Inside VolleyCountry

Quoted from "saishuu"

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

I feel like Poland or maybe their federation probably blames a lot of non-factors like maybe Antiga. Antiga is a man of action. When he does something... he sticks with it like using Lomacz instead of Drzyzga or benching popular players that are playing badly. So they probably feel like what he did to their team is his fault. I don't know. It's just a conspiracy theory.

And now Antiga is in the final six with Canada using plenty of new faces...

Lmao although that required the help of another team but still it was a great achievement on his first year as coach of Canada.

I mean compare to Poland with an amazing pool of players and a competitive league etc.

I don't even know what was Giorgi trying. It feels more like other teams know Poland more than he does.

I wish what he was doing is more like sending signals to Poland Fed that their popular superplayers sucked and they need Wilfredo ASAP. Like a scream for help.

Although that would also be like taking a superstar into your team as anti-TEAM but team chemistry usually takes time and adding a superstar usually remedies the symptoms faster but not the whole problem.

I wish it could be like that for Poland because those Giorgi decisions were horrible! I bet my life Antiga wouldn't make them. Kurek is like the last person you want in your team during the worst of times but he did.

Antiga is probably laughing his way out of Poland NT though. He's now completely 100 percent Drama-Free. It was still a miracle that the Poland made it to the olympics. Their team was lucky to have him. I wish Poland and their players appreciated his work more.

hahahahaha.... watch this play starting about 1:00:16...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW8x8TlGTa0

Oh yeahhh, Antiga is in the Final 6 and Poland is not.

I will be cheering my heart out for Canada to beat Russia.

I had a roommate from Poland which happens to be a volleyball fan as well, and she told me that Polish players does not know how to work together as a group, they really struggles with that, they are better in individual sports, and when they score and they do that "jumping group together" is a way to "force" themselves to create some "group chemistry" during the game. But during the games each player goes into their own island, and it becomes a individual performance game. Especially when they are loosing it is easy to see they have 0 communication.

I was thinking they would play this WL with Muzaj as main weapon, but I think he barely played.
Szalpuk barely played also so when turned the game on I was really surprised to see him playing today.
Only bright spot is Lemanski.

Well, they will have the European Championship, let`s see if they can redeem themselves.

Quoted from "ossubtus"

what the heck was that with the FRA uniforms in the match with ITA, that they had to change them in the first TTO???? they were all wearing blue as the ITA, then they changed to red... that was funny, except they didn't match the shorts anymore.

Both teams came out in blue. If it is a lower level club tournament, it happens, but with the FIVB there has to be a difference in colors for the referees.

Quoted from "rbdfabio"

Oh yeahhh, Antiga is in the Final 6 and Poland is not.

I will be cheering my heart out for Canada to beat Russia.

I had a roommate from Poland which happens to be a volleyball fan as well, and she told me that Polish players does not know how to work together as a group, they really struggles with that, they are better in individual sports, and when they score and they do that "jumping group together" is a way to "force" themselves to create some "group chemistry" during the game. But during the games each player goes into their own island, and it becomes a individual performance game. Especially when they are loosing it is easy to see they have 0 communication.

I was thinking they would play this WL with Muzaj as main weapon, but I think he barely played.
Szalpuk barely played also so when turned the game on I was really surprised to see him playing today.
Only bright spot is Lemanski.

Well, they will have the European Championship, let`s see if they can redeem themselves.

I bet you my 100 milliion FIFA 17 money that it's not just exclusive to volleyball that kind of superstar-thing in Poland. I mean how many in this world you can make them say yes that they know another football player from Poland other than Robert Lewandowski.

I mean...in Germany alone I can recite like Reus,Mueller, Neuer, Hummels etc.

I know polish player names are hard to pronounce but it's not like you hear them everyday in some big club like Bayern.

But yeah seems like it's also true for volleyball with Kurek's name popping up anywhere than his teammates. I mean I know both players are great but Kurek is a little bit below than your average superstar but seems like Polish fans have a tendency to over-value their players which hurts the team in my oponion cause there are other really good players too. But they give the spotlight to Kurek which puts him so much under pressure and when the needs arise when they need his help, he just shoot blanks. I mean, I think if they do not have that hierarchy of players maybe other players will step up and produce points when badly needed instead of giving the ball to Kurek and hope he doesn't commit a spell of errors.

