World League 2013

    Quote from andrea

    Those Russian OHs you mentioned are not exceptional players, but if they could be exported, I'm sure many NTs would welcome them and they could even be starters. There're not many OHs who can spike and receive well nowadays.

    Starters sounds yumm :).


    Many players will look OK when they have someone like Pavlov playing alongside. In December 2010, Loko Nsk with Pavlov and Butko simply destroyed the star-studded (Ball, Tetukhin, Mikhaylov) Zenit Kazan 3-0. The OH of Loko Nsk were a pair of stunts (Anton Dubrovin and Nikolai Leonenko)... I think they ended up somewhere deeply on the bench if not in the 2nd league, with Bratoev G :). The 196 cm tall Kolia Pavlov has been definitely the best opposite in Russian Superleague for several years. He's so good technically and he has a killer instinct.


    Brazil was playing a very shaky game yesterday. They actually did so in the first game of the tournament. You may remember that the sets the Brazil won on that day were very tight and the refs helped them a bit, while those won by Russia had like 8-point margin.

    Quote from powsoff

    Clearly a political decision. Bruno, Zaytsev and especially Lucarelli (pls watch the final once again) shouldn't be be there. Sokolov sounded like a joke. The problem is that in a couple of years some people would say that Sokolov "almost gave Bulgaria a medal of WL" and was "definitely best opposite of the world back in 2013" :).


    I think FIVB may have considered the popularity of the players, too. Bruno didn't play well in the final vs Russia, but he did his usual self in the other matches, good enough to grab this award. Zaytsev is deserved to be on this best-player squad. Lucarelli may not be that convincing, but which OH is good enough to be on the podium beyond doubt?


    Somehow, it's illogical that MVP is not picked from the best-player formation. It simply doesn't make sense ?(

    You guys are mixing talent up with class. Sokolov, Lukarelli are great talents but have a lot of edges for polishing before turning into top class players.
    andrea, you are wrong about Milushev. He was considered to be even more talented than Kaziysky, Macerata paid big money for him when he was 18, but things just didn't go his way. Smth like Martino.

    Quote from raylight

    Sokolov brought Cuneo to the final of the Champions League, brought Bulgaria to the semifinal of the Olympics and brought us to the semifinal of this World League. I think he has risen. Aleksiev - did you follow him in Russian league? Not a great talent and still better spiker than most players. Ask Avital Selinger what is his opinion ;) Todorov is the best blocker/ as the element block/ in the world, probably together with Mousavi, he had done 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 blocks in a game countless times. Bulgaria is the best blocking team in the world for several years now. Bratoev as a setter has a lot to learn, no doubt Zhekov is better technically, I agree about that. Skrimov is highly regarded from a lot of specialists in Brazil, in France. Yosifov is the best blocker in Serie A1 for the last year, better than Holt, Fei, Simon ;)


    If anyone here understands volleyball, he will think for a second - how is possible for a team without serving to get in top 4 in World League - is that an average result? What if Sokolov starts doing 126km/h serves one after another /he showed that speed in London/. What if somebody teach him more ball control? He will have 100% efficiency against Argentina, not the AVERAGE 80% :aww:


    I agree that Bulgaria has already achieved a lot with their weak service game, considering that serves are so influential in a volleyball match nowadays. If only they can have more (consistent) jump servers on court.

    Good blocking team = best blocking team at the ends of the net. Best since 2009 as Andrea said /when we started to have tactics/ Btw, our defense system was better at the Olympics. I hope Placi will call Zhekov next year or even this /he will play in Tomis Constanta and is training to regain form/ and we will have better setting overall. Bratoev can train more, too.

    That's probably close to reality. I'd only put Mario Jr. instead of Rossini.

    Quote from raylight

    Good blocking team = best blocking team at the ends of the net. Best since 2009 as Andrea said /when we started to have tactics/ Btw, our defense system was better at the Olympics. I hope Placi will call Zhekov next year or even this /he will play in Tomis Constanta and is training to regain form/ and we will have better setting overall. Bratoev can train more, too.


