2016 FIVB World League

    Quote from LDvolley

    ^We have no chance, Lozano is the best coach in the world, so many great player Ghafour, Marouf, Mousavi. HELP PLS AAAHHHHH AAAAAAAH



    :D


    :lol:


    Your inner belief is considered not what you pretend.

    AFter 2 weekends we can give more precise review of WL.


    In Division 1 OG in Rio are key factor. Serbia have only WL this summer so it's logical they are playing on maximum level. Federetion choice to keep Grbić but to sack his Italian asisstans seems legit but I would say Grbić improved as a coach and started using all players, deploying different tactics, depending on opponent. Just to add, Atanasijević is playing semi-injured.


    Alekno obviuously doesn't want to play on F6, same goes for Lozano and Velasco. Time will show is that a good decision or they'll miss match practice before OG :whistle: Rezende and Speraw have totally opposite opinion, Brazil and USA are looking determined to play in Krakow, while Antiga is trying to dose form for F6 but peak should come in Rio. Australia is plagued by injuries of Zingel, Mote and Edgar, many new players are in roster like Richards (really good player but lacks international experience) while Peacock is returning after serious injury. Biggest disappointment is Bulgaria but on other side I can't say I'm surprised. Seganov as a setter is too "green" for this level, OH's are quite poor and Tsetso can' win matches alone. I'm their fan but future doesn't look bright.


    Regarding Division 2 I saw some really good & tragically poor matches. Finland is restaurating NT, Sammelvuo gave free summer to Siltala, Sivula, Kunnari (not sure did he retire), Matti Oivanen, Shumov. Most of players are from domestic league, gathering experience and they are doing good. Egypt had turbulent time just before WL started because they sacked Flavio Gulinelli. They are playing without Abdelhay, Moneim and Abdalla, IMO their key players and also doing good regarding the circumstances. Canada is leader with 6/6 but their opponents so far had big problems. The Czechs had mumps epidemic during preparation period and couldn't play and matches. Falasca did a good job also, Štokr and Konečny are missing... Portugal is hosting final tournament but they used the best team on 1st tournament and were quite bad. The Netherlands also had problems with roster, Abdelaziz switched to OPP, Klapwijk, Van Harskamp and Overbeeke are missing but Ter Maat is a beast :obey: Kooy also finished his career in Dutch jersey and they have a new pair of setters. Cuba disappointed so far, losing to B/C Slovak squad, Czechs and The Netherlands. Dunno what's Sanchez is looking for, they are playing in the best composition but will miss F4.


    I've followed Division 3 the most coz I wanted to see Qatar, Taipei, new Puertorican generation, Slovenia in WL. Slovenia cliched 1st spot showing they are beloning to Division 2, The Greeks came as a surprise coz they had a lot of problems during preparation period and Đurić didnt play on last tournament at all. Taipei is the biggest revelation, they are compact and entertaining team to watch :whistle: Montenegro, Spain and Venezuela are unpleasant surprise, Venezuela lost to Tunisia yday in decisive match and have proved they are "wild" team without much stability and composure despite playing on high international level in previous years.

    Quote from Kaziyski

    Biggest disappointment is Bulgaria but on other side I can't say I'm surprised. Seganov as a setter is too "green" for this level, OH's are quite poor and Tsetso can' win matches alone. I'm their fan but future doesn't look bright.

    Quote from Kaziyski


    Cuba disappointed so far, losing to B/C Slovak squad, Czechs and The Netherlands. Dunno what's Sanchez is looking for, they are playing in the best composition but will miss F4.

    Cuba actually played decently in Japan last week and also rotated the squad in Bratislava. Besides, they lost in tie-breaks against the Czech Rep. and Netherlands' A teams so I wouldn't dramatize much about it. Slovakia have 3-4 players missing only, the rest belong to the senior team anyways. Cuba did their job this year by beating Canada in the North American qualifier, I doubt they could do that much in Rio. Let them enjoy the World League and play for fun :)



    I shared my opinion regarding Bulgaria's issues and future in the NT thread. First things first, they have no motivation this summer and I don't know why Plamen insists on playing with Nikolay Penchev and often with Ananiev, to start with. Penchev's head is somewhere else this summer, Ananiev is no longer of NT quality. Gradinarov and Seganov aren't worth discussing. Motivation is the biggest issue of all. Which is bad because they are going to rest after this week's tournament in USA is over. I hope at least they are going to win the relegation battle with Australia. About the future. Well, I shared my thoughts, too, it is no secret. Bulgarian volleyball is going on a decline. Not immediately but surely and slowly heading in that direction.

    Turkey 3-2 v Japan and Finland, both from 0-2.

    Chinese Taipei 3-1 v Spain, Germany and Kazakhstan.

    Quote from Bartek

    If I good remember Zhekov has left NT so the next best Setter after Him is Seganov, no?

    Zhekov retired after the ECH in 2015. Bulgaria's current best setter is Georgi Bratoev who won't play for the NT as long as Konstantinov is the head coach. Mostly in solidarity with his twin brother. Then there is in-form Georgi Manchev, setter of the newly crowned local champions Dobrudzha. Not fully fit after the club season, Manchev was sent to play at the European League with the B team. To me, he is the best one we have after Bratoev's denial. Possible candidates of different quality and preference include Agontsev, Dobromir Dimitrov, Seganov, Chono Penchev. The A team members are Agontsev and Seganov, Konstantinov's favourites. I personally would favour Manchev and Penchev but that's just me.

    Serbia plane landed in Istanbul one hour after the attack, they are all safe. they should stay in Istanbul today since all the the flights are canceled from/to there.


    Jovovic instagram

    Serbia is scheduled to arrive in Tehran tomorrow 1:30 a.m local time.

    And the thing is, they were actually supposed to travel the day before yesterday, but the plane couldn't take off due to a storm in Belgrade. They had to postpone it for the following day and then the drama in Turkey happened. The whole thing is starting to look a bit... spooky. I hope everyone stays safe.