European Championships 2015 - hosts Italy and Bulgaria

    If we talk about the OHs i would put Tillie over Ngapeth. He saved Ngapeths a.rse yesterday with a monster match and did very well today too.
    But i am biased.... 8)

    Quote from B. Moreira


    I can't understand how Zaytsev is the best opp and Rouzier is MVP.


    The best players' award nowadays take balanced distribution between teams as well as players' fame in consideration. Zaytsev didn't play well in the semi-final, but it's not unacceptable for him to grab the award.


    Rouzier being MVP is deserved IMO. He's been very consistent in the final matches, especially when there're moments that N'gapeth has been struggling in both semi-final and final.

    Quote from TimHH


    Welcome to Earvins world :roll:
    He would have been seriously disappointed if someone else but him scored the last point or even if he scored it in a less fashionable way. I will never fall in love with that guy, but thats probably a matter of taste. good player though.....


    i mean, really? he wasn't facing the net, he was sideways, he could have been blocked… yes, it was a funny point, but you don't joke around on match point!!!!!!! this man's ego… he must be borderline insane.

    This France reminds me of the best brazlian NT. The opponent always has its chances, but in the end they (Brazil and now France) win the game. They are so confident.

    I loved this final! It was a real pity that Slovenia wasted so many serves at the end of 2nd and 3rd set and that the match lasted only 3 set, but I really enjoyed the game overall in these two set and I'm glad Slovenia didn't give up in the 3rd.


    Very deserved victory for France, unbeaten for the whole ECH, with to victory after being 2-0 for the opponents, and with a very enjoyable and intense volleyball!




    Quote from rugby


    He is the leading blocker acording to the statistics. :rolleyes:


    Yes, but the award isn't 'best blocker', but 'best MB'. I'm sorry, but I was never in love with him :S
    And It wouldn't have been the first time that the MB with the highest number of block didn't won the award, in the ECH...



    Quote from scarpetta

    Maybe they will give OPP award to Gasparini and MVP to Rouzier.


    Except for Todorov, I would have guessed the same, with Gasparini best OPP and Rouzier MVP...





    ... And in fact I totally agree with your reactions. I guess they had to give smth to Bulgaria, and in that case the only chance was for the MBs (except the totally deserved 'fair play award to Nikolov).


    Still, I really don't understand why they have to give awards to the italian players: none of them deserved it, unfortunately. :what:


    Zaytsev is a big no to me: I love him as a player, but he played very well only few matches, and the most important one wasn't among them. I thought they could give him the MVP at the WC, but for the ECH he didn't deserve an award, and I'm sure he is perfectly aware of it, according to his interviews. I can't believe they didn't give it to Gasparini, letting Slovenia with only one player in the dream team! Unbelievable!


    About Giannelli, I don't know. I mean, as I said I was for Toniutti and I never thought that Giannelli had a chance, but after all for a 19 years old he was impressive in a certain way (may be not for the playing, but for the attitude), so I can understand the choice, even if I'm not sure I agree with it.
    BTW, obviously I'm very glad for him ^^ (while I'm kinda disappointed they give the award to Ivan, he doesn't need any undeserved gift, imho).



    Quote from vabo

    Zaytsev played ONE bad match in the tournament, come on. He was stellar in everything else.


    I think he played only three good matches: vs Finland, vs Russia and today.

    Rouzier is such a strange player. He clearly has the technique and often reduces the power in favour of accuracy or better placement, but very often he looks as if he closes his eyes and just smacks the ball hoping he'll get away with it... and in most cases he does. Especially against triple blocks. He almost never has clear kills (even vs a single block) but he uses the block extremely effectively.


    I agree 100% about Tillie. I didn't like him at first but he is a foundational piece for the team in the same way Ngapeth and Toniutti are. Always solid in defence/reception and reliable in attack.