    I hope that Dobri gets more game time in the NT. From the few situations he was in I saw that he sets very fast, completely opposite of Bratoev's style. I don't know how long will it take Zhekov to be in shape again, he said that he hasn't touched a ball since the last games with the NT or even trained. That is why I don't really count on him. And we should get someone to train our team how to serve, the decline is horrible in this area.

    Quote from dus@n



    Lucarelli has to find his place in best 6!

    I was afraid to replace Aleksiev. Didn't want to make Raylight angry :D

    Congrats Russia ,they are the best male volleyball team at the moment.
    my fav player is Muserskiy. Russian player served very well and that spoiled Brazilian games a lot.Russian defended ,digged very well.Grakin played well especially setting to middles and this made Pavlov and other wing spikers' job easier.i liked Spiridonov's and sivozhelez's game too.i watched Spiridonov for the first time in russian nt.Russia has alot of talented volleyball players thanks to Ukraine :lol:

    Quote from raylight

    Having the best spiker in the world should get you more as Serbia can tell stories about that. Our players haven't shown the maximum yet. We had only one set with good serving and we won it. We are in top 4 in world without serve. Imagine whta will happen when Sokolov remember how he served in Trentino and when Todorov comes back - the men with the most matches with two digits blocks in a match in the last two years. When the team severely underperform excuses like "they are average" are not true. Were they average vs Poland - 60% attack in 9 sets in a row? Who does that to Poland? Neither Russia or Brazil have done it before.

    On paper maybe, but real life is not a fairytale or a Math formula. We don't have results, Sokolov and Todorov haven't changed that fact, so it doesn't make a difference if they are in or out, in shape or not. If it's not Brazil, it will be Russia. If not Russia, then Italy. If not Italy, then Poland and so on. You got my point. And yes, we had them all in London, the result was the same. And volleyball is much more than just serve.

    Quote from powsoff

    The Russian team is a joke. Yes, Pavlov is arguably the best opposite in the world at the moment (!) and this is probably his only chance to win a major international competition, due to the citizenship issues. But otherwise they have out of shape Grankin and Muserskiy and seriously out of shape Mikhailov on the bench. Both Alexeys (Verbov and Spirik), though very talented players, have been deservedly kicked out of the national team by Alekno. Verbov is known to be a total disaster for the team spirit... and Spirik got famous for using the other kind of spirit on the regular basis :). Sivozhelez, Zhilin and Apalikov are all middle-age bench-players. They all have exceptionally strong and stable service but otherwise should not appear in the top-level matches. Sivo and Zhilin normally struggle with a single block when hitting from four, and their reception is usually poor. Aschev is by far a better blocker and middle attacker than Apalikov.

    An opinion of a hater. Who cares, did you eat your own words up last night? The best team in the world since 2011 is a joke... I think I've never read anything more stupid in this forum since I entered back in 2008.

    Quote from raylight

    Sokolov brought Cuneo to the final of the Champions League, brought Bulgaria to the semifinal of the Olympics and brought us to the semifinal of this World League. I think he has risen. Aleksiev - did you follow him in Russian league? Not a great talent and still better spiker than most players. Ask Avital Selinger what is his opinion ;) Todorov is the best blocker/ as the element block/ in the world, probably together with Mousavi, he had done 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 blocks in a game countless times. Bulgaria is the best blocking team in the world for several years now. Bratoev as a setter has a lot to learn, no doubt Zhekov is better technically, I agree about that. Skrimov is highly regarded from a lot of specialists in Brazil, in France. Yosifov is the best blocker in Serie A1 for the last year, better than Holt, Fei, Simon ;)


    If anyone here understands volleyball, he will think for a second - how is possible for a team without serving to get in top 4 in World League - is that an average result? What if Sokolov starts doing 126km/h serves one after another /he showed that speed in London/. What if somebody teach him more ball control? He will have 100% efficiency against Argentina, not the AVERAGE 80% :aww:

    I don't even remember who I quoted here, but I am 100% sure it must be raylight. This post has his signature :) Bulgaria IS NOT the best blocking team in the world, only one of the best. Considering Todorov and Mousavi as the best bloskers in the world is funny, to say the least, or the fact that you think Yosifov is better than Simon, for example. Once again, reading numbers and watching stats doesn't make you an expert. OK, I agree about Sokolov, he had his constribution for Cuneo and Bulgaria and people asked you already - what did he win?

