I don't think he said that to bring him down... I think he said that because maybe that new libero-san was trying to do things that Yaku-san did... and because he probably just realized that Yaku-san and that dark-haired little guy were different and that he (lev) had to change the way of playing...
i really hope so!! i do think the author just ended the chapter that way to make us think badly of lev so he/she can bring him up on the next chapter so his character development looks even more awesome, but i cant say that it didnt leave a bad taste in my mouth :((
He didn't say it in a negative way. Liev had a sudden realization and realized that he needed to change his way of playing because he was playing with his team but with different members. He has to adapt so that they can play better as a team and not individually.
he didn't say that to bring down shibuyama though? more like he said that to himself. When yaku plays, he doesn't have to think much about defense and just focusing on attacking, but now he plays with shibuyama (and i'm sure it's the first time they play together in official match), lev needs to think about the way he plays too. I think that's what he thinks in the last panel. Well it's okay if you interpret it in different way though! maybe the wording is a bit misleading (●'◡'●)ﾉ
oops sorry it's supposed to be shibayama! i misspelled his name
i like lev a lot bec he's goofy and everything but that last scene was NOT cool at all (╬ ಠ ʖ ಠ ) it's never okay to bring someone down like that
i just hope that was just sumthing to make us ~think~ he's dissing shibayama (and he'll actually have some great realization by next chapter) and not the real thing >:(