“The balance of the season at Cucine Lube is more than positive, the team has shown character by overcoming difficulties and adapting to fluctuations, module and role changes.” The disappointment with the away scudetto in the fifth and last round of the title final has been at least partially eliminated, Chicco Blengini promoted the team for the resilience and chameleon-like skills shown. To the microphones of Radio OrangePartner of Lube Volley, the red and white coach answered questions from Mauro Anconetani during the week.
“The ending balance, which was not budgeted for, was exceptional in absolute terms – exclaimed the trainer –. Cutting off the Champions League pass and going straight to a Scudetto final might seem like a mirage at the start of the new path, with a revolutionized squad full of youngsters. Based on that, I would rate the result as “outstanding” in such a tough and even tournament. For those who want specific examples: Cisterna, ninth and eliminated from the playoffs for the Italian flag, picked up a point in the BLM Group Arena in the regular season and defeated Trento at home while Taranto survived at the end of the first round , won the two games against Verona, fifth, who wanted to knock us out in the quarterfinals.
The topic of the radio chat was also the tactical adjustments in the play-offs to increase reception effectiveness. “As a trainer, I joined a project to encourage young people – the premise of Blengini –. Speaking of reception, I’ve worked hard to help Bottolo, Nikolov and Yant make progress in this fundamental area. We took our first steps with that assumption, so I didn’t have to do that, but when you marry a profession you have to respect that. Gradually, before changing his form, Zaytsev became involved in the reception, without distorting the paths of the named athletes. In the key phases of the playoffs, when there was nothing left to plan, the search for the result at all costs was the priority and I opted for the best possible balance.
In addition to the injury of the “Tsar” in the third race of the Finale Scudetto, the coach’s regret also concerns the first round of the showdown in Trento. “Experience makes me say that Game 1 is the game where the home team suffers the most on average said Blengini.. We caused problems for the Gialloblù on its debut, but we didn’t take the risk.”
(Source: press release Lube volleyball)