    He barely finished a game this week, often substituted and with a bus full of... not money, errors. Exaggeration by FIVB, Pavlov was the best opposite. Everyone wondered why Stoychev kept him on Trentino's bench for those two years, now you got your full answer if you hadn't previously found it. Stokr is a more balanced player, slightly better than Sokolov at the time. I wish Tsetso all the best, may he take this award as a sign that people believe in him and may he improve as soon as possible. The same way FIVB gave encouraging awards last year to Aleksiev and Bratoev, it did the trick, especially to Aleksiev.

    Quote from volley17

    Muserskiy also represented Ukraine and got a Russian passport in 2006, Butko is Belarussian. A team is allowed two naturalized players and Alekno chose Butko as a back up setter, as Mikhaylov was playing great and Ilinykh could substitute him in case of an emergency. You've been fooled by that Mr Sunderland on laola1.tv, who made a bad impression on me by being unprepared. I mean, he wears a total access badge and couldn't find one journalist to tell him Pavlov's story or even ask his buddy Muserskiy?!?



    As for the final tonight - for the second evening in a row I'm baffled by Brazil's serving. What's the deal with Bernardinho making all of them serve mediocre float??? It was working ok against Bulgaria (pessimistic to say as a Bulgarian, but any serve inside the court would be a problem for our starting receivers) yesterday, but today it didn't pose any threat. Didn't Bernardinho watch how well Russia was receiving in the semifinal vs Italy?

    All due respect to Mr. Sunderland and his professional career, but he does indeed need to prepare himself better. He didn't even have an idea who the Canadian players are, because "they haven't been in top tournaments much". If you are there commenting for Laola1 at the this stage, well, you have to know a bit about players like Schmitt, Perrin and Duff, for example. They do play in top leagues, after all. I criticized him already when he appeared for the Champions League games, he often sounds ridiculous.

    Quote from powsoff

    Clearly a political decision. Bruno, Zaytsev and especially Lucarelli (pls watch the final once again) shouldn't be be there. Sokolov sounded like a joke. The problem is that in a couple of years some people would say that Sokolov "almost gave Bulgaria a medal of WL" and was "definitely best opposite of the world back in 2013" :).

    There is only one member here (Bulgarian) who is going to remind you of that and you should know very well who he is ;) The rest of us will remember the situation better :)

    I would put Kurek there as well. What? He didn't play in the F6? But he's a recognisable character - it is important to keep Polish fans excited, just like we appease Bulgarians with Sokolov :).


    Sivo had some good matches but overall Spirik was a better player. The only advantage is Sivo's service, here I agree. But his reception (game vs Canada) and offence (almost every game) were kind of poor. Also, Spirik deserved a special prize for motivating his team-mates. I think they were pretty tuned to kick the Brazil's a** after what Rezende said about him publically. Add that rather unfair expulsion in the match vs Italy... I think those were very good mobilizing factors that gave Russia very much needed concentration.

    Congratulation, team Russia! And special congratulations to Andrey Voronkov for achieving a great result in his first official tournament. Russia was clinical in this final, it's not every day we see a straight-set win for the gold. I couldn't watch the bronze medal game, but congrats to Italy and Vettori for the display, I am gonna watch the game on full replay today to be able to say more. Too bad for the always fourth, but we'll always support them, no matter how much time they are going to need to take some medals.

    About individuals, Russian OHs was a hot topic in the group stage. But here I disagree. This new Russian generation is often capable of showing their best when it matters the most (there are exceptions, of course), so I can't say I see a problem with this position. OK, they lost to Canada and were shaky in the Intercontinental Round, but it was important to be consistent in the semis and the final, so why bother. Sivozhelez has really been impressive in many key games, both for Zenit and Russia, in the past few years. OK, not the best receiver in the world, but did we really see him struggle against Italy and Brazil? He got the job done, against Serbia or Iran earlier this summer he can do whatever he wants if he delivers against Brazil later on.

