2019 Volleyball Nations League (VNL)

  • The difference in Russia's middle attack with Kobzar is palpable.. Kovalev barely used the middles in Sets 1 & 2.. Also, havent read anywhere where it says Poletaev will miss the final leg on Australia but I do not see the logic at all of not letting him play now after being Russia's top scorer in a few games now

    Well their two middle blockers were their top scorers against Brazil

  • If you consider that Poland will face Japan, Germany and Portugal while Italy has to beat France, Canada and Brazil, I think this game was quite important for the qualification.. maybe that is what the commentator intended..

    He meant that Poland and Italy will fight for one spot and probably Poland will take Italy's current position ;)

    But yes, Poland and Italy have different opponents next week, so it will be much easier for us to climb in the general table.

  • I'm totally done with Zimmermann. He has proved that he doesn't have the level. Germany needs to search for a young setter with some more potential.


    A good setter can really make a difference. Italy is just a good example in this year's VNL.


    I am not Zimmermann‘s biggest Fan either but, regarding yesterday and to his defence i have to state, that he has played now almost every match since the start of the tournament, hopping from continent to continent week by week. He Even was the only setter who travelled to brasil. Yesterday, like the whole Team, he faltered after the lost second set and physical and mental exhaustion was visible.


    At this point you can start to question the overall roster management, having players (Kaliberda, Karlitzek, Kampa) who for whatever reasons are Not ready to play but occupy places in the roster.

  • I think Poland, currently 8-4 tied with Italy, will overtake ITA and will take the last spot in Final 6 as they can win all their remaining games next week: JPN, GER, POR and they should have 11-4 record. ITA meanwhile will have CAN, FRA, BRA and realistically speaking they only have a chance to beat Canada out of those 3 teams.


    Iran just needs to beat Bulgaria and they should be in contention even if they theoretically lose to SRB and USA.. RUS meanwhile will need to beat both China and Australia even if they manage to lose to Argentina for them to have an 11-4 record and tie with POL but Russia will have superior points and this will be enough to qualify them to Final 6

  • week 5 Roster for Yavbou


    Antoine Brizard

    Yacine Louati

    Thibault Rossard

    Jenia Grebennikov

    Bart Chinenyeza

    Nicolas Le Goff

    Ben Tonuitti

    Daryl Bultor

    Kevin Le Roux

    Stephen Boyer

    Kevin Tillie

    Julien Lyneel

    Nicolas Rossard

    Jean Patry

  • So Kirill Klets will join the team ?

    I don't think Klets will join the team, AFAIK Russia will only be traveling with 1 OPP to Australia.. 1 of the OHs may be converted to OPP in case the worst happens

  • Without N’gapeth, France’s fate is hard to say with three strong opponents the coming week.

  • Without N’gapeth, France’s fate is hard to say with three strong opponents the coming week.

    We'll see. They did qualify last 2017 without N'Gapeth.

  • So No Trevor and Timothee, both top scorer in all week 4 matches


    :whistle::whistle:


    Well good luck France, we all know what happened in Cannes :whistle::whistle:

  • Sammelvuo has been disappointing after he took over the head coach of Russia NT.

    His obsession with Kobzar is beyond the understanding.

    Check out the setter stats in VNL 2019, Kobzar now ranks 15th, with a poor running sets/still sets ratio.

    It would be a disaster for Russia If Kobzar is the starter in CEV 2019 and WC 2019 later on.

  • Sammelvuo has been disappointing after he took over the head coach of Russia NT.

    His obsession with Kobzar is beyond the understanding.

    Check out the setter stats in VNL 2019, Kobzar now ranks 15th, with a poor running sets/still sets ratio.

    It would be a disaster for Russia If Kobzar is the starter in CEV 2019 and WC 2019 later on.

    Are you even watching Russia's games in its entirety? Kobzar has definitely been the better setter overall. Leadership skills notwithstanding, he sets the balls to the middles better, is more scrappy in defense, and can "turn up" the team in the crucial moments. I love Kovalev but the only thing going for him is his block, that is why he is now mainly used as a blocking substitute towards the end of the sets.. Lastly, stats don't tell the whole picture, if you are able to I suggest you watch the replays of these matches in particular: RUSxJPN, RUSxSRB so you would see how Kobzar is currently the better setter.

  • I don't think Klets will join the team, AFAIK Russia will only be traveling with 1 OPP to Australia.. 1 of the OHs may be converted to OPP in case the worst happens

    So it appears Klets is joining the team in Australia after all. He is/was training for Universiade with Russia's B Team

  • Check out the setter stats in VNL 2019, Kobzar now ranks 15th, with a poor running sets/still sets ratio.

    The statistics is not accurate. Also, a running set means the attacker faces no more than 