    I don't know why there's so much hate on Ngapeth. He is flashy yes, he sometimes makes some mistakes yes and his body language sometimes conveys as if he is arrogant a**hole who doesn't care about the team but that's deceiving. I'm sure he's a great teammate and from what I know he is in great relationship with almost all current and former teammates. And volleyball needs his flashy side. You can't promote the game with Mateusz Mika or Victor Yosifov. You need the Ngapeths, the Zaytsevs, the Simons, etc.


    https://instagram.com/p/8_j04zR82b/?taken-by=osmanijp5
    Osmany Juantorena shared a photo of him with Ngapeth and wrote 'No to racism' . I'm not sure if Osmany is considered white or black but what a photo! No jealousy from Osmany after such a final (gold medal/bronze medal), how humble this guy is :obey: :obey:


    Also Ngapeth called Juantorena as the best player of the world in his L'equipe interview.

    Alas, thought Gasparini would get a best opp...


    Anyway, where to see how the results affect Slovenia's world/European ranking please? I really wish to see them more in the future.

    I think the biggest upset of this tournament was Slovenia defeat. :whistle:


    I am very sorry for Slovenia, world volleyball tournaments' format is somehow that if you dont have persistence for some years, it is very probable you will be eliminated from volleyball world. Now Slovenia should go to group 3 WL and fight with teams like Tunisia and Mexico, I dont know if they can keep their motivation. If they succeed they can fight in Group 2 in 2017 which is very hard to move to group 1. The good news is that there is Eurovolley agian in 2017, and after that they may be able to participate in 2018 W CH.


    They worked hard but the next tournament they can experience same high level is 2017 Eurovolley and maybe 2018 W CH. Im not sure they can survive till then. ;(

    Quote from ZMu

    Alas, thought Gasparini would get a best opp...


    Anyway, where to see how the results affect Slovenia's world/European ranking please? I really wish to see them more in the future.

    Theyll be ranked 10th in CEV with 260 points, lower than Belgium and higher than Slovakia.
    In FIVB ranking they will have 45 points and will be some were like 25th. they can gain points from WL for the next two years and come lower than 20th.

    According to this artile on World of Volley, FIVB Forgets to Include Slovenia in 2016 World League!, Slovenia seems able to join World League after the negotiation. And Gasparini's interview proved it, according to Mitja Gasparini - It Has Been an Amazing Journey.


    So, I rather believe they will show up in 2016 WL. :heart:

    Quote from triglav_kran

    I don't know why there's so much hate on Ngapeth. He is flashy yes, he sometimes makes some mistakes yes and his body language sometimes conveys as if he is arrogant a**hole who doesn't care about the team but that's deceiving. I'm sure he's a great teammate and from what I know he is in great relationship with almost all current and former teammates. And volleyball needs his flashy side. You can't promote the game with Mateusz Mika or Victor Yosifov. You need the Ngapeths, the Zaytsevs, the Simons, etc.


    No hate for my part but surely a profound dislike towards players who take themselves more important than the game itself. But i know that this is a personal and biased view. I even tend to agree to the bolded part of your post. Still don't like him 8)

    Quote from vabo

    And where would they play? The 20 teams have already been announced, pool draws are out.


    Now pools for 24 teams are announced. In the news announcing WL format it was said G3 will be announced later, but as my friend wrote, Finland Federation announced a document without Slovenia in G3, although FIVB itself in the news announcing Slovenia becoming champion of EL, they said it qualified for the WL. you can see my post here .

    I was cheering for Slovenia though watching France not only playing but also enjoying the moment and doing funny stuff with happiness I asked myself how it's even possible to not like them? :D Such an enjoyable and nice team! Once they lost Antiga, Samica and Henno, I wondered if I ever love this team so much again. And here we are. Even N'Gapeth didn't ruin my feelings, this cheeky basta*d somehow even fits there. Jennia is just eh... STUNNING :heart: For me Toniutti should have take an award for the setter also. Oh, and one more dumb thought that went through my head: Le Goff looks more and more like a wardrobe. And not just a regular wardrobe but a HUGE wardrobe, kind of the one that leads to Narnia :gone:


    Congrats to all the medalists! Hugs for Bulgaria, I feel you guys! Another sad moment of this tournament for me...


    Can someone make some revolution and allow Slovenia to participate in other important tournaments? This team is too good to be gone :call:

    To me Grebennikov and Tillie were so far the most consistent players from France aling the way. Never a weak match from them. Never!


    For once at least Rouzier played well. :rolleyes: I still find him inconsistent anyway...