2017 FIVB World League

  • I don`t think Brazil "did not give their best against Bulgaria", they played to win, just like they have played all other 5 games, if they were gonna let someone win they would let Canada win as well.
    But if Bulgaria does play next week with their main roster will be very very disappointing.


    About Gianelli - Yeah I was thinking that, maybe he needed a break, but the problem is he`s only 20 years old, and it is too early to give him that kind of privilege. The whole team seams disconnected.
    I agree that Italy does not have any really powerful hitter besides Zaytsev and now Sabbi, but that`s why I keep talking about the "local players should not be on the bench" Italian Teams are taking the easy road and investing on International Players and it is not investing on its local players development. Nelli could be this player Italy need to back up Zaytsev, but he wasted his whole season on the bench.


    But learning now that nobody is falling to the 2nd division, it makes sense, Italy is probably just like Russia, they don`t even want to reach the finals :evil: :evil:


    I hope Belgium and Canada makes to the final 6, Its been fun watching them play.

  • Nelli could be this player Italy need to back up Zaytsev, but he wasted his whole season on the bench.


    Actually he was supposed to be the titular and he started as titular, then he had a 40 days stop plus he needed more time to regain game rythm so Stokr ended up grabbing his spot. Otherwise - Lorenzetti said that clearily - the idea was to play with Nelli.



    But learning now that nobody is falling to the 2nd division, it makes sense, Italy is probably just like Russia, they don`t even want to reach the finals


    I really don't think so. Obviously it's not our main focus (the ECh is) and our goal isn't to win the WL, but being in Curitiba yes, absolutely. After all the only missing one (among the willing) is Zaytsev and now we are still generally playing with the best team possible. If we really didn't care about the Final6, we would have played with Sbertoli/Spirito, Balaso, Ricci, even Tiziano Mazzone or Nelli.

  • according to IVF, there will be 16 teams next year, 12 teams are confirmed for next 7 years !!! Brazil, Iran, China, Italy, Poland, Serbia, USA, France, Japan, Germany, Russia and Argentina.
    and these 4 teams will be in tier 1 next year. Australia, South Korea, Canada and Bulgaria.

    Ok, it was probably highest time for changing the playing mode, since the current mode was already in place for two years :roll: .


    Seeing Germany in that list comes as a true surprise and honestly, i will start believe it when i see it. Don't know what they could offer economically for FIVB?! Whatever, if this regroupment comes true, it would be a big slap in the face for nations like Belgium and Slovenia, who have played their socks off during last seasons to be where they are.


    Being now an officially confirmed invitational tournament, the world ranking points for WL should probably be affected too. Everything else would be a true joke......



    I have two questions for you.


    1. How exactly does it look like.......

    Wow, Raylight, long time no hear. :wavy: Good to have you back, bro' :drink:

  • Seems like Italy has always problems in the pre-olympic season. :lol:


    I can't seem to remember Italy having no problems in a tournament. :whistle:


    After London, Lasko's departure from the team opened up a hole in the opposite and now they got a big hole in the OHs. When will it ever end? :white:

    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

  • I still can't believe it happen :lol: :lol: :wall: :wall:
    Worth watching, I promise.
    antonov in 'where is the ball?' xD


    I was sure Pallavolisti Brutti was going to share this pearl xD

    :lol:
    That`s how i look like on the morning match of a fun tournament after a long party night and still some credible amount of alcohol in my veins 8)

  • The golden triangle of Ishikawa-Nagaida-Otake is amazing. In a weird way it reminisce me of the Brazilian women NT golden triangle in 2008 of Mari-Paula-Sheilla. These Japanese players looks like high school students, imitating Haikyuu to the extreme I must say. HAHAHAHA. Cannot wait to see how these kids will perform in Tokyo 2020. With Otake current performance, I won't be mad if Shimizu is no longer the starting OPP.


    Also kudos to Fuji the setter. He always knows where to set so his wing spikers can have a blast. And the connection with his MBs is completely amazing. I don't follow Japanese volleyball league so I wonder how does he establish the connection with those MBs. I think Yamauichi will be one of the tops MB in the world in few years time.

  • The golden triangle of Ishikawa-Nagaida-Otake is amazing. In a weird way it reminisce me of the Brazilian women NT golden triangle in 2008 of Mari-Paula-Sheilla. These Japanese players looks like high school students, imitating Haikyuu to the extreme I must say. HAHAHAHA. Cannot wait to see how these kids will perform in Tokyo 2020. With Otake current performance, I won't be mad if Shimizu is no longer the starting OPP.


    Also kudos to Fuji the setter. He always knows where to set so his wing spikers can have a blast. And the connection with his MBs is completely amazing. I don't follow Japanese volleyball league so I wonder how does he establish the connection with those MBs. I think Yamauichi will be one of the tops MB in the world in few years time.


    Yamauchi is still really young and came to the sport late. But his height is an advantage for the Japanese team. Fujii and Lee (Ri) play on the same team Toray Arrows, so there is a connection. What is funny is that Fukatsu the Captain is considered of the "NEXT 4" but did not even play this past weekend. Fujii did a great job to get Japan the 3 wins last week.


