Olympic Games - Brazil 2016 (qualification process)

    So this is the squad of Bulgaria:


    Setter: Bratoev, Agontsev
    OH: Skrimov, Penchev, Gradinarov, Ananiev
    Opp: V. Nikolov, Uchikov
    MB: Yosifov, Todorov, N. Nikolov
    L: Salparov, Ivanov, Bozhilov


    Without Aleksiev, I hope Skrimov and Penchev could compensate well with their reception. One of Salparov and Ivanov will be registered as a regular player such that he can substitute an OH in the three back-row rotations.


    Anyone can comment on Bulgaria's squad?


    A very defensive squad and what Bulgaria missed during the last ECH was consistent power in attack.


    Correct, this is the final Bulgarian list. What can we say about it? Todor Aleksiev and Tsvetan Sokolov will miss the qualifier because they still haven't recovered from their respective injuries. Aleksiev has been considered to be fit in time, his absence is a bit surprising, obviously his condition doesn't allow him to help at all. Plamen Konstantinov was going to travel with 3 opposites as he wanted to use Sokolov even for a single game in Berlin. As it seems, he is not fit to do even that at the moment.


    The presence of 3 liberos is another surprise. Of course, one of them will be a pure receiver, my bet here is Salparov, just like at the ECH. I stronlgy disagree with the choice of Bozhilov. He is a very weak libero and a receiver/defender in general, he doesn't belong to this level. Besides, Viktor Yosifov has also been recovering from an injury, Konstantinov should've called a 4th and healthier MB instead of Bozhilov just in case, in my opinion. The coach is surely worried about reception, judging on his selection choice. There's Ananiev to compensate for the lack of Aleksiev. But maybe Bulgaria might suffer in attack, that's true. The biggest problem, however, is that Bulgarian, upon successful completion of the group, will eventually have to play 5 games in a row which is a) a massacre, b) problematic for our most reliable opposite Nikolov.


    I wasn't very optimistic for these qualifers beforehand due to the fact that Bulgaria will have to finish in top 3 - something they have hardly ever done in recent history. Now with all these problems the overall result seems less likely.


    On the other side, there are problems in the German, Belgian, Russian, and Polish camps. So far we haven't heard anything troublesome regarding Serbia and France, which surely increases their chances.




    Quote from laikon


    A very defensive squad and what Bulgaria missed during the last ECH was consistent power in attack.

    I disagree. What Bulgaria lacked to win the ECH was a bit of luck and 2 successful attacks by Vlado Nikolov. They did most things somewhat right.

    German team:


    S: Kampa, P. Steuerwald
    OPP: Grozer, Hirsch, Dünnes
    OH: Fromm, Kaliberda, Schwarz, Strohbach
    MB: Böhme, Broshog, Collin
    L: Tille, M. Steuerwald


    I don't know what's the sense of taking 3 OPPs to the tournament, especially when one of them is Grozer, but I guess Heynen simply couldn't send Dünnes home after calling him back to NT (and he can play MB if necessary) and Hirsch is playing too well at the moment to be out.

    Quote from laikon

    Well, you put it down to luck, I put it down to skills. 2 successful attacks by Vlado Nikolov or another equally skillful spiker.


    So you are saying Vlado Nikolov is not a skillful attacker? Even at the recent ECH when he was 38? I think you must be the first person in the world to question Nikolov's value and skills :wavy:

    Quote from YavorD


    So you are saying Vlado Nikolov is not a skillful attacker? Even at the recent ECH when he was 38? I think you must be the first person in the world to question Nikolov's value and skills :wavy:


    Of course I am not saying that. That would be silly. Nokolov did a great job. What Bulgaria needed was simply another equally skillful spiker - one more OPP/OH - who would have helped your team when Nikolov became tired. By equally skillful spiker I mean someone as good at attacking as Nikolov e.g. Sokolov or Aleksiev in good shape.

    Quote from laikon


    Of course I am not saying that. That would be silly. Nokolov did a great job. What Bulgaria needed was simply another equally skillful spiker - one more OPP/OH - who would have helped your team when Nikolov became tired. By equally skillful spiker I mean someone as good at attacking as Nikolov e.g. Sokolov or Aleksiev in good shape.



    I see. But I still disagree. Of course, it is always needed, we would've enjoyed that many times over the years. And it was quite often the cause for the massive amount of failures. But I really believe at the last ECH it was a lack of luck in 2-3 situations (as reason N1) that prevented Bulgaria from making it to the final/title. After all, they had fluctuations only in the last games in the group stage, which they survived and won, and then were impressive against Germany and France, being two points away from beating the latter 3-0, so they obviously had the right condition and situation not to need anything else but a pinch of luck. On a general scale, to be consistent and always threatening, we surely need a broader variety of players/attackers.


    Anyway, Bulgaria will not have the home factor in Berlin to hope for an extra catalyser (even if there are going to be a lot of Bulgarians there...). Russia and France's chances seem better, in my opinion. Even if Bulgaria beats any of them, it will be the lethal sequence of games in a row that will eventually wear them down.

    Quote

    I see. But I still disagree. Of course, it is always needed, we would've enjoyed that many times over the years. And it was quite often the cause for the massive amount of failures. But I really believe at the last ECH it was a lack of luck in 2-3 situations (as reason N1) that prevented Bulgaria from making it to the final/title. After all, they had fluctuations only in the last games in the group stage, which they survived and won, and then were impressive against Germany and France, being two points away from beating the latter 3-0, so they obviously had the right condition and situation not to need anything else but a pinch of luck. On a general scale, to be consistent and always threatening, we surely need a broader variety of players/attackers. Anyway, Bulgaria will not have the home factor in Berlin to hope for an extra catalyser (even if there are going to be a lot of Bulgarians there...). Russia and France's chances seem better, in my opinion. Even if Bulgaria beats any of them, it will be the lethal sequence of games in a row that will eventually wear them down.


