Russian NT 2014

WE will see the rest of the tournament. It will be a big blow for Russian team if she cant play anymore...she was actually doing a good tournament.

Yeah, Russia's playing without their best MBs, if even Pasynkova gets out of the roster it should be a huge blow indeed. Besides Gamova is not playing her best, I would be surprised if they make it to any medal...

Very good points russia volley fan. I agree about the mistake of not letting Fetisova play against USA.. With Sasha Pasynkova out, I believe this is Russia's best lineup:
Gamova as OH1 - Kosheleva as OH2 & Gonacharova as OPP.. Scherban should not be allowed in the front row as she is too weak both in attack and in block. She can be a sub in the back row for reception. I don't think Russia is out of medal contention yet, should they win game against USA (which is possible) this might be a big boost to their confidence.

There is still a chance for Russia but it's very, very slim. Regardless, I am supporting them to the very end! Hope they put up a very good performance.

WCH is over, not as successful as four years ago but who cares, great job girls. To be honest it was very disappointing especially after their great victory last year. Gamova's return was probably not a good idea, she wasn't physically ready to play and save her country again. The MBs weren't very convincing, rather so unstable not helpful in blocks. Regina Moroz played decently at the beginning but after a while she just showed that she's not enough to play starter. As well as Zaryazhko, she is so good against weaker and shorter teams but her blocks are kinda embarrassing if we consider her height. Podskalnaya and Fetisova were not completely bad but not strong enough to fight against the brazilians and the americans. Podskalanaya's slide attacks are easy to get detected since her movement is kinda huge and unfortunately she's not as smart as Morozova in terms of slide attacks. Morozova usually runs faster and uses opponent's hands whereas Podskalanaya can not do that yet. Fetisova is really strong in terms of blocks and I expect to see her next year along with Shlyakhovaya and Morozova. Russia failed this time but Marichev discovered another young talent.

Scherban was too much weak so I would be very surprised to see her next year. Chaplina is almost recovered from her injury so that she can replace her. Pasynkova was the only player who can receive in a decent level, so sorry that her old injury has come back again Sasha would have been very useful because Scherban was horrible.

Now they need to start another stop in order to play RIO 2016. I would probably keep the two setters (Kosianenko and Startseva), Kosheleva(the only fighter, I'm kinda worried about her health though), Goncharova, Pasynkova, Malova and Fetisova.

S : Kosianenko(Pankova), Startseva
OPPs : Obmochaeva(Goncharova), Malykh
MBs : Morozova(Sedova), Shylyakhovaya, Feitosva, Podskalanaya or Dianskaya
OHs : Pasynkova, Kosheleva, Chaplina, Bavykina, Kutyukova
Liberos : Malova, Kryuchkova

i dont think the absense of some russian middles had an "important"part/role in the performance of Russia in this wch..Russia has never been a team in which the middles have had important responsibilites..since i have been watching them it is so, at least.. Russia has always been the team of strong wing spikers, not middles..however Gamova's poor performance was a factor in that..

Quote from Canter

i dont think the absense of some russian middles had an "important"part/role in the performance of Russia in this wch..Russia has never been a team in which the middles have had important responsibilites..Russia has always been the team of strong wing spikers, not middles..

Well yeah except for the team that finally won ECH and that included great MBs Morozova and Shylyakhovaya. They DID have a big role in the team and were the reason why Russia won.. If things were let to be the same as then I do believe the outcome of this WCH would be much different for them

Quote from USAvolleyfan

Well yeah except for the team that finally won ECH and that included great MBs Morozova and Shylyakhovaya. They DID have a big role in the team and were the reason why Russia won.. If things were let to be the same as then I do believe the outcome of this WCH would be much different for them

what kind of "things" do you mean?

Quote from Canter

what kind of "things" do you mean?

By 'things' I mean if it was the same team and line-up as then.. Startseva as a starter, Gamova's return, Obmochaeva as OH, another MBs all then contributed to this.. I am not saying that way Russia would win the gold but that team had a great chemistry and I was pretty excited to see them play.. Fast offense, good reception, great blocking and most of all real passion and friendship between the girls.. look at how they danced when they won the ECH.. This team would never do that..

just because your doing the same things for decades does not mean it will be successful forever

Quote from USAvolleyfan

By 'things' I mean if it was the same team and line-up as then.. Startseva as a starter, Gamova's return, Obmochaeva as OH, another MBs all then contributed to this.. I am not saying that way Russia would win the gold but that team had a great chemistry and I was pretty excited to see them play.. Fast offense, good reception, great blocking and most of all real passion and friendship between the girls.. look at how they danced when they won the ECH.. This team would never do that..

Ok..well ...which are/were the opponents of Russia in EcH : Germany-Serbia-Turkey,Bulgaria,Holland etc......except Turkey, Russia beat almost all of these teams..they would most probably have beaten Germany if they had faced them...so the problem is not european teams but some other teams like Usa,Brazil etc...with that logic im not sure whether or not the team which won the last EcH could have been more succesful instead of this team...

Quote from Canter

i dont think the absense of some russian middles had an "important"part/role in the performance of Russia in this wch..Russia has never been a team in which the middles have had important responsibilites..since i have been watching them it is so, at least.. Russia has always been the team of strong wing spikers, not middles..however Gamova's poor performance was a factor in that..