    Yanagida as a server is just scary. He is expecting to go overseas to play as a professional this season.


  • I got confirmation this is true...

  • Yes, those teams mosi mentioned will be in Tier 1 next season. Belgium is out, also winner of Division 2. Far East money is more important than quality :whistle:

    Dafuq, so that means I have been getting excited over Belgium and Slovenia doing well for nothing? :aww:

  • It is highly likely Bulgaria wont travel to Cordoba with full team ;) their priority is ECH in last August/early September so exhausting trip to Argentina simply doesnt fit their plans :whistle:

    These were Konstantinov's intentions before the World League started. On one side, participating in the WL has been known to be somewhat less rewarding (not in terms of money, but rather because of exhaustion in the middle of the summer and what's even worse - before more important events) unless you reach the F4, thus saving the distance used to be in plan. On the other, it is true they set focus on the ECH in Poland. However, some things have changed since. The team finally got some momentum after a few weak years and Konstantinov, albeit constantly alarming about the importance of other things, is not stupid to miss his chance and try and make it to the finals. Don't forget that, despite having the federation watch his back, the only more decent team he could beat since he took over had been Germany twice in 2015 (ECH), so he is currently under pressure when in charge of the NT. It is more or less safe when you are the federation's favourite, but that's another story. After a year without playing at home and with all recent flops, the Bulgarian NT is finally showing some nice things and it is better to try and look for more of those in competitive matches now that they are in some kind of rhythm rather than stop the whole thing and send them back to the gym. Which could be detrimental to the progress of the younger ones (Seganov and Rozalin Penchev, to be more specific).


    So, everyone left for Argentina today, as far as I know. Konstantinov mentioned, however, that he might use the bench (in a single match, fully or partially) later this weekend due to the long travel, of course.


    Concerning the style of the NT and how they appear "slow" and "old school". Well, this has been Bulgaria's trademark for decades :) Fast volleyball is not meant for us yet, perhaps one day with another generation. This is also the reason why they usually struggle against fast-paced teams, e.g. France, Argentina, Canada. If you want them to change now or expect them to play differently, then you refer to the wrong players/nation. What I have seen them do better was transition and organisation in block-defence, thanks to Silvano Prandi, but it hasn't been there since. This is why his time marked the best and most modern Bulgarian NT I have ever seen, in my opinion. Thus, scores depict whether the team is doing decently or not, their style is unlikely to change soon.

  • I got confirmation this is true...

    Yep, the original source was someone reliable from inside FIVB


    btw for those interested in women's volleyball. here is the same list for the Grand Prix (apparently will be renamed to Women's World League)


    12 core teams (confirmed for seven years): Brazil, Italy, USA, China, Serbia, South Korea, Netherlands, Thailand, Germany, Turkey, Japan and Russia
    4 other teams only for 2018: Argentina, Czech Republic, Belgium and Poland

  • About the other teams I could watch, with the agreement that the World League's intercontinental round has not been serious enough recently to make super general assumptions.


    Vital Heynen's style is visible in most teams he has coached, Belgium is no exception. Pretty much the same group of players we have seen before, maybe even a bit weaker, but look at their results this season so far. Argentina is a real disappointment, no question about it. I will be looking forward to their matches at home. I have tried to follow the Canadian team for years, their progress under Glenn Hoag needs no discussion, I want to see whether Antiga can take it even further. I am especially happy about the wave of new and interesting players they have.


    Japan's new faces and Australia's new coach are worth mentioning in Division II. Lebedew is someone who can bring stability back to his national team, whereas I find Japan just entertaining to watch at home. They usually underperform when they playt abroad. Slovenia's first place is no surprise to anyone, it is just curious how many Asian teams they had to face in these past two weeks. I am sure their players are not used to travelling that much and that far.


    Estonia is a well-known team in Europe, no wonder if they challenge Germany seriously for the first place in Division III, but the positive surprise, also including the WCH qualifiers in the Netherlands, is Austria. I can't even explain how they let Spain beat them 0-3 at home in Linz. They would've made it to Mexico for the finals instead.

  • ^ You mentioned Argentina twice.


    The list for the women at least looks better and I would not change much, except for including the Dominicans.

  • Yep, the original source was someone reliable from inside FIVB


    btw for those interested in women's volleyball. here is the same list for the Grand Prix (apparently will be renamed to Women's World League)


    12 core teams (confirmed for seven years): Brazil, Italy, USA, China, Serbia, South Korea, Netherlands, Thailand, Germany, Turkey, Japan and Russia
    4 other teams only for 2018: Argentina, Czech Republic, Belgium and Argentina

    I don't want to ask meaningless questions about logic concerning FIVB, but just to clarify the process - are the lower divisions going to disappear or are they going to play recreational volleyball in their spare time? I guess the procedure of "inviting" and "replacing" participants will be taken in a dark room in Switzerland, as it used to be.