Posts by Frankie

I don't know, I am sure Vafik players and staff thought they would prevail with ease on Pomì and as soon as the match got tight and they lost the first set they started feeling the pressure.
And Pomì played the perfect italian style, with great defense, great block, good contribution by the middle blockers and also making the most out of the chances they earned.

Anyway, I could not find any interview or transcript by Guidetti or any other Vafik players/member. Does anyone have one? I am really curious about what he has to say.

Full congrats to Pomì, they played out of their mind and exposed the few weaknesses Vafik could have (mostly reception faults). They served well, they have a huge block and a great defense. They were just superb.

For many of Vafik players it was the first final of this importance and they did not perform at their best. But this is were champions actually shine.

It was such a great emotion for all italians, and it is great to have the cup back, at least for one year.

Quote from rbdfabio

I think is time for Italy to do the same thing as Turkey, only 2 foregin players on the court per team.

IF Italy does not make to the Olympics, maybe that would open their eyes.

Giving chances for the foregin makes than stronger, and keeping its own players on the beach only makes them weaker.

You gotta be smart.

But I dont think the clubs care for the national team at all.

Display More

Well, this is true but I don't really agree.

I mean I don't think Turkey's overall growth depends on the number of Turkish players playing. In fact, there are not enough high-level turkish players playing in the top league. And there would not be enough italians as well. I think it is a matter of choice: with 3 players (plus Club Italia) it looks like a good compromise to me. In the end the players playing in the national team are no more than 20 and with this type of system you make your best players confront themselves with some of the very best.
Otherwise, letting everyone play you might probably have a higher average level but not a good top level.
Italy NT became great during the early 2000s when the Italian League was at its very best with all greatest foreigners playing there.

Also the way the bigger tournament in May in Tokyo is organized seems very uneven to me and I see a big advantage for Asian teams.

Why do they qualify the best 3 teams first and then the best ranked Asian team? It should be the other way round like it is for all other continents. First the best Asian team (even if it is in the best 3) and then the remainings compete with the other teams from all other continents.

I don't really get how the qualfication system can be so screwed and teams are not complaining, it really is hilarious. And I won't mention anything about the Intercontinental tournament, that really is the craziest joke of all times. It looks like they chose the participating teams by rolling random dices (3rd from Norceca, 4th from Africa, guess what? no European teams). I think everyone agrees all continents have to be represented but once you have one each it should be based on merit and not on favoritism.

Come on, Germany should have won against Turkey if they were good of a team. I don't like Italy that much either, but I don't see such a poor team.

Any link please? My Laola is just stuck

Well this match comes very early for both teams. In the end both of them have 3 new elements in the starting six IIRC. And Lloyd is setting quite terribly I have to say.

Quote from ravens#7

Unbelieveble how Russia underperformes today. It all starts by terrible passing.

Why do you never appreciate what Italy does? Always supporting against your country, it is annoying. I think we are playing a great match and deserve to have this match this tight. You're talking as if Russia usually receives extremely well

Yes, all of the them did. Klimovich and Harelik had a very big impact as well. They seem way better to me so I wonder why they were left out before.

Harelik is quite impressive with her attacks and, in general, I love the way Belarus is competing now.

Quote from ravens#7

It seems like Dijkema is the only one who could stop her team.

What about their reception? I mean they surely are a strong team, but I would want to see them against a stronger team first.

Quote from Matthias

Silge is really the only bright spot in German team this summer...

While Silge has been pretty impressive all summer long, I think also Brinker has had a very positive summer thus far. She seemed quite improved to me, and expressing herself more consistently at a good level, especially in attack.

It is almost August and no news still from Kozuch, Fawcett, Murphy, Tom, Faucette, Flier, Rabadzhieva? It is going to be tough for all of them to find competitive teams

I remember she had signed with Muszyna, the italian teams says "Rumours told she would play in Poland, but after all she will be in Vicenza".

Drama coming?

Somebody in an italian page was saying Brakocevic might be pregnant (or trying to get). He is definitely a trustworthy one, but I am not sure his sources are right this time.

So Fenerbahce will have Skorupa, Kim, Bosetti, Mihajlovic, Harmotto and Rourke? Dear God

Any news our Azeri friends can share with us? It is so weird not to hear any rumour from there. I know Rabita pretty much won't exist, but Telecom, Azeryol and Lokomotiv should be active out here no?

On the other hand it will be interesting to see how the market for USA mbs will develop. None of them has been officially reported in a team.
Harmotto --> Fenerbache (pretty much a lock)
Akinradewo --> Volero (really Foluke?)
Adams --> Maybe Conegliano
Dixon --> ??
Jackson --> ?? No clue
GIbbemeyer --> Casalmaggiore? Scandicci?

Don't want to oversimplify it but also having a way greater population than most other countries helps

I think that, for this thread to be effective, we should only post official news from clubs' websites. I know most of those websites (volleyball, the turkish ones) usually tell true stuff before their officialization. But I think this thread makes more sense if only official official news are posted. Otherwise it becomes like a duplicate of the rumours one.

Congrats Busto! They played a very keen match, tons of defense, good rhythm. They deserve it, their club is definitely among the best in the world and hopefully they will manage to show their best tomorrow.

As for all of you guys complaining:
1) Most of you are talking as if tomorrow's matches have already been played and turkish teams have demolished their opponents. Yes, it might happen and it is even likely but, if I were you, I would at least wait until tomorrow;
2) Busto totally deserves this result. You say they were lucky with their draw: hahaha. Well, maybe. But I am still waiting for the list of unplayable teams they avoided. Maybe only Kazan would have deserved to be in this F4 and was unlucky. But remember matches are not decided on paper: Rabita and Fenerbache maybe had the strongest rosters with Vafik but were awful on court.
3) I have watched few matches, so I might have been unlucky, but I have been far from impressed by Eczacibacsi this year. Even Vafik is definitely favourite but has not been terrific as in some other seasons. Just to say I don't feel turkish teams are playing at a different level.

Enjoy these 3 matches now!

I think everyone agrees Novara is way stronger than Schweriner, but the german team is a really solid one and they have some really strong servers (especially the average quality of the team is incredibly high). They played pretty well today, and they must have played well in Novara as well.

The schedule just was not good for Novara, having played 5 matches in the last 10 days and all of them pretty tough. They clearly preferred Coppa Italia over Challenge Cup, maybe thinking they would somehow escape defeat with Schweriner. Also, they played without Chirichella and Sansonna in Novara, and without Kim Hill today. Definitely big players missing. Still, I think today's was a good defeat. They started really bad in the fourth set and that was it.

Congrats to the Germans, hopefully they can win it all.