Italy - Superlega 2022/23

    Quote from Umu11

    Lucarelli doesn’t look 100% healthy.

    he certainly isn’t, during the second set he also grabbed his left leg and was feeling some pain

    denzz  Umu11


    Sorry to call out, but do you know what was the injury that Efe was dealing with during NT season? He started this season really well from the 2nd game, but got subbed in a 4th set in a match against Padova last weekend due to some (it seemed at least) minor problem with his left leg, so I wonder if that's perhaps still the same problem.

    Quote from Realista

    denzz  Umu11


    Sorry to call out, but do you know what was the injury that Efe was dealing with during NT season? He started this season really well from the 2nd game, but got subbed in a 4th set in a match against Padova last weekend due to some (it seemed at least) minor problem with his left leg, so I wonder if that's perhaps still the same problem.

    I don’t recall the details but it had to do with his knee. As for his injury last weekend, it was said it was just cramps.

    Thanks. Yeah, it didn't look any serious at all, but he was benched in the first game and subbed in in the second one (and played really well), so I was wondering whether he's 100% ready to play. Cramps are understandable since he had some break from competitive volleyball cause I don't recall him playing in friendlies prior to the beginning of the season.


    Cisterna is an early revelation, not only because they've started with 3 wins and only one set lost, but more importantly as for these middle-level teams, Cisterna surprisingly looks the best (they crushed Milano, Taranto, defeated Padova last weekend). In the 4th round, they'll play Trentino, so that will be an ultimate test for them at this stage of the season. And besides streaky reception, in those two games Efe was playing really well, it looks like his development will be crucial for Turkish NT since with Adis, the other Efe and Mirza, OPP/offensive OH position is well settled, so this is something not only Turkish fans should take a look on.

    Based on a podcast where he was guest last season, he sounded very ambitious and aware of his advantages as well as disadvantages. He is at a stage where he dreamt of since he was a kid so I hope he’ll make the best out of it and improve his skills. I also hope he’ll work out because having a fit body is important. As he stated himself on that podcast, he has to work hard in every possible way to be able to compete with Mandiraci, Mozic and Michieletto as he doesn’t have the their physique advantage.


    I believe those 3 wins are important for them but their roster doesn’t seem to have depth which will be crucial as the season goes, especially in a brutal league like Superlega.

    It seems that first and foremost Cisterna's results this season will depend on how good Petar Dirlic is. He was a backup in Vibo Valentina, then moved to Cisterna to be a backup of Arthur Szwarc last season, wasn't a starter in NT either, nothing remarkable at all besides solid display on MEVZA level in Lublana - but then the Canadian got severely injured for the rest of the season, Dirlic stepped in and ... was playing really well. Then, during NT season, he single-handedly defeated Italy during the Mediterranean Games (it may sound random, but for Croatia to defeat a team with solid Serie A players like Falaschi, Recine, Gironi etc. was a big success), and Dirlic scored like over 30 points in that semifinal - and now he's the best player of the league at the beginning of the season. Impressive. He won't be THAT good, nor will Cisterna, but if he's improved from the last season, then Cisterna on paper looks better than everyone thought.


    In terms of depth, at least within OHs rotation it looks nice: Sedlacek (the other Croatian) is a solid player, on bench they have Cuban NT player, Jose Gutierrez, and experienced vet, Denis Kaliberda, so as for one of the lower-budget teams in a league (which was the last club to complete their roster, I think), I like the way they built their roster. Catania is one of the most talented liberos in the world as well, he did wonders defensively in those 3 games.


    But you are right that Baranowicz or Dirlic injuries, and they're basically done, since the 2nd setter is weak and Dirlic has no real backup. These 3 wins, with 22 games scheduled in regular season and most of the games to be played against top/very dangerous teams (Civitanova, Perugia, Trentino, Modena, Piacenza, Verona, Mediolan), very early on these wins are really important if they want to repeat their last year's success and make it to the playoffs.

    I didn’t know or still don’t know what to expect from them to be honest. Last time I saw Kaliberda, he didn’t look like he could help anyone, though he is an experienced player. Sedlacek was awful in Galatasaray but he was injured for the most part of the season. It was his hand, I think, and it was said doctors gave them two options, either operation or wait for it to heal itself and he opted to wait. There is also the fact that under the helm of their former coach, every player that joined the team over the years showed their lowest low so not sure if his underperformance is at his own fault.


    And they just hired a back up OPP;


    Quote from Umu11

    First two sets were boring. Now we have a match

    lube didn’t play well, but from the third set onwards the game leveled up with high intensity and skills

    And it’s a reverse sweep for Lube! So exciting to see these kind of games as a neutral.

    Congrats to Lube for winning from being 2 sets down. Nikolov was superb in the later part of the match. Garcia made difference from the moment he came in. The problem for Lube is that their players are not consistent enough to be considered starting six players but it is also early on the season so we shall see.

    Lube has a lot of depth and lots of players that can contribute but also a lot of young/inconsistent players


    coaching and choosing who to put in when depending on matchups or who's playing well is going to be important, lots of pressure on Blengini

    A year ago Blengini was fantastic to be honest in terms of rotating his team and managing it despite 912 injuries, while being open minded to play whoever player was in a better shape, what ultimately has won a championship for his team. What was actually quite funny considering that Italy lost to Argentina in Tokyo because he was dragging his old leaders like Zaytsev and Colaci despite their terrible shape. This season, he started with some weird rotations and Nikolov playing as an opposite against Padova, but today he was really fine in subbing players that were weak.


    That being said, regardless of its emotional merit, this game was simply awful on technical level and Civitanova was close to humiliation considering that without Sbertoli, Trentino plays with some weak junior player as a setter that has major problems in basic out of system setting, not to mention any combinations after positive reception. With Kaziyski being awful, no MBs use, Trentino couldn't have won this game as soon as Civitanova stopped to make a joke of themselves.


    Plenty of injuries (Leal, Lucarelli, Sbertoli), several players returning shortly after WCH and completely new teams - the beginning of this season is the definition of volleyball mess. Obviously, there were some parts of today's game worth of watching, especially defensively, but Trentino may have difficult time as long as Sbertoli is out, considering De Palma isn't even a top Italian junior setter, and his father at age 54 is probably still technically a better player. Promoting young, cheap players on such positions to fill the roster has some potential negative consequences, and Trentino starting this season with one win and three losses is an exemple of that.


    * no disrespect to the young kiddo, he may have talent to prove himself on this level, but Depalma is for sure outside of top5 Italian teenagers on his position, so him getting a chance to play for a team like Trentino is actually bizarre. Obviously, due to the fact, that as a backup setter he earns presumably some scholarship-level salary what allowed Trentino eg. to hire Dzavoronok.