Yeah I also wish Poland use their young players instead. Atleast no one would've been hyped this badly. After beating Brazil... They probably thought normal life is back then Bulgaria beat them.

Lemanski with his height should've gooten more block touches imo. I did not follow Poland throughout the competition but he's still not ready imo. But atleast he got a one of a hell exposure.

Quoted from "LDvolley"

Argentina played very good volleyball in all the last weekend despite playing with two midget OHs and a MB as Opp De Cecco worked his magic.

Albeit "midget", Argentine OHs are indeed very good - they seldom make stupid mistakes and do not waste chances. Both Poglajen and Bruno are very skillful and reliable.

Indeed, Argentina played a very good Olympics last year, thanks to the arts of Velasco. I believe he could maximize the potential of this team, in spite of their physical disadvantage.

Quoted from "Rains_of_Castamere"

Bulgaria needs to train better setters with the middles blockers. It seems like that's going to be a problem for them when they are separated by countries or miles though. Bulgaria was one-dimensional in offense and faces lots of troubles with blocks. Their passing wasn't great but the best setters in the world are capable of turning trash into gold. The lack of creativity was seen best today. Even Bruno wasn't that creative with Bulgaria. So with that, it just made Argentina play aggressively because the setter can't do nothing and forces the play to Sokolov.

I also feel Bulgaria has trouble with "resetting the play". There's no fine line befween killing the ball or saving the play which could've created better opportunities for them to attack the second time around.

Honestly, it's just tactics for Bulgaria. They need someone who can guide them and make them play without the need for power.

Oh I think Sokolov should train with his service. That error ratio was really bad. Other wise Sokolov played really well... with his shorts. I feel I was in heaven too.

Bulgaria is playing old-school volleyball that wanted to use power to decide everything. This team has so many problems: poor serves (high error rates), bad reception, predictable sets, really poor defense, and lack of skills in offense (with reference to R_o_C's point of "resetting the play"). These problems have been surfaced for many years, but it appears that the whole team is not demanding enough to themselves that they haven't paid effort to improve any of these aspects. Take reception as an example. Skrimov and N. Penchev are supposed to do well in this element, but both of them are shadowed by themselves a few years back then.

Very odd tournament indeed, I can't believe USA/Russia B/C squads managed to enter F6 big respect for them but this is saying a lot more about other teams. Belgium, Bulgaria and Poland stayed behind even using the best possible squads. No wonder FIVB is going to change format starting the next season but I doubt it'll bring more excitement.

Poles didn't surprise me, after all De Giorgi couldn't change much in mentality and I doubt he will in the future. Bulgarians... unpredictable team based on Russian style which can't produce results in the long run. IMO they are playing the same like Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and they can't play like that because quality limits in setter and OH position. I knew they are going to lose vs ARG, simply that style doesn't fit for them despite having big physical advantage. To be honest I was expecting much more from Heynen's Belgium but except big sacrifice and fighting spirit I havn't seen much. First impression is they looked better, more composed, under Baeyens guidance.

I was expecting Serbia in the finals despite some absences (Atana, Petrić, Brđović). They had one weaker match (Belgium in Novi Sad), played great in Iran while tour in Cordoba is meaningless except 1st match. There is big pressure on Grbić to retain the title France impressed me They even look better w/o Rouzier and Marechal, MB's Chinenyeze and Bultor had a great tournament in Antwerpen, T. Rossard also so they don't need to worry about the future

Canada impressed me the most, especially regarding tactics. Loss against France was planned as Antiga was resting Perrin and Hoag to have the fresh for Italy. Maybe it's not fair but surely paid out. No one trashed them despite some new faces, Sanders was brilliant but teamwork is their main strenght.

