Men's European Championship 2017

    Quote from Kaziyski

    that's the mentality, nothing more


    Quote from beri

    Like I said Italy is better, much better. But losing from 24-21 14-11 and even 24-18 over and over again is a mental issue. No way you can disagree with that telling me it's lack of quality.


    Of course the lack of mental strength had a BIG part on Turkey defeat on the third set, but I don't agree it is just mentality, imho.
    Against weaker teams it might have been, against stronger teams (and for me both Belgium and Italy are stronger) it also depends on the opponents technical (and mental!) quality, unless you do ALL errors (and even in that case you may think errors are the consequence of risking more, something you may need to do to beat a stronger team).
    And I consider it as a general statement: for example, Ned almost won 3-1 vs France. It could have happen and it would also be deserved. But... can we really think it's a lucky coincidence that France won or that it was all Ned fault, without a bit of merit of France? [Ps I haven't watched the match, so I may be wrong]
    Ps: That doesn't mean Ned couldn't win, obviously!



    Quote from scarpetta

    This Italian team is basically Trentino Volley +Piano


    True :lol: :lol: :lol: And also Piano risked to be Trentinian too, for two years in a row xD


    That's also way, to be honest, I was a bit surprise that practically everybody here wrote they didn't see how Turkey could lose vs Italy or at least that they saw Turkey as favorite.
    I was the first to say Turkey could do that and that the result was open, because Italy hadn't show its best shape (and I mean the shape it could have with these players – so I'm not counting Zaytsev and Juantorena absence) and on the other hand Turkey was playing quite well in the pool.
    But we can't forget that in the Italian teams there are players that played Olympic/European/Champions League/Italian Championship final and semifinal and that played several in/out matches (sometime losing, sometime winning). Things that matters, imho, exactly because these experiences can help to have the mentality Turkey couldn't bring on court in the crucial moments.


    With Belgium the difference of experience is thinner than with Turkey and they're also a better team (in my opinion, obviously; other may thinks differently) that in this moment is playing better than us, so for me this 'Italians are more experienced' consideration doesn't apply that much (unfortunately for us :P).



    Quote from TimHH

    That being said, these two challenges at turkish setpoints were extremely cruel. Ball barely touching the line and this microtouch by Matic


    So cruel, true, but I must admit I was happy as after Zaytsev millimetric ace at the OG :rolll:
    As Lucchetta says, Lanza is a master of manicure, anyway :teach: (was it Lanza, right?? I kinda took it for granted :lol: )



    Quote from beri

    I'm Turkish so I tend to focus on what went wrong with Turkey rather then what went well with Italy. I guess that makes sense to me


    I feel you very much, it often happen the same to me! Especially with the NT
    For example, you felt that Turkey woke up in the third set, while I felt Italy started to sleep :sleeping:
    I mean, the actions that for me were 'Italy is failing every counterattack, damn!' probably for you felt like 'yeah, what a massive block, great job guys!" (and you were right to felt that way, of course!) :rolll:
    And the opposite is true too, obviously: Piano blocks were 'OMG great job Matteo!!' for me, while probably they felt like 'why are you keeping spiking directly in Piano hands??" for you ;)



    Quote from scarpetta

    but at the same time happy for Italy


    :heart:



    Quote from scarpetta

    At this point it will be hard to reunite with him


    I hope it won't happen, but I'm a bit afraid about it :(



    Quote from beri

    Basically you can switch like me all the time :p


    Lucky you, I couldn't because it was very slow :(
    And then my 'secret IP' browser selected an IP from a country where the video isn't available :(



    Quote from beri

    France will probably take the second easily


    I was about to wrote 'it was close, but when it was 20-20 tie France stepped it up and won 21-24: that's another proof of mental strength of a more experienced team'.
    But now to prove me right they need to do another miracle as vs Ned :S
    [I picked the sentence to quote and start to wrote the comment during the 10 minutes pause, then my streaming failed during the third set]



    Quote from Kaziyski

    Also some good defensive actions by Czechs


    I felt almost stupid when I wrote that I kinda liked Czech performances vs Italy and then you wrote they're the weaker team (since I take your opinions in high consideration).
    Now I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that ^^ I wasn't having hallucination :P

    Quote from TimHH

    Czech team is playing great on block/defence


    Ps and after sending my comment (sorry, now it's a bit old) I catch up with the rest of the comments and found Tim's, which is pertinent too ;)

    I remember people criticized and laughed at me when I said that Italian outside hitters are just good as French OHs if not better sans Ngapeth.Guess what?

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    Congratulations to Slovenia.


    Poland made too many mistakes in service. And imo service was the best thing they had here.


    I dont think Russia will make so many mistakes, so Slovenia needs to play better. Gasparini was just OK, the good thing is that Stern is more confident this season. He is playing a good tournament. Russia is the best team so far in this ECh IMO.


    Bulgaria had no difficult against Finland. Like i said the only thing Finland could do was to win a set.


    What happened to France? Maybe they were too tired. Of course without Ngapeth France is not so magic, but i didnt expect them to loose a game vs Czech. Great for Germany. Now they are favorite to play semi.


