Russian NT 2015

  • 1. powsoff is the god of volleyball analytics.

    No need to state this, we always knew that you think you are :drink:


    But anyway, good to know that Russia will send a decent team to ECH. I think, i will go to watch them in Bremen then.

  • No need to state this, we always knew that you think you are :drink:


    But anyway, good to know that Russia will send a decent team to ECH. I think, i will go to watch them in Bremen then.

    Well, you have to agree that your local Sherlock Holmes had dissected the secret motivations way before they became public :)
    BTW no need to go to Bremen, I think this is going to be on laola or something.

  • Well, you have to agree that your local Sherlock Holmes had dissected the secret motivations way before they became public :)
    BTW no need to go to Bremen, I think this is going to be on laola or something.


    Yeah, relax, long live Sherlock :obey:
    Watson, of course, stated that it probably won't work......


    If I have the choice, i will always prefer watching volleyball live in the hall. At best close to the court. It is such a pleasure to watch the athleticism and skills of these guys from nearby :teach:

  • Why not Poletaev as OH? He is not weak on block from what I've seen.

  • There is no excuse for not taking Pankov. Kobzar is in but not Pankov, really strange :what:

    Plenty of reasons. Firstly, Pankov is rather an "engine" of the team than a setter. Whether he can play this role in the adult team is still unclear. Secondly, his overall niche. Alekno has got one such creator (Grankin) and needs someone less bright to balance/stabilize the process. Pankov is OK from the service line and in defense but so is Kobzar who is also a better blocker (and Alekno now is paranoid about the block). Thirdly, experience matters and let's face the facts Kobzar played several serious competitions as a starter. Pankov is still learning behind Grankin. Finally, Pankov has not fallen out with everyone to be able to join Alekno's team and has not been retired to the farm-club for that - loyalty does matter too. On the Pankov's side is only the fact that he might be better playing with Kruglov.


    Overall, somewhat unexpectedly, we're very much OK with setters, with Kovalev and Antipkin both being very good and talented too. Now, had Pankov been an OH (for which he is very much fit), things would perhaps have been different. But then there has always been a pressure to stay as a setter as he was indispensable for the teams of his age group in this position.



    Why not Poletaev as OH? He is not weak on block from what I've seen.

    It is still unclear regarding Poletaev, there is no official info.

  • Is Spiridonov injured/out of shape or simply starting to get phased out of the team?

    He had been in a decline since he left Iskra: a "still" season in Ural was followed by a fairly bad 13/14 season in Fakel and a fairly "bench" 14/15 season in Zenit. He is four years older vs that flamboyant himself back in 2011 when he was first invited to the NT and his only gains are a new car and somewhat better self-control on the pitch. None of the two are critically required by his team and my feeling is that he has no perspective by now.


    On the down side, Spirik is still a weak server and still not an ideal defender. He got kill-blocked one-on-one in the Tunisia game which looked to me as one of his seriously wasted chances to impress. Miracles do happen of course but choosing the cash over the challenge ironically always comes at some cost.

  • He had been in a decline since he left Iskra: a "still" season in Ural was followed by a fairly bad 13/14 season in Fakel and a fairly "bench" 14/15 season in Zenit. He is four years older vs that flamboyant himself back in 2011 when he was first invited to the NT and his only gains are a new car and somewhat better self-control on the pitch. None of the two are critically required by his team and my feeling is that he has no perspective by now.


    On the down side, Spirik is still a weak server and still not an ideal defender. He got kill-blocked one-on-one in the Tunisia game which looked to me as one of his seriously wasted chances to impress. Miracles do happen of course but choosing the cash over the challenge ironically always comes at some cost.

    Thanks for the detailed answer. I'll add his reputation as team cancer and his questionable work ethics (that picture of him half naked after the 2013 ECH, is that the body of a professional athlete?) to the list, hoping to never see him again in the NT.

