Pavlov was in Ukraine NT for:
1999 Junior European Championship
1999 Junior World Championship
2003 European Championship (qualification)
2005 European Championship
2007 European Championship (qualification)
Muserkiy was in Ukraine NT for:
2006 Junior European Championship
Dmitriy didn't play for the senior team.
Display MorePavlov was in Ukraine NT for:
1999 Junior European Championship
1999 Junior World Championship
2003 European Championship (qualification)
2005 European Championship
2007 European Championship (qualification)
Muserkiy was in Ukraine NT for:
2006 Junior European Championship
Dmitriy didn't play for the senior team.
He never did, otherwise, be sure here, this would have been spotted and reported :). There was a huge scandal with his nationality around 2006 or 2007, when Belogorie filed him as Russian for the Champions League and CEV had him as Ukrainian on their old notes. Belogorie was stripped of two victories for that - European politics at its best. I recall that at that time he was referred as "213 cm tall" :).
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 :).
Tell me what I missed, because I read your statement very well and saw almost nothing correct. Only the part about Pavlov and the injured Mikhaylov was right. The match with Canada is not a good example, Russia had the game in total control and then stopped playing for some reasons (?!?), which we won't discuss. Whether they gave it up or just underestimated Canada is not the point here.
Zhilin, Sivozhelez and Spiridonov are not that old after all and they surely wouldn't be in the NT due to Khtey, Tetyukhin, Berezhko. I don't like Berezhko and Spiridonov, I wouldn't call up any of them, but the three guys lacked the experience to be in the NT, so I don't understand why you are mentioning it. To tell me that Sivozhelez and Apalikov are bench players... the only way for them to be on the bench is if the competition in the NT is just too big, otherwise they would be starters every time (theoretically speaking, I know Volkov-Muserskiy and Khtey are maybe untouchable). Ashchev did a decent job in the little time he had this summer, but not amazing and you would need massive amounts of proof to show me he is better than Apalikov, whose serve is super important as well. Zhilin is shadowed with all these OHs we are discussing, but he had his part in the CL and the WL. In a team like Russia, it is something, you can't expect to play all the time. Even with half-recovered Mikhaylov Russia was going to win this final, but don't want to minimize Pavlov's contribution. And yes, Sivozhelez and Spiridonov were going to side out, just as they did in the final when it mattered. And they often did it against double block, so I don't know why you are questioning their attack skills (I said I don't like Spiridonov, for him you can take a side and I won't defend him, perhaps you might be partially right, but I do like Sivozhelez as a player overall). And last, I am pretty sure Russia would win 3-0 versus Canada had they lost the tie-break versus Brazil in the first place 
аналитик болгарский 
Bulgaria IS NOT the best blocking team in the world, only one of the best.
You just reminded me of something 
note: this is posted just for fun, not as some pointless discussion trigger
You just reminded me of something
note: this is posted just for fun, not as some pointless discussion trigger
I forgot about this gem 
Tell me what I missed, because I read your statement very well and saw almost nothing correct. Only the part about Pavlov and the injured Mikhaylov was right. The match with Canada is not a good example, Russia had the game in total control and then stopped playing for some reasons (?!?), which we won't discuss. Whether they gave it up or just underestimated Canada is not the point here.
Zhilin, Sivozhelez and Spiridonov are not that old after all and they surely wouldn't be in the NT due to Khtey, Tetyukhin, Berezhko. I don't like Berezhko and Spiridonov, I wouldn't call up any of them, but the three guys lacked the experience to be in the NT, so I don't understand why you are mentioning it. To tell me that Sivozhelez and Apalikov are bench players... the only way for them to be on the bench is if the competition in the NT is just too big, otherwise they would be starters every time (theoretically speaking, I know Volkov-Muserskiy and Khtey are maybe untouchable). Ashchev did a decent job in the little time he had this summer, but not amazing and you would need massive amounts of proof to show me he is better than Apalikov, whose serve is super important as well. Zhilin is shadowed with all these OHs we are discussing, but he had his part in the CL and the WL. In a team like Russia, it is something, you can't expect to play all the time. Even with half-recovered Mikhaylov Russia was going to win this final, but don't want to minimize Pavlov's contribution. And yes, Sivozhelez and Spiridonov were going to side out, just as they did in the final when it mattered. And they often did it against double block, so I don't know why you are questioning their attack skills (I said I don't like Spiridonov, for him you can take a side and I won't defend him, perhaps you might be partially right, but I do like Sivozhelez as a player overall). And last, I am pretty sure Russia would win 3-0 versus Canada had they lost the tie-break versus Brazil in the first place
This Russian team had massive problems with 4 against any team with organised blocking and good opposite, independently of their level. Italy, Germany, Cuba, Canada all gave plenty of hard time. Even Serbia struggled well. Spirik can side-out only when adequate, Zhilin may do it sometimes but with Sivo this is much less likely. E.g. in the final, where Russia "completely destroyed" Brazil, he scored 37% of attacks. And this is his normal figure. The answer here is that these guys are not really big attackers, for different reasons, obviously. Next, try to recall blocking fhrough 4. Schmitt was simply enjoying playing against them, Zaytsev and Schoeps scored whatever they wanted to score, Sokolov would have felt comfortable too. At the same time, Biryukov with Ilinykh were sent to beat second squads of Poland and/or Ukraine at the Universiade :). Add here the fact that none of the OHs were great defenders and you'l get a scary picture. And a big question: why not try someone younger, once you decided to experiment, like you did with Rodichev a year ago?