    And what about Belgium. Their group seemed to be too strong but i have doubts now. :lol: Turkey and France are out. You can never say Italy is out.

    Well, that was painful, even though I didn't expect anything good from my team. Honestly. I just couldn't see many positives from the beginning of this year. And look who's talking, me, lady outstanding optimist.


    Kazi, I just need some warm words now, the onewho lies should not be kicked more :D


    What still amazes me so much is these polish crowds. I mean those people seriously believed we could slap the fate into face and actually win this sh*t. I remembered when I was like them. Today maybe with a little too much reserve and cold I was prepared for the worst. So it seems that our players are, like someone said, chokers and our fans are like bunch of naive believers. And hard to blame us, if we speak about volleyball we always expect sth big. I pity the players and I pity the fans. Believing that thenext year will bring some new sollutions.


    Now I expect big campaign in Poland. How much we need Leon in NT. And you know what, I don't give a damn if the guy loves Poland, has polish wife and learn diligently our beautiful but hard as hell language. For me, come and play in polish club first and then we can speak about getting to NT. Because I don't buy this big "love" for now.


    I have to congratulate Slovenians 'cause finally they played the game I expected from them since the revelation two years ago. Because since that I really consider them joining the top (and again how nasty is that not letting them play in WL elite). Don't get me wrong, any bulgarian followers, I love my second team (Bulgaria) and will always stand for them, but honestly I have no idea how they managed to win 3:0 with Slovenians. Big mistery. Anyway, good luck for both in coming games. Slovenia playing like this should stand against Russia successfully. And quietly I think Bulgaria against Serbia can stand also :)


    Sorry for these monologues, guys. Just a typical stream of thoughts from me in a day of great failure and darker days are coming... I can imagine all of those talking heads speaking, commenting, judging and Kubiak taking all the blame on his chest and apollogizing whole country. Don't like these moments.


    And who said Czechs are the weakest, huh? Guys just did splendid job and things are getting interesting :win:

    It's really tough when Ngapeth and Jenia are both not in good condition. I think that's the key. Those players are what makes France so hard to beat imo.


    Edit: Toniutti too. Very underrated setter imo.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    Quote from elvis

    It's literally cursed. Same thing with Modena 2(?) seasons ago.


    One and a half-year ago... I think. The CL was such a bad timing for injuries. Modena had good chances against Zenit Kazan last year.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    Quote from scarpetta

    Maybe we can slowly talk about Adidas curse in volleyball :lol: First Zaytsev ,now Ngapeth . I'm expecting a major downfall from USA :lol:


    Lucarelli too. What a big coincidence! :rolll:

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    Kk15


    I still stand by opinion Czechs are mediocre team :) as Aristotle said - One swallow does not make a spring :D Neither they are top team, neither France is crap but this result is surprising ofc. On other side I'm not stunned as Frenchies struggled a lot. Tillie's absence is a great loss for them, also Rouzier's. They surprised in WL mostly because new players (especially Boyer) were playing freely, without pressure as WL is commercial competition. Here was different story, all youngsters struggled. Obviously they aren't ready to fight on highest level yet.

    Quote from scarpetta


    :whistle: :whistle: :lol:


    My mistake he was sporting Nike but still. :rolll:

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    As expected Poland got eliminated the moment it faced a real opponent, which Slovenia is.


    Italy was quite lucky playing Turkey, since they basically have this trend to choke big time in the end of the sets, but this time they choked all along expecially when they had chances to come back in the match.


    France was once more very poor. I'm not so sure what happened to them, but they played 10% of their standard level the whole tournament. Every single player was off or out of shape. Pity for them, the level is terrible so far, so they needed almost nothing to be european champions once more.


    Bulgaria made it against Finland as expected.


    1st BOLD PART


    Who is responsible for that? :D :whistle:



    2nd BOLD PART


    Slovenia is a top team for last 3-4 years ;) They were investing a lot in men NT, ACH was a base where they gathered all players which were developed under Hoag and Kolaković's leadership. In fact ACH was national project. All SLO starters were or are playing in ACH so they know each other very well. First they've won European league (vs Estonia), then WL's 3rd Division, this year 2nd Division. That cannot be coincidence and I would tipped them as a new champions if they have at least decent setter.

    None of these playes of France played well.
    My biggest disapointment was Toniutti. His hitters usually got 2 or 3 blocks every single time.
    And then Useless MBs. Cant block, cant kill anything. Especially Le Roux who always left Frnace with single block when hes in front. As a result, back court players couldnt do much.

    Quote from ryleybarnes

    None of these playes of France played well.
    My biggest disapointment was Toniutti. His hitters usually got 2 or 3 blocks every single time.
    And then Useless MBs. Cant block, cant kill anything. Especially Le Roux who always left Frnace with single block when hes in front. As a result, back court players couldnt do much.


    That's due bad reception. MB's were "out" so only wingers left so it wasn't hard to guess where is ball going. But Toniutti wasn't on his usual level that's true