Pool J1 - Brazil, Russia, Canada
Pool J2 - France, Serbia, USA

IMO Brazil, Canada, France and Serbia should play in SF's. Key match will be France - Serbia to avoid Brazil. I really doubt USA and Russia can do some damage but won't be easy vs them.

In Division 2 SF's are:

Slovenia - The Netherlands
Australia - Japan

Estonia won Division 3 after 2 convincing wins without dropping single set. This team deserves attention, just hope they'll play in WL next season

Quoted from "SHAME"

Quoted from "LDvolley"

Quoted from "SHAME"

How many years since the last win of Argentina over Brazil?

Officially since PanAm games 2015 final, however, against Brazil "A" team, since Sydney 2000

Thanks. I realized how much they cared about the game by the way the celebrated all together.

Few nice articles about the 'clasico' on Mario Salvini's Blog ('Che Palle').
If you look for the world 'clasico' in the search bar you will find other articles about Argentinian NT/players (like Facundo or De Cecco)
http://chepalle.gazzetta.it/2010/07/22/cordoba-3-il-clasico/
http://chepalle.gazzetta.it/2010/10/08/dynasty-albiceleste/
http://chepalle.gazzetta.it/2012/08/08/l…orno-dei-figli/
http://chepalle.gazzetta.it/2015/07/27/l…tte-il-brasile/

Quoted from "B. Moreira"

I really liked this WL, everthing can happen in this last round.

Because you're not from Italy

Quoted from "SHAME"

France lost nothing changing Rouzier with Boyer, IMHO they fixed the weak link of the team.

I agree! And they have so many good OHs!

Quoted from "B-quick"

hey cant produce a decent team B

And it's not even a 'B team', it's practically the A team without Zaytsev for this summer, since Juantorena and Kovar won't be there for the ECh (unless big surprises). I think that beside Zaytsev the only one that may be called back is Birarelli, but I think his time with the NT is over (despite still being the best Italian MB at the moment, imho).
Still, I was sure Zaytsev was going to play as OH, but now I would think about that very carefully.

Quoted from "rbdfabio"

I`m glad Canada is in the Finals.
But I can`t believe Belgium is out . And I can`t believe Russia is in

I agree, I was cheering for both Canada and Belgium to be in, and definitely not for this Russia.

Quoted from "ossubtus"

what the heck was that with the FRA uniforms in the match with ITA, that they had to change them in the first TTO???? they were all wearing blue as the ITA, then they changed to red... that was funny, except they didn't match the shorts anymore.

They eventually changed the shorts too xD

Quoted from "Kaziyski"

IMO Brazil, Canada, France and Serbia should play in SF's.

Well, it was well known even before this tournament that Italy is nothing without Ivan.

They (FIPAV) expected Juantorena as a God supposed to bring gold medals and eventually they kept this new tradition made of silver and bronze medals going on. And the cuban was a disappointment.

The silver medal in Rio was a masterpiece by Zaytsev, just like the bronze medal in London was a masterpiece by Savani. The rest of the team is made by a bunch of ok/decent/good players who have nothing to repeat the steps of Generazione di Fenomeni + Giannelli (when he turns his brain on). Italy needs brave souls on court physically and technically gifted and I just can see 2 of them: Zaytsev and Giannelli.

President of Slovenian Volleyball Federation announced they'll sue FIVB to CAS if they win Division 2 and not enter Division 1 he obviously doesn't know he is dealing with

I want promotions and relegations. Go Slovenia!

Quoted from "SHAME"

I want promotions and relegations. Go Slovenia!

This is done thing just FIVB won't announce it until World league finishes. IMO that's not a smart move. Now 36 teams are participating in WL, FIVB is still getting huuge money as registration fee for Div 1 is 300 000 $, 100 000 $ for Div 2 (not sure) and 65 000 for Div 3. Math is simple, FIVB earned 5 580 000 $ just from registration fees. I must add that hosts are paying all costs for FIVB staff (around 30 people not counting refs), challenge system costs 15 000 $ per weekend and so on. No one can say FIVB isn't earning big but they are greedy and want more.