Regarding the bench status of Sivozhelez and Apalikov. Apalikov had a couple of good seasons in Zenit, scoring over 15 point per game, but the 2012/13 season was very average. Aschev was the best blocker of the Superleague in 2012/13 (85 blocks, 0.97 per set). To make things easier for you, imagine that Russia had Todorov in their roster (80 blocks, 0.98 per set) but for some reason started with Apalikov (47 blocks, 0.57 block per set). Indeed, Apalikov has a good stable serve but again it kind of evaporated this year. He was very harmless from the service line. In attack, Aschev was better than Apalikov too, pls check the stats at: www.volleyservice.ru/index.php…ain_stat&gender=m&stage=1.
Next, Apalikov and Sivozhelez were not part of Zenit's starting line-up for a number of matches. In the national team, they would polish decorate the bench. Note that both guys are by far not new to the NT. While Apalikov did had a couple of good seasons in the past, the choice of Sivozhelez (from 2007 onwards) was never obvious to me. Again it is similar to having Michal Ruciak in the squad: Sivo can complicate the serve but otherwise he's neither an attacker nor a defender. In attack, he would rarely go over 50% (btw, 37% in the final against Brasil). A regular client of the block, he wisely started tipping this year but it doesn't help against an aggresive motivated team as technically he is by far not Pavlov (who is the same height by the way). Defensively he's not Tetukhin either. Leadership skills are not there too. By the way, Apalikov is also just an angry guy, while e.g. Aschev is a clear leader, long-time captain of Loko Nsk.
This Russian team had massive problems with 4 against any team with organised blocking and good opposite, independently of their level. Italy, Germany, Cuba, Canada all gave plenty of hard time. Even Serbia struggled well. Spirik can side-out only when adequate, Zhilin may do it sometimes but with Sivo this is much less likely. E.g. in the final, where Russia "completely destroyed" Brazil, he scored 37% of attacks. And this is his normal figure. The answer here is that these guys are not really big attackers, for different reasons, obviously. Next, try to recall blocking fhrough 4. Schmitt was simply enjoying playing against them, Zaytsev and Schoeps scored whatever they wanted to score, Sokolov would have felt comfortable too. At the same time, Biryukov with Ilinykh were sent to beat second squads of Poland and/or Ukraine at the Universiade :). Add here the fact that none of the OHs were great defenders and you'l get a scary picture. And a big question: why not try someone younger, once you decided to experiment, like you did with Rodichev a year ago?
Regarding the bench status of Sivozhelez and Apalikov. Apalikov had a couple of good seasons in Zenit, scoring over 15 point per game, but the 2012/13 season was very average. Aschev was the best blocker of the Superleague in 2012/13 (85 blocks, 0.97 per set). To make things easier for you, imagine that Russia had Todorov in their roster (80 blocks, 0.98 per set) but for some reason started with Apalikov (47 blocks, 0.57 block per set). Indeed, Apalikov has a good stable serve but again it kind of evaporated this year. He was very harmless from the service line. In attack, Aschev was better than Apalikov too, pls check the stats at: www.volleyservice.ru/index.php…ain_stat&gender=m&stage=1.
Next, Apalikov and Sivozhelez were not part of Zenit's starting line-up for a number of matches. In the national team, they would polish decorate the bench. Note that both guys are by far not new to the NT. While Apalikov did had a couple of good seasons in the past, the choice of Sivozhelez (from 2007 onwards) was never obvious to me. Again it is similar to having Michal Ruciak in the squad: Sivo can complicate the serve but otherwise he's neither an attacker nor a defender. In attack, he would rarely go over 50% (btw, 37% in the final against Brasil). A regular client of the block, he wisely started tipping this year but it doesn't help against an aggresive motivated team as technically he is by far not Pavlov (who is the same height by the way). Defensively he's not Tetukhin either. Leadership skills are not there too. By the way, Apalikov is also just an angry guy, while e.g. Aschev is a clear leader, long-time captain of Loko Nsk.