Well you are correct that Russian MBs are not the team's scoring machines. They are nowhere near prolific, say, Brazil's & US' middles. But you underestimate the fact how important the block-defense unit works for Russia. As you know, defence is not Russia' strongest point (at least floor defense). Stuff blocks aside, if the MBs are able to deliver "soft blocks" most of the time, these can greatly help Russia and aid with their counter-attack. In this WCH, only Fetisova did the job of a real MB. And even then, most opponents middle attacks would still make points anyway.

Quote from inc0gnito

Well you are correct that Russian MBs are not the team's scoring machines. They are nowhere near prolific, say, Brazil's & US' middles. But you underestimate the fact how important the block-defense unit works for Russia. As you know, defence is not Russia' strongest point (at least floor defense). Stuff blocks aside, if the MBs are able to deliver "soft blocks" most of the time, these can greatly help Russia and aid with their counter-attack. In this WCH, only Fetisova did the job of a real MB. And even then, most opponents middle attacks would still make points anyway.

well. you can be right in your logic...but Podskalnaya is that weak at blocking ? i mean Fetisova is ok then with this logic,the problem should be with Podskalnaya's blocks..Russia applied triple blocks strategy to the opponents wings...single middle blocks is kind of chance to make, but both at double or triple blocks Podskalnaya and Zaryazkho were the weakest points and this damaged the defence system of Russia that much ? ...Zaryazkho(sorry for writing her sur name wrong) could be critized for being slow but the gap is that big between Podskalnaya and Shalyakhovaya about blocking ?

so because of tradition they dont need to have capable middles then

"podskalnaya or zaryazhko were the weakest points and this damaged the defense of russia that much?" hmn if it is doubtful that the two are to be blamed what then is the true problem?

Quote from iceman006

so because of tradition they dont need to have capable middles then

"podskalnaya or zaryazhko were the weakest points and this damaged the defense of russia that much?" hmn if it is doubtful that the two are to be blamed what then is the true problem?

to me :
Gamova's performance, unstable OH's at both sides of the game (except Kosheleva),instability in a game

to me: russia's blocking from the middles and dogs wass the problem, of course gamova was [art of it but i dont think it had a big effect since kosheleva played well and if goncharova was only in the opp then they'll both ttake care of the attacks

ask Russian close fans...
Next year Katya n Sokolova still in team ?
European Championship n World Cup to Rio 2016

I think Marichev will redeem himself next year. Russia should still be favourite to win EC 2015 with the return of their main MBs, and the return to a "faster" style of play with Kosianenko as starter. This team really had great chemistry esp. between Koshe and Goncha (their closeness was very apparent this WCH hugging, Kosheleva resting her head on Goncha) The only thing to consider is if Gamova would want to play outside the next major tournament, w/c is Rio 2016. If I were Gamova, she can skip WGP and EC next year and maybe join starting World Cup? That will giver her the latter part of 2015 and all the way to Rio.

Quote from iceman006

to me: russia's blocking from the middles and dogs wass the problem, of course gamova was [art of it but i dont think it had a big effect since kosheleva played well and if goncharova was only in the opp then they'll both ttake care of the attacks

Kosheleva was pretty good, tho she performed even better in Grand Prix IMO. Goncharova meanwhile was a disaster in WGP but played significantly better in WCH. Kryuchkova I think needs to go. She was always a step late and missed digging almost everything.

Pair of Setters seems to be an optimum, but Startseva used to play smarter and didn't lose her head in key moments as often in the past, so Kosianenko should be main. For the next option I'd call Elena Novik

For OP Obmochaeva and Malykh don't have a competition. The only player who can be here is Gamova, but she'll probably skip WGP and ECH 2015, if she wants to return, then World Cup would be good time for that this time she came back too late. She's ambitious player, so she'll porbably think about Olympic Gamers in Brazil

As OHs: Kosheleva is without doubts a leader here (hope she won't have health problems), Chaplina after recovery and healthy Pasynkova should also find their places here in terms of passing they should consider Kutyukova who also can score if necessary; Bavykina is good option for offensive OH, but she needs to work more and if we want to add one more player then I hope that Shcherban still can play better because she was disappointment so far.

2 main MBs unfortunately were injured so Morozova and Shlyakhovaya should be starters. Fetisova is good blocker, but her attack is too weak and she still should work. Next one are Zaryazhko and Podskalnaya. Irina's level dropped unfortunately, while Yulia is inexperienced on this level. With this competition it can be too little space for Moroz, though she and Dianskaya can be also considered.
Maryukhnich would be a great option, but we have Obmochaeva here

Maybe it's high time to count on Malova as the main and the only one L here and Guskova seems to be nice prospect so she can be second maybe theyu'll try to keep Kryuchkova, but here defence was sometimes embarassing

So for wide list we can consider:
S: Kosianenko, Startseva, Novik
OP: Gamova (if she considers playing in Rio), Obmochaeva, Malykh
OH: Kosheleva, Pasynkova, Chaplina, Kutyukova, Bavykina, Shcherban, Sokolova
MB: Morozova, Shlyakhovaya, Fetisova, Podskalanya, Zaryazhko, Moroz, Dianskaya
L: Malova, Guskova, Kryuchkova

I added Sokolova, she can be determined to play in Rio