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Bruno has always been a controversial player. Despite his clear talent he was considered overrated by many volleyball fans for long years, maybe becouse he is the son of Bernardo or maybe becouse some people don't like his extrovert character.
I read many years ago few discussions about him and I noticed that he was not considered at all one of the best setter in the world, there were many doubts about him, I was a bit disappointed about it becouse I saw bruno playing in Modena in 2011 and I was really amazed about his playing style.
Some people said thet they don't like at all his setting tecnique and some others that he was not a winner or a leader. for example after London OG final they said " he's 26 years old, he play for the brazilian NT but actually he has not achieved any great result yet".
Now I think Bruno has finally reached his final consecration, I saw him playing many times in Modena in the last 2 years and a half and He really improved, He learned a lot by Italian championship (and according to Bernardo this experience was foundamental for his maturity and allowed him to lead the N.T. at the O.G. ) , he become more focused on the game and he become a real Leader. In the last two years he won an Italian championship, two Italian cups and the Italian supercup, in the last year especially I think he was great, he learned from the defeat by Trento in 2015 final and played a really perfect season, He didn't miss any important match and dragged Modena to a season to remember. But the fact is that he also played in a really spectacular way, his feeling with Lucas and Ngapeth produced a lot of spectacular and crazy plays, they were really amazing toghether and the Modena's Crowd fell in love by them.
But Bruno not only reached the consecretion in an European club, he also achieved the most important goal with the NT : the gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games. There were really a lot of pressure on him becouse every one expects gold by the Brazilian NT (moreover Bruno was in his hometown) and despite the difficult start Brazil managed to win the gold medal.
In my opinion now Bruno is one of the best setter in the world ( at least in the top 5, for me he's also in the top 3 ), I prefer him to De Cecco ( who has a great talent but to me is a bit amorphous, he doesn't have the same charge bruno has and he's not able to involve the teammates as bruno is... in the last two years Luciano didn't played at the same level he played with Piacenza, I saw him playing live for four times but he didn't impressed me). I really like Christenson in the O.G. but with Civitanova he hasn't show his potential yet, but so far I prefer Bruno becouse I found him more spectacular, To me the only setter who can beacome clearly better in a few years is Giannelli, he's the most talented young setter in the World, he's really complete technically and despite his realy young age he's already a mature player.
Talking about the past instead I think that Bruno has become clearly better than Marlon was ( in the past there were a lot of discussions between who deserved to be the first setter of brazilian NT) and he's also better than Raphael, He has not reached Ricardo's level yet but, differently from Ricardo, Bruno had a great success in Modena beacouse he managed to be the real leader of the team ( Ricardo instead in Modena had some problems with the leadership beacouse of his difficult character).
Finally have to say that I talked with Bruno many times in Modena and he was really cute, he's an agonist so when he's in the field he seem really arrogant and unfair but outside he's really kind and humble... that's why in Modena we love him so Much :)
So, what do you think about him Now?
And by that I mean:
- IMHO, setters such as these are suited to a very fast and unpredictable play, the latin american especially. That is evident if you compare De Cecco's play in Piacenza and in Perugia, and Christenson's in NT and in Civitanova. And I also think that is difficult handle such talented setters for the coach. He must put a leash on them, but a loose one. The hard part is the balance, too much restriction and the player is relegated to a "Homework" that maybe others can do better; and no leash leads to what we all saw Marouf do in the O.G. Between him and Lozano there was no doubt which one was in charge, and the game with Italy was filled with imprecisions and, at times, suicidal sets for the spikers. Very different from the Marouf I remember leading Iran to that Bronze medal recently.
Returning to the main topic, I had the luck to see with my own eyes Bruno in Modena and De Cecco in Piacenza play, and I was blown away by them. Absolute bliss, there was one time I lost sight of the ball because DC hid the set until the last moment and then sent in a way no one in the entire arena expected i think. As for Bruno, this last year his sets to Vettori were literally rockets, precise and with a speed I've seldom seen.
To conclude I hope Blengini and Kovac could work better with the setters this year, it is a shame see such players not enjoying themselves. And also I fervently hope that Lorenzetti can change a bit that "Homework" attitude Giannelli has. (IMO)
His playing reminds a bit of Travica, a bit better sometimes, and personally I prefer setters that "make my blood boil", like Bruno, De Cecco, William, Toniutti.
Still it is true that I liked Trento's playing in these years, but not the Italy NT with the same setter. Also, strangely, I enjoyed very much Belgoorod with Travica, that fast playing with a narrow portion of the net, but not Travica with the NT. It is simply how the coach is able to use the strong points of the setter.
Lorenzetti worked a lot on that aspect in the following season and this year insted Bruno was able to lead the team even in the most difficult games, but luckily he didn't miss his creativity and he was still "crazy" sometimes.
I think that Lorenzetti is the best coach Giannelli could have, If he manage to work with Giannelli in the same way he worked with Bruno, then Giannelli would become probably the best setter in the world.
Talking about Travica, I didn't see him in Belgorod, but in Italian NT he was terrible to me, he was a first lady and moreover I didn't like at all his setting style. To me Giannelli is by far better ( even if he's only 20 years old )