The Italian coach is heavily invested in the preparation process, but during matches, communication between him and the players is lacking, and perhaps even absent.
The Volleyball Nations League tournament officially concluded for the Bulgarian volleyball players. Our matches were played in the Turkish resort of Antalya, the Japanese city of Fukuoka, and the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
Our team managed to achieve 3 victories – one in each of the three competitive weeks. The teams we defeated were the USA, Iran, and Turkey. The good thing is that many new faces appeared in the game, gaining match and psychological experience. The bad thing, however, is that we didn't forge a single 'clean' victory – the scores against them were 3:1, 3:2, and again 3:1 sets, respectively. It's important to add that the lineups of the aforementioned opponents didn't particularly shine in terms of names – against us, either other young volleyball players came out, or those who usually don't get a chance to play in important matches. So much for the positive aspects of our participation in the League.
To our great regret, our boys suffered a total of 9 losses – consecutively from France (0:3), Canada (0:3), Netherlands (1:3), Poland (1:3), Germany (1:3), Slovenia (0:3), Italy (0:3), Cuba (0:3), and Argentina (0:3). Yes, 3 defeats with 1:3 and as many as 6 with 0:3. In no case did we even manage to reach a tie-break. All these figures indicate that we are obviously extremely far from the world-class level shown by all these opponents, some of whom will compete – and deservedly so – in the Olympic Games in Paris in July and August.
Our head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini and his staff tried to surprise Bulgaria's opponents with all sorts of rotations between the competitive weeks, including internal ones within the squad in specific matches. Our young team, in many of the matches, seemed too confused by the Italian coach's instructions, which largely completed the picture of our performance. Alas, this time we didn't even surprise ourselves – or perhaps only Kiko Blengini managed to do so.
The coach – inexplicably to the broader volleyball community and niche specialists – easily deprived himself of the comfort of having a second typical opposite spiker for 2/3 of the League's duration. The Italian predominantly relied on the left-handed Dimitar Dimitrov, but for large periods of the matches, he had to substitute him with either Denis Karyagin, or one of the outside hitters, or... note this – our setter Simeon Nikolov! For the third tournament, he had corrected himself, and with 3 options for this otherwise extremely important position. And it became clear that he had made a mistake with his initial plan – Venislav Antov showed stable play for a 20-year-old debutant in the national team. His strong performances were also due to our new 'conductor' in the squad – the aforementioned 17-year-old playmaker Simeon Nikolov. As for Antov – his volleyball instincts as a bloodthirsty predator should never again be dismissed in such an absurd way.
Speaking of Moni, it should be noted that many volleyball specialists also noted his at times inconsistent play in both setting and other elements – serving and blocking. But let these experts not forget that a setter develops over the years, and for these 17 years, Simeon has made a truly big leap. Even greater successes await young Nikolov, as his character is amazing for such a tender age. He definitely deserves to receive a long-term vote of confidence in the most important position, because he possesses phenomenal physique and great qualities that he will continue to develop.
Of course, the strong performances of our captain Alex Grozdanov also deserve recognition; although he is 25, he must now step into the role of a great leader, having a solid number of seasons and matches in the Italian elite behind him. Our play in the middle, however, was also overall inconsistent, as was the situation with the 'opposite' position. Alex gained experience, which he accumulated among our former classy middle blockers, so his main role will continue to be of paramount importance.
Traditionally, the performances of our outside hitters were strong, and we must first highlight the breakout of Georgi Tatarov. The young man from Kardzhali was not at all deterred by the fact that he had to immediately take the place of a starting outside hitter – a position where competition is always fiercest; on the contrary, he seized this opportunity with both hands. Goro played the entire League almost at a consistently high level, without sharp fluctuations, perhaps only in the last tournament did he show weaknesses, primarily in reception – one of our 'Achilles' heels,' unfortunately. But Tatarov will certainly be one of our pillars for years to come – both because of his incredible drive and his wonderful volleyball qualities.
Asparuh Asparuhov, who is also one of our volleyball players with significant experience in Europe behind him, somehow failed to find his game this summer. Puhi is a very good player, but he definitely didn't show enough of what he is capable of. The 23-year-old outside hitter will also be among the core of 'lions' that everyone hopes will lead us back to the glorious years we once had.
Our libero Martin Bozhilov was perhaps the most pleasant surprise this year. The ageless 37-year-old experienced fighter did not for a moment show that age is an issue for playing at the highest level. Marto showed incredible play in reception and defense – exactly what is required from a classy libero. Unfortunately, his potential and qualities were only noticed now – so many years were wasted, and Bozhilov was not even called up to the extended national squad. We can only hope to find such a type of player for the other most important position in volleyball in the near future.
The other young players also had good moments – Denis Karyagin, Samuil Valchinov, Iliya Petkov, Simeon Dobrev, Dimitar Dimitrov, and all those who received call-ups and played in specific matches and situations in the League. They also deserve praise, as they often had to step in 'on short notice' during matches.
But if we truly want to regain our glory as a world volleyball power – we must take drastic measures against our freefall in the rankings. And perhaps this change should begin with a careful selection of new leaders in volleyball who will have a clear and winning vision for the volleyball product at both club and national levels, and also, why not, with a new head coach for Bulgaria, as Gianlorenzo Blengini, at least for now, shows no clear indications that he 'speaks the same language' as the players.
