2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

    There`s really no logic... It is actually very embarrassing for the Serbians....


    Makes no sense to give up on a game like this... Serbia could fight back and turn things around....


    Especially because Brazilian fans were really waiting for this game... This game is being played at 3pm ..a lot of people took time off from work to to see Boskovic/Mihajolovic and watch a good game...but the Serbians let the fans down...


    I`m not a Serbian Fan anymore.... :gone:

    Quote from Canter

    whats the logic of playing with younger players against Brazil ?

    Quote from Canter

    I agree...but he could have tested players against Japan and Germany...


    Mihajlovic playing against Germans bench???

    Quote from Matthias

    You need to understand that VNL is not about winning matches, and even less so in the first week. Of course it's nicer to win, but coaches are going to test players, make sure they get some rhythm but aren't exhausted, rest those who might have minor problems etc.

    Serbia just being gracious to the hosts

    Quote from Matthias

    Players like Busa and Milenkovic aren't going to learn anything by playing against German bench, but by playing against Brazil's (current) starters they can.

    They can't learn anything from Japan and a team that beat Brazil, but they can learn from a Brazilian team without Garay, Thaísa, Natália, Dani Lins, Gabi (mostly)? Sure...

    Only positive thing about this mess.....Mirkovic - Milenkovic - Busa...they played "well" and did not back down... They really went for it.


    I like Bjelica but how many times she got blocked ..10?? Clearly she should not be considered as a option for back... Better to go with a Jovicic a chance..

    Even if I think Serbia didn't have to use their bench in the most important match of the week, I do agree that VNL is important to be using the most players you can, which is why I'm enjoying the tournament this year so far. It's totally unpredictable and actually exciting to watch.

    Brazil is always considered as the one of main opponents and I think that's why Serbia try not to fight with them because of not to show real game to them because it may cause problem in WCH for Serbia. That's why Lang Ping and Terzic try not to fight with their main team and strength in all of the games. I still think Brazil will improve their game day by day as usual and in WCH they will be able to make their opponents in trouble. :whistle:

    Damn, JPN v GER is 21:45 GMT, that's an hour and 15 minute delay


    Matthias

    Yes, Zoltan Terzic was alway playing very tactically in World Grand Prix and continues this in VNL now. I'm not even sure, if he wants to get to the final tournament in Nanjing, he intentionally avoided it in Grand Prix sometimes in the past.


    Germany is usually more in the winning trial attitude, despite also rests some players now. But it is not that important this time, because they also are a core team, so they will stay herein for sure...


    Regarding Japan: this tends to be a long match typically, also typically lost by Germany. German NT doesn't like at all the way Japan is playing, you should know.

    I really like the VNL so far, we saw many good and interesting results and lots of new players being tested and some actually performing well.


    Wow Brazil! I don't know how many amazing defences I watched today and I really wonder how Tandara can generate so much power! Kudos to Adenizia, I love her blocking skills.


    At Serbia, Boskovic played 2 awful matches against Vakifbank in Turkish finals, at some point, she was scared to hit the ball. I started to wonder if she is having one of those periods for young players, where opponents can read their attacks and they need to simply improve themselves by finding new ways of attacking, changing skin and moving to next level. We did not have a chance to watch her that much during 1st week, I would love to watch her against strong opponents to see if it was just temporary. Meanwhile, the only missing players in Serbia were Boskovic and Mihajlovic today. I don't think Malasevic will do any better than Blagojevic, plus Rasic had a bad season in Turkey, so I wonder if she will play better than Veljkovic or Popovic at all.


    For the Turkish side, a big applaud to Zehra Gunes! In the beginning of the season I thought she was just a bit faster version of Kubra but she improved sooo much and now she is miles faster than Kubra, I am so so impressed. Simge is also impressive, she was criticised whole season for her bad defensive skills, but I guess it was Eczacibasi's system which was not working after all. Turkey needs more solid OHs though, I don't think there is a need for offensive OHs like Neriman or Hande, but instead a better receiving duo is needed considering how both MBs are scoring.


    Lets see how week 2 will look like and how big guns will react. This week USA and Netherlands were the only teams close to their starting line up from the big teams.

    Well, Terzić wanted two victories, they have two victories, so I guess they could allow themselves to experiment a little. I don't think Serbia would have changed the line-up had Bošković and Mihajlović been rolling over the opponents, but they were struggling as well, so it makes some sense not to force anything at this point going for the victory at all costs and give the other players an opportunity to show what they're made of.


    All these results show that most teams are still not at the level where they can play well several days in a row, which is only to be expected at this point.

    Even the first two days Serbia got victories without using their 100% :lol: real strength of Serbia seemed in ECH which they got gold medals. Serbia always show their real strength in their aim tournament like Olympic Games, ECH and this year it will follow WCH.