH23 QF, and WCH22, that's A LOT. Attending WCH22 was " winning a lottery" to them, due to Russia's rustification.
Egonu should join Vakıfbank on Monday
Because I wouldn't call it just eczacimessy (most popular excuse in this forum) boskovic would be on the grill too. If she is the best player in the world as claimed by many, I expect her to lead her team to trophies which she failed to do so for many years.
Bosko is at age of 25 on a level of two WCH MVPs, two ECH MVPs and best opposite of OG - on NT level, she's on par in terms of individual accolades with every player ever, even Regla, I guess, but she's only 25, lol. I don't think I've ever seen that much consistent human being in this sport. The only time she didn't get a medal on a target event with NT happened when she was 17, lol.
It's pity she's so much wasted on a club level tho. ;]
Like I said before the game, the whole consistency of Serbian team is ridiculous, so even though I'm very neutral to this team from personal perspective, I can't complain about this specific outcome, it's just well deserved, you just nod with huge respect.
I hope Realista will forgive me for quoting his post in World Championship thread, but it's very relevant here.
These 2 quotes illustrate why I have started hating Eczacimessy after previously being very fond of them. They are actively sabotaging Boskovic's reputation (both right now, in the moment, but also historically), with their perpetual suckage and inability to form a good team, both in individual quality AND without major structural weaknesses AND to keep a core of the team for more than a year or two. Serdar, while being as stubborn as a mule and having some idiosyncratic tendencies tha have earned him the ire of more than a few members over the years, is undoubtedly a very knowleadegable poster, who knows a great deal about volleyball. Yet, if even he can make such an ignorant argument as quoted above, I shudder to think what impression Boskovic's club career is making on the millions of casuals.
To speak of a player dragging a, what, maybe 5th or 6th best team in Europe to a final of CL in order to prove something! Even Egonu, while having an undoubtedly brilliant club career, has never managed something like that. The only time her club was not in the top 2 on paper of every single competition she won was during her stint in Novara, particularly the 2018/2019 season (for which I completely bow down to her and which I personally consider the brightest achievement in her career
).
And the player in question, the one supposedly having to drag a structurally unsound (terminal lack of blocking, OH and libero position that is liable to either implode or be a non-factor on a nightly basis and not even Top 4 on the basis of names) to CL final to prove something, is a player who has played (outside of WGP/VNL) in 10 major NT competitions since 2014. Literally the only tournament where she hasn't LEAD a team in points to a medal was her very first one, when she was 17 (and even then she was the best scorer on the team). As Realista says, that is an insane consistency, not equalled by any other player in the world in that stretch (yes, including Egonu and Zhu).
So, I am to believe that THAT player is to blame if her team, a team that has become synonym for failure in club volleyball considering the kind of budgetary strength it has, does not win competitions? No thanks, I have a working head.
That one handed set video from Fenerbahce to welcome Macris is really brilliant.
And the player in question, the one supposedly having to drag a structurally unsound (terminal lack of blocking, OH and libero position that is liable to either implode or be a non-factor on a nightly basis and not even Top 4 on the basis of names) to CL final to prove something, is a player who has played (outside of WGP/VNL) in 10 major NT competitions since 2014. Literally the only tournament where she hasn't LEAD a team in points to a medal was her very first one, when she was 17 (and even then she was the best scorer on the team). As Realista says, that is an insane consistency, not equalled by any other player in the world in that stretch (yes, including Egonu and Zhu).
When did a healthy Zhu not lead her team to the podium? In fact, she never left the dream team when she was healthy.
When did a healthy Zhu not lead her team to the podium? In fact, she never left the dream team when she was healthy.
You are right as to the podium, but the period in question is a bit shorter than Tijana's (6 as opposed to 7 seasons).
You are right as to the podium, but the period in question is a bit shorter than Tijana's (6 as opposed to 7 seasons).
Thinking that the ECh is important is fine, counting it when comparing to two players (Zhu and Luis) who are not eligible for that competition is not fine. How many times do you think the Cubans would have won ECh in the 90s if they were eligible? Besides, Mihajlovic was just as important in 2015 and 2016.
Finally, club volleyball is a career, and the primary purpose is to make money. If ECZ has the money and Bosko wants to take the money, why not? I don't think comparing club careers makes much sense or should affect any legacy that bosko leaves, because she can easily switch to vakifbank and win...
