Men's European Championship 2017

Cheering for Heynen now but last 2 matches should be a walkover for Russia. Neither Belgium and Germany can parry them in physical terms

Quote from scarpetta

Surely Giani is not Guidetti .Guidetti is doing wonderful job at club level ,if I'm not wrong Giani had to resign several times because of poor results .No doubt he is better than Blengini (Germany's overall talent is not better than Italy) but luck is on his side

Yup, I still remember him as a coach in Roma times... Didn't look good, to be honest, some dramas happened People even used to give him as an example how wonderful player can you be and later how poor coach you can become... Well. He grew since then. He did flawless job with Slovenia, he now repeated the success with another NT. Few years more and I think Italy will pick him as a coach for its NT.

Quote from Kaziyski

Final with Slovenia was bigger sensation than this one. Back then Slovenia eliminated The Netherlands, Poland and Italy. Now Germany had much easier path to the finals

Yes sure! Final with Slovenia was just a shock two years ago. It was much much bigger than this final. I am just saying both of these finals were unexpected. Of course, Germany has an easier path this year than Slovenia two years ago. The first "real" threat they faced was this Serbian team (will all the de respect to the Slovanks, Czechs, Italians).
But yes, in clubs, he hasnt had so much success. It was a nightmare in Verona.

Anyway, to sideout, I thought that after Berruto collapse, he would have been chosen as the next Italian NT head coach.

But even win this win, I still think Belgium and Russia are one level above Germany.

He(Giani) also did a terrible job with Verona
For me Kovacevic is another loser ,whose level drops on clutch time

And I would highlight Bohme's contribution. Again coming from bench and scoring crucial points.

Quote from scarpetta

when Atanasijevic hit that ball out ,you were the first one came to my mind BTW when did you become Zaytsev fan?

I'm not (yet?). I don't like his diva attitude, expecially because I met the guy few times out of the court and he's completely kind and quiet. Very different from what we see when he's on court.

I'm simply realistic: Zaytsev can bring victories, expecially when the games is decided by nerves, while Atanasijevic turnes (at best) into second place specialist every team he plays for and can't lead any team to a trophy.

Quote from Leonardo.D

Yes sure! Final with Slovenia was just a shock two years ago. It was much much bigger than this final. I am just saying both of these finals were unexpected. Of course, Germany has an easier path this year than Slovenia two years ago. The first "real" threat they faced was this Serbian team (will all the de respect to the Slovanks, Czechs, Italians).

But even win this win, I still think Belgium and Russia are one level above Germany.

I think Russia is two levels above Germany and Belgium

But i hope Belgium can play today their best match ever.

Quote from scarpetta

He(Giani) also did a terrible job with Verona
For me Kovacevic is another loser ,whose level drops on clutch time

Uroš played good today, sometimes playing alone against Germany. He is the last person to blame for this loss

They should've went on with Luburic at the end of the fifth set.

Still can't believe Germany won. Congrats! Atleast Grozer will get to have a good ending with his career if he decides not to pursue national team anymore. Such a fitting end for one of the best players of his generation.

Quote from Kaziyski

Luburić should strenghted block, usual thing, why to blame Grbić for that lol

And since when is Luburic considered a good blocker? Jovovic is a better block than Luburic.

What an amazing development of German team from a bunch of losers in WL and WCHQ (not only due to results but also in terms of performance) to finalist in ECH

Also, Jovovic should have used the MB much more, especially in the 5th set, there were many times he could set in the middle but did not go there.

Lisinac - 11 points - attack 6/10 60%
Marko - 10 points - attack 5/8 63%
Stankovic 1 point - attack 1/1 100% LOL

If they were attacking so well, they should`ve got more sets.

Ivovic would have made a difference if he was there... Oh well...

I half-agree with rdfabio... I have a feeling Grbic was hoping to use Okolic so he didn't use a setter to replace Atanasijevic during the substitution to block and set.

Still... that llibero confusion costed them the game. Should have been able to give a better toss to Luburic with that ball since he was prepared to attack.

It's probably a case of being too overanalytical and overefficient for Grbic when it comes to tactics that's why Serbia failed that play. I still think that was a good play.Just not enough concentration in order to get the ball rolling.

Atanasijevic was still the biggest choke of the night.

Quote from rbdfabio

And since when is Luburic considered a good blocker? Jovovic is a better block than Luburic.

Better block Who should you put in? It's unusal OPP is changing S

Russia with a blazing start.

Quote from scarpetta

Surely Giani is not Guidetti

Yeah I do agree, I actually meant it as a joke (and I must admit I also thought 'and he probably will lose the final again as Guidetti :P' – but I hope he won't)
For me he didn't proved that much with the Clubs, but so far with the NT... good job! After this bad summer he made almost a miracle (with the help of Grozer and may be a bit of luck on the draft)

Quote from Kaziyski

Final with Slovenia was bigger sensation than this one.

For sure!

Quote from SHAME

I expect him to choke every single end of set.

I must remind myself that when I think 'may be this time he won't choke' I'm probably wrong
And what about the italian commentator od Belgium-Russia wondering why Grbic didn't play with Magnum, suggesting he probably had physical problems? They should come to your lessons and they'll know why
[I'm actually sorry I'm practically laughing at Ata, which overall is a player than I like and respect.. but he seems avery time more hopeless on the crucial points...]

Quote from bella

Few years more and I think Italy will pick him as a coach for its NT.

Don't be such sure, I heard he's not that liked in the Federation, because he has this big defect of having his own mind
And he was in the Berruto staff that was kicked out after the WCh 2014. We are all still wondering how the staff could be more responsible that the head coach, anyway.

Quote from Rains_of_Castamere

They should've went on with Luburic at the end of the fifth set.

I actually thought he was being put in for Magnum...

Belgium have big problems with Russian block. So far they can do them nothing like a frog to a nut

Aww wow and Rousseaux in this hairstyle looks like D'Artagnan. Not sure if it fits him

Sorry for my comments today, I'm too mentaly exhausted today to write sth very wise

Bad starting. But I still believe in you, Belgium!

Mikhailov in such a great form . No way Russia is long this game.

Russia is playing like they did against Slovenia or even better. Block, defense, attack and server all great

Belgium ntill now can not do anything to put Russia in a diffcult situation.