TV rights are also expensive (up to 250 000 for Division 1 weekend tournament), there are also other sponsors... But Japan and South Korea aren't satisfied playing in Div 2 and they are FIVB's "gold mine". Slovenia & Belgium got shorter end of the stick, so far Belgians haven't go with official statement but I doubt they are satisfied at all.

For me the main question is what FIVB will do with other 20 teams? F.e Egypt is old-timer WL participant, as well as Finland, Cuba etc. Who they'll enter WL? I'm not sure Slovenia, Belgium, Finland or The Netherlands are going to play European League next summer for a simple reason - they outgrow EL which became 3rd level competition. I wonder how FIVB thinks those teams can improve playing against Macedonia, Azerbajian, Sweden or Albania? Don't think FIVB is going to find Solomon's solution, they are driven by money but it has to stop once

What a mess

The big issue is that there's no practical way of fixing the WL without some significant changes that will anger a lot of countries. Just like Tokyo 2020 fixed the World Cup disaster, something else will happen to fix the World League, again without any kind of real decision making by the FIVB.

Quoted from "vabo"

What a mess

The big issue is that there's no practical way of fixing the WL without some significant changes that will anger a lot of countries. Just like Tokyo 2020 fixed the World Cup disaster, something else will happen to fix the World League, again without any kind of real decision making by the FIVB.

Fully agree but FIVB must "invent" some competition for all teams that losing place in the WL. Slovenia paid 160 000 $ in 2 years for what? Go get kicked out? What to do with Estonia who won Div 3, spent big money for them? The WL is commercial tournament and should stay in this format fi you ask me.

Perhaps a compromise solution would be having the European League function as de facto Division 2, with the winner automatically qualified for the World League next season.
It worked like that on women's side some 7-8 years ago, that's how Serbia first started playing in Grand Prix.

Quoted from "JoanaBG"

Perhaps a compromise solution would be having the European League function as de facto Division 2, with the winner automatically qualified for the World League next season.
It worked like that on women's side some 7-8 years ago, that's how Serbia first started playing in Grand Prix.

Maybe but only Bulgaria might relegate from all European teams I doubt they'll relegate so EL would be useless because only European NT's may replace each other in WL.

Quoted from "Kaziyski"

Quoted from "JoanaBG"

Perhaps a compromise solution would be having the European League function as de facto Division 2, with the winner automatically qualified for the World League next season.
It worked like that on women's side some 7-8 years ago, that's how Serbia first started playing in Grand Prix.

Maybe but only Bulgaria might relegate from all European teams I doubt they'll relegate so EL would be useless because only European NT's may replace each other in WL.

I also thought that maybe this is a move that CEV might support and try to improve reputation of EL. Belgium, Slovenia, Netherlands, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal, Turkey, Estonia, Spain, Germany and Austria can make a strong line up for 12 team tournament.There are not many non-European country was left out anyway

The problem with promotions is that you automatically create the need to demote a team at some point, which is something the FIVB has been unwilling to do in the case of strong ($$$) federations. Let's be honest, some countries are too big ($$$) to be kicked out. No matter what a catastrophic year, countries like Italy, Brazil, Russia and Poland will never leave the first group, while the same rule doesn't apply to Bulgaria, Serbia, Argentina or Germany.

Anyway I think we're wasting way too much time in discussing this subject. The WL is marketing, nothing more nothing less. I'd rather have the FIVB spend some time in fixing the World Championships, for example eliminate the idiotic "third phase" and bring back the quarterfinal round.

Quoted from "vabo"

Quoted from "vabo"

I'd rather have the FIVB spend some time in fixing the World Championships, for example eliminate the idiotic "third phase" and bring back the quarterfinal round.

Absolutely. The current format is pathetic. But I would go even further and do like in the soccer World Cup, Round of 16, Quaterfinal, Semis and Final. ( FIBA Basketball World Championship did adopt this format).

Round of 16 is great because even if you would have Brazil vs South Korea playing, it becomes exiting because it is a match elimination and anything can happen. That`s why the soccer World Cup is so popular, every team has a chance to win, it is not like they must win 15 games to win it all like in volleyball.