  • Thanks for the detailed answer. I'll add his reputation as team cancer and his questionable work ethics (that picture of him half naked after the 2013 ECH, is that the body of a professional athlete?) to the list, hoping to never see him again in the NT.

    I disagree here as I think this reputation issue is not that bad (I guess not as bad as the reputation itself :)). Firstly, his "crimes" were extremely modest and the whole demonization started mostly due to the lack of the volleyball news and extreme need for sensation. So it's more a media phenomenon, which in some obscurantist very religious societies easily gets into the political PR too. The big issue that Rus Volleyball Fed has is a colossal competition from sports like ice hockey and basketball, which leaves fairly little room for volleyball coverage in the media. E.g. no Rus company bothered buying the broadcast of the women ECh-2015 - and we remember who holds the title! Under these circumstances, Spiri and the likes are indeed very much needed, and he was on TV several times. As for the team itself, it is packed with the Soviet-style self-critical hyper-concentrated individuals like Mikhaylov and a balance is needed. The only trouble was that the referees had some prejudice thanks to the exaggerated reputation and the points were going against the team.


    In any case, the problem is with his volleyball performance not anything else.

  • Alekno call for friendly match against Germany and European Championship of 2015:



    Setters - Dmitri Kovalev - Igor Kobzar - Sergei Grankin.


    Opposittes - Maxim Mikhailov - Victor Poletaev - Pavel Kruglov.


    Spikers: Alexey Spiridonov - Dmitry Ilyin - Evgeni Sivozhelez - Sergey Savin - Egor Klyuka.


    Middle Blockers: Dmitry Musersky - Artem Volvich - Ilyas Kurkaev - Ilya Vlasov.


    Liberos: Aleksey Obmochaev - Alexei Verbov.


    http://rsport.ru/volleyball/20150930/867813320.html


    My Team:


    Grankin - Mikhailov
    Klyuka - Sivozhelez
    Musersky - Vlasov - Best duo MB in the world.
    Verbov


    :super:

  • I knew that Muserskiy is going to play as Opposite

    Per un pir, un pam un persec per na brogna e na rumleina, nuetr'a sam d'la Ghirlandeina nuetr'a sam da rispeter





  • Nice to finally see Pavel Kruglov. I was not impressed with Sivozhelez when he did play at the World Cup. Spridonov was also terrible there. I remember some game he came in the 3rd set, and made so many errors.


    Egor Klyuka - I don't know him, which team does he play for in the league?


    Is Verbov finally injury-free? he has spent more time being injured than anything else this season.

  • Judging from performances at EG in Baku, i don't think that Klyuka can solve Russia's problem on OH position short-term. Quite OK in attack but reception and overall ball-controll looked very questionable.


  • Nice to finally see Pavel Kruglov. I was not impressed with Sivozhelez when he did play at the World Cup. Spridonov was also terrible there. I remember some game he came in the 3rd set, and made so many errors.


    Egor Klyuka - I don't know him, which team does he play for in the league?


    Is Verbov finally injury-free? he has spent more time being injured than anything else this season.

    Klyuka plays for Fakel Novy Urengoy, same team as Vlasov. The chap is smth like 209 tall and plays both OH and opp. A definite target for opponent's service... but he's pretty young so who knows, he may improve. An MVP and by far best attacker of the recent U23 WCH.

  • Klyuka plays for Fakel Novy Urengoy, same team as Vlasov. The chap is smth like 209 tall and plays both OH and opp. A definite target for opponent's service... but he's pretty young so who knows, he may improve. An MVP and by far best attacker of the recent U23 WCH.

    Thanks, I didn't watch Fakel too much. It's nice that they are trying out the youngsters and the youth mens team have been doing really well internationally.

  • I'm watching the Germany friendly and Klyuka looks more and more like a starter to me. Аnd I'm afraid to say, so does Kovalev. Klyuka is playing opp though. These two seem to be the only people on the roster interested in winning anything.