I think you're using the standard of traditional Russian OHs to assess the ones who played in this WL. You should compare Sivozhelez, Spiridonov and Zhilin with the OHs of the other teams. These Russian OHs are not great, but the ones in the other teams are even worse. A success rate of 37% is not high, but the best OHs in the other teams seem to only have ~40%. The coach may wanna experiment a bit on the platform of this commercial tournament, but at the same time, he might wanna get a fairly good result. These players are not that old, after all. With the international experience accumulated in the past 2-3 years, their best years should be awaiting them.
Russia soon will miss a lot their superhero - Tetyukhin. Pavlov won't always be able to put such a performance once they learn his style. He was new this tournament, but next? Russian reception also is not tested yet with these OH. We will see what will happen in Poland. I think Bella could get very happy this season
About blocking - if we judge solely on block numbers, Bulgaria has no competition in the last 4 years. I know block is not only that, of course, but I love it
This Russian team had massive problems with 4 against any team with organised blocking and good opposite, independently of their level. Italy, Germany, Cuba, Canada all gave plenty of hard time. Even Serbia struggled well. Spirik can side-out only when adequate, Zhilin may do it sometimes but with Sivo this is much less likely. E.g. in the final, where Russia "completely destroyed" Brazil, he scored 37% of attacks. And this is his normal figure. The answer here is that these guys are not really big attackers, for different reasons, obviously. Next, try to recall blocking fhrough 4. Schmitt was simply enjoying playing against them, Zaytsev and Schoeps scored whatever they wanted to score, Sokolov would have felt comfortable too. At the same time, Biryukov with Ilinykh were sent to beat second squads of Poland and/or Ukraine at the Universiade :). Add here the fact that none of the OHs were great defenders and you'l get a scary picture. And a big question: why not try someone younger, once you decided to experiment, like you did with Rodichev a year ago?
Regarding the bench status of Sivozhelez and Apalikov. Apalikov had a couple of good seasons in Zenit, scoring over 15 point per game, but the 2012/13 season was very average. Aschev was the best blocker of the Superleague in 2012/13 (85 blocks, 0.97 per set). To make things easier for you, imagine that Russia had Todorov in their roster (80 blocks, 0.98 per set) but for some reason started with Apalikov (47 blocks, 0.57 block per set). Indeed, Apalikov has a good stable serve but again it kind of evaporated this year. He was very harmless from the service line. In attack, Aschev was better than Apalikov too, pls check the stats at: www.volleyservice.ru/index.php…ain_stat&gender=m&stage=1.
Next, Apalikov and Sivozhelez were not part of Zenit's starting line-up for a number of matches. In the national team, they would polish decorate the bench. Note that both guys are by far not new to the NT. While Apalikov did had a couple of good seasons in the past, the choice of Sivozhelez (from 2007 onwards) was never obvious to me. Again it is similar to having Michal Ruciak in the squad: Sivo can complicate the serve but otherwise he's neither an attacker nor a defender. In attack, he would rarely go over 50% (btw, 37% in the final against Brasil). A regular client of the block, he wisely started tipping this year but it doesn't help against an aggresive motivated team as technically he is by far not Pavlov (who is the same height by the way). Defensively he's not Tetukhin either. Leadership skills are not there too. By the way, Apalikov is also just an angry guy, while e.g. Aschev is a clear leader, long-time captain of Loko Nsk.
Finally someone very knowledgeable, I appreciate these discussions much better then 
To back up what andrea said before I reply, I also think you are way too critical for these guys. Initially I thought you are a hater, but now, probably as a Russian yourself, you do indeed sound too drastic to a team that won both the World League and the Universiade. First of all, I never said Sivozhelez is a perfect player, I rather consider him a get-the-job-done type of player, someone you are going to start with when the big games come, even if he will do mistakes. I can't say anything about the stats, but 37% is not really disastrous when the majority of spikers in a game finish below 50%. Also, do you really criticize him that much when the team won 3-0 against Brazil in a final? I do recall opposites spiking without problems at 4, but I also recall Russia winning most of these games in the end - the exact definition of a team sport. Voronkov tried different players during the Intercontinental Round and he had an easy goal - finish among the top two positions. They did their job, beat Brazil in the opener in Argentina, played vaguely against Canada (Russia would win 19 out of 20 games against Canada) and was really impressive in the two most important games this summer. Sivozhelez is a part of the very same team that made it all the way, so I wouldn't take out a piece of a winning mechanism. Also, imagine Sivozhelez does indeed start scoring more than 50%. What does that guarantee? Russia has still been winning mostly like that, an increase of percentage might guarantee nothing. Additionally, there aren't many OHs who can compare their attack skills to these of an opposite. Naturally, Pavlov's job is to attack, he had the tournament of his life, of course he will look more impressive than Sivozhelez. And Pavlov is still unknown to the wide opposition, they are yet to find a way to neutralize him.