    You have definitely made a point here . As for your chances in the OQT I think that you have a very favourable order of play. Finland to warm-up, then Russia and finally France. If France defeats Russia and Bulgaria wins with Finland and then with Russia (difficult but feasible as Russia has their own problems) you may not have to win with France at all and still advance to the semifinals.

    Quote from laikon


    You have definitely made a point here . As for your chances in the OQT I think that you have a very favourable order of play. Finland to warm-up, then Russia and finally France. If France defeats Russia and Bulgaria wins with Finland and then with Russia (difficult but feasible as Russia has their own problems) you may not have to win with France at all and still advance to the semifinals.


    I have to agree here. The schedule might be favourable for Bulgaria only in case Russia underperforms. We will see about that :)

    Quote from YavorD


    I have to agree here. The schedule might be favourable for Bulgaria only in case Russia underperforms. We will see about that :)


    Well, they have underperformed recently so do you think that Alekno has managed to prepared them mentally for this kind of battle? A lot of inexperienced players in the Russian team at least at international level.

    Quote from LDvolley

    They have their best possible squad unlike most others, only France has too but i feel they are getting overconfident like friendlies results show.


    Good point, but Serbia has two inexperienced players (1 OPP and 1 OH). I am not sure Anatasijevic is able to play at a very high level for 5 matches without a substitute.


    Hm, 3 opposites, i didn't see this coming......


    I only hope everything is OK with Grozer. He arrived late from South Korea and didn't take part in the training matches against Russia. Also Fromm might not be in his best possible state. He missed the last matches for Perugia due to an ankle injury and i wonder if he is already at 100%.


    Overall i am less optimistic than before the ECH but that actually could be a good sign 8)

    Quote from YavorD

    I see. But I still disagree. Of course, it is always needed, we would've enjoyed that many times over the years. And it was quite often the cause for the massive amount of failures. But I really believe at the last ECH it was a lack of luck in 2-3 situations (as reason N1) that prevented Bulgaria from making it to the final/title. After all, they had fluctuations only in the last games in the group stage, which they survived and won, and then were impressive against Germany and France, being two points away from beating the latter 3-0, so they obviously had the right condition and situation not to need anything else but a pinch of luck. On a general scale, to be consistent and always threatening, we surely need a broader variety of players/attackers.


    Anyway, Bulgaria will not have the home factor in Berlin to hope for an extra catalyser (even if there are going to be a lot of Bulgarians there...). Russia and France's chances seem better, in my opinion. Even if Bulgaria beats any of them, it will be the lethal sequence of games in a row that will eventually wear them down.


    By chance, I watched back that exciting ECH semi-final just yesterday (I could only watch set 5 when it's live), perhaps on noting that Bulgaria and France are gonna meet again next week. France was very beatable that day. The two teams were, somewhat surprisingly, at par on the technical level. The French team was a bit nervous, as exemplified by a very uncharacteristic, shaky reception in the first two sets. Monstrous blocks from the Bulgarian team, and a struggling N'gapeth, were crucial factors in the first two sets going in favor of Bulgaria.


    I agree with Yavor that Bulgaria lacked a bit of luck / two successful spikes from V. Nikolov to close the game. Even after France started making far less reception mistakes afterwards, Bulgaria still had a lot of chances to win the match. France had been leading mid-way in each of the next three sets, but remarkably, Bulgaria managed to level the game once in all those three sets, showing that France was not that confident throughout the match. V. Nikolov is undoubtedly a very skillful and influential spiker. In such a long tournament, however, one can't expect too much from a 38-year-old to contribute too much. V. Nikolov had been suffering from stamina issues since set 2, but he still delivered a decent performance with his experience. In set 3, he gave his best performance in the match by making a lot of spike kills. Since then, unfortunately, he seemed overloaded and couldn't match the physical demand on court. If the game was not so close throughout these sets, Konstantinov would have rested him at least for half of set 4. Then perhaps he wouldn't make those spike faults in set 5. On the other hand, the two OHs, Aleksiev and Penchev, performed extremely well on both offensive and reception ends. They didn't choke at all, and Penchev made a lot of successful spikes from pos. 2 to help the team pass through that tricky rotation.


    Reflecting from that match, Bulgaria still has their chances in the Olympic Qualifier against France (as well as Russia). France is the team to beat, but they have not matured to a level that is unbeatable. Most players in the starting line-up have ups-and-downs in a match, including Toniutti, making the result less predictable. On the basis of at least two reliable spikers during the game, Bulgaria needs to maintain aggressive float serves that gave a lot of trouble to all the French receivers including Grebennikov. Their blocking at least has to match their opponent's blocking performance. Uchikov hopefully can be a good back-up of V. Nikolov. I hope that Bulgaria can reach the top 3 together with France in this qualifier.

    Quote from TimHH


    Hm, 3 opposites, i didn't see this coming......


    I only hope everything is OK with Grozer. He arrived late from South Korea and didn't take part in the training matches against Russia. Also Fromm might not be in his best possible state. He missed the last matches for Perugia due to an ankle injury and i wonder if he is already at 100%.


    Overall i am less optimistic than before the ECH but that actually could be a good sign 8)


    Dünnes is not a "real" opposite. He is a joker for all attacking positions. Perhaps you remember that he had about the same role in the OQT and OG 2012.
    With this roster Germany is very flexible. It's a typical tactcal "Heynen" decision.


    What surprises more is Collin instead of Andrei ... but the trainer will have his reasons ... :olympia:

    What a stupid schedule. They should have made a schedule which is same for every one not making it based on TV broadcasting and money. This way the schedule will be a key factor to determine Olympics qualified teams.