“The balance of the season at Cucine Lube is more than positive, the team has shown character in overcoming difficulties and adapting to turnover, changes of modules and roles”. Having at least partially resolved the disappointment for the away Scudetto in the fifth and final round of the titled final, Chicco Blengini promoted the team for the resilience and chameleon-like abilities demonstrated. On the microphones of Radio Arancia, partner of Lube Volley, the red and white coach answered the questions of Mauro Anconetani during the week.
“The final balance, not budgeted for, was extraordinary in absolute terms – exclaimed the coach -. Detaching the pass for the Champions League and playing a Scudetto Final with your head held high could have seemed like a mirage at the beginning of the new path, with a revolutionized team full of young people. With these foundations I would define the result in such a tough and balanced tournament as ‘excellent’. For those who want concrete examples, Cisterna, ninth and out of the Play Offs for the Italian flag, took 1 point in the BLM Group Arena in the Regular Season and beat Trento at home, while Taranto, who survived at the end of the first phase, won the two matches with Verona, fifth, who was about to eliminate us in the quarterfinals”.
The topic of the radio chat was also tactical adjustments in the Play Offs to increase the effectiveness of reception. “As a coach, I joined a project to enhance young people – the premise of Blengini -. If we talk about reception, I worked hard to help Bottolo, Nikolov and Yant progress in that fundamental. We took our first steps with this assumption, so I didn’t have to, but when you marry a line of work it must be respected. Gradually, before changing form, Zaytsev was involved in reception without distorting the paths of the athletes mentioned. In the key stages of the Play Offs, when there was no more to plan, the search for the result at all costs came to the fore and I opted for the best possible balance”.
The regret for the coach, beyond the injury of the “Tsar” in Race 3 of the Finale Scudetto, concerns the first round of the showdown in Trento. “Experience leads me to say that Game 1 is the one in which the home team suffers the most on average – said Blengini -. We put the Gialloblù in difficulty in the debut, but we didn’t take the chances”.