Second, about alternatives. I don't like to mention Spiridonov, I am not a fan of his. Even if he were the greatest spiker in the world, I would take someone else (Voronkov does indeed have a choice) with better manners instead. You represent a country, after all. Biryukov is someone I like very much, but he is no better receiver than Sivozhelez, only a better attacker. I even consider them identical players. However, with him in the roster Russia lost the WL final in 2010, so he is yet to make a point in the NT, despite his performance in the domestic league. Rodichev has very little experience internationally, it was worth the risk giving him a chance this year, especially during the earlier stages, but I wouldn't use him in Argentina. Of course, that would depend on how he adapts meanwhile.
Now, MBs. Ashchev is a great player really, better mannered than Apalikov for sure. Ashchev is, in fact, a better blocker, but he is not a better attacker or server. I don't agree Apalikov's serve evaporated, he is still causing massive problems to the opponents' reception, even if the number of aces decreased, about which I am not certain. Experience is also on the side of Apalikov. I respect your choice of Ashchev over Apalikov, but when you have won the OG and the WL two years in a row you just don't change the roster. Still, I believe Ashchev deserves more opportunities, but we have to agree the MB selection is so large in Russia, larger than any other country in the world, that you have a reasonable amount of quality to win any trophy anyways (doubtfully, but likely, nevertheless). Todorov is not a very good example here. Here is why. He is famous for having knee problems, he can't be consistent in a week-long tournament due to health reasons. He could be, on the other side, devastating when it comes to one-game-per-week championships as he has enough time to recover. Which means that these numbers do not tell you everything and that you probably would have made a mistake selecting him instead of someone else healthier for a WL Final 6 tournament, for instance.
Last, I am sorry I am not giving you numbers. I don't like to use percentages often, Math doesn't play volleyball, only analyses. The Russian League is a super example. However, these numbers say to me: "Hey, this guy is really consistent and has kept a good level throughout most of the season". Yet, I still might prefer someone else for the NT when the pressure is much higher, the stakes are way bigger and your opponents are new and unknown.
EDIT: Biryukov was a starter in 2011 when Russia beat Brazil for the gold. I gave a bad example initially. As I said, he is a bit better than Sivozhelez and I would choose them both along with Khtey for the ECH in September.
there was another Russian Oh other than Tetyukim,Khtey,Biryukov..who was he ? he played in Italy and once was a starter in the nt.
Maybe Ilynikh.
The media here in Brazil is not talking about the lost, but the attitude of Alexey Spiridonov. Really, is in all over the websites
I have to say, that attitude makes me remember the 90's, Cuba female team. This is so Carvajal 
The media here in Brazil is not talking about the lost, but the attitude of Alexey Spiridonov. Really, is in all over the websites
I have to say, that attitude makes me remember the 90's, Cuba female team. This is so Carvajal
Could you, please, give some links, I would like to read it too.
The only things I've read were Rezende's words about mental condition of Spiridonov, that he should be checked by doctors and Spiridonov's, that he doesn't care what old schizophrenic says
Could you, please, give some links, I would like to read it too.
He was at the first page of brazilian's yahoo yesterday, and first page of "globo.com" still (our biggest portal) 
http://globoesporte.globo.com/…limpiadas-de-londres.html
http://br.esporteinterativo.ya…ernardinho-020340354.html
The press don't call him by the name, they call him only "Tintin" or "russian Tintin" .
The only things I've read were Rezende's words about mental condition of Spiridonov, that he should be checked by doctors and Spiridonov's, that he doesn't care what old schizophrenic says
I laugh about it. Both statements are funny.
Kids, kids.... 
Ok so I read the comments on the Brazilian Yahoo and was surprised that many of the commenters are actually siding with Spirik and told Rezende to suck it up . Chupa Rezende hehe They're also saying Rezende started it 'all' and that Rezende shouldnt favor his son and use William instead. And that Dante is 'old', Russia is better nowadays, calling someone mentally ill is a serious offense, the Rezendes only know how to pose and nothing more 
, there are better players in Brazil not being selected.