    The perfect OH couple, in my opinion, in this year's WL Final 6 is Dante and Sivozhelez. Dante also got criticized, but he proved his NT place, Bernardinho needs him while Murilo is still absent. Lucarelli needs more time, but it's only Russia he seems to have problems against, he is young and will be a top player for Brazil very soon.

    About Pavlov, everything's already been said. Respect!

    Quote from powsoff

    Also, Spirik deserved a special prize for motivating his team-mates. I think they were pretty tuned to kick the Brazil's a** after what Rezende said about him publically. Add that rather unfair expulsion in the match vs Italy... I think those were very good mobilizing factors that gave Russia very much needed concentration.

    How about Best Mascot Award for him? FIVB should really think about that :D

    Quote from powsoff

    Sivo had some good matches but overall Spirik was a better player. The only advantage is Sivo's service, here I agree. But his reception (game vs Canada) and offence (almost every game) were kind of poor. Also, Spirik deserved a special prize for motivating his team-mates. I think they were pretty tuned to kick the Brazil's a** after what Rezende said about him publically. Add that rather unfair expulsion in the match vs Italy... I think those were very good mobilizing factors that gave Russia very much needed concentration.


    yeah :lol: :lol: how about some vodka :rolll: :rolll: :obey:

    Too ordinary. He probably has it every day :cheesy:

    Congrats to Russia and Italy for the winning :thumbup: To Brazil also. As our commentators said, few years ago a silver for them was considered as a defeat but things have changed and now silver it's quite satisfactory. Now Russia dominates with any players they play in the moment.


    I actually didn't know Pavlov well. He jumped into the team in great style. It's not so easy to replace such a player Mikhaylov is. And when he got the award he looked so moved. I really liked the guy :thumbup: Can't believe I wasn't convinced to him.


    I didn't like this year's WL, it was strange tournament, not the happiest one for us. But so many new faces I got familiar with. Lucarelli and Vettori are awesome :thumbup: Lyneel was such a pain in ass in matches against us but still I liked this guy :P Grebennikov stole my heart :D Some nice memories will stay.


    I wish Bulgaria finally solves its problems. Yesterday, the it was for me close to that pain I felt when my team had lost. I couldn't stand seeing Toshko in such despair... You'll be ok, guys. Let's hope top form will come right on ECh and you'll gain more confidence. Solve mental issues and stuff... You just can't choke like that, standing on the court with heads down, not believing you can change the result. Don't give up, guys :wavy:

    Quote from YavorD

    Everyone wondered why Stoychev kept him on Trentino's bench for those two years, now you got your full answer if you hadn't previously found it. Stokr is a more balanced player, slightly better than Sokolov at the time. I wish Tsetso all the best, may he take this award as a sign that people believe in him and may he improve as soon as possible.

    I partially agree with you, but you can't convince me that if Sokolov had played regularly all this time in a club team, he wouldn't have achieved some consistency and even variation in his attack. Remember Vlado Nikolov's game in Levski and after Tours - immense difference. Sokolov enters his second season as a starting opposite under a different coach (Serniotti worked in Tours with V. Nikolov 8) ) and we will see significant improvement in his performance in 2014.



    Quote


    As powsoff has explained, this restriction should apply to players who represent their original country in the senior team before. If Pavlov and Muserskiy play together, Muserskiy shouldn't have represented Ukraine in his senior team before?

    Quote

    Yes, volley17 prolly didn't read the wiki article he gave carefully. Muserskiy played for Ukraine on junior and youth level.

    My bad guys, I thought the restriction applied on all levels


    Quote

    Lyneel was such a pain in ass in matches against us but still I liked this guy :P

    Oh yeah, "pain in the ass" the way Antiga was, "infuriating" to block against. Him and N'Gapeth might form quite a duo for France in the coming years.

    Quote from YavorD

    An opinion of a hater. Who cares, did you eat your own words up last night? The best team in the world since 2011 is a joke... I think I've never read anything more stupid in this forum since I entered back in 2008.

    An opiniton of a long-time supporter. Take Pavlov out and who's going to side-out (e.g. like in the game with Canada)? Zhilin, Sivozhelez, Spirik had very little to do with the Russian team before 2013 WL. BTW, read before replying, аналитик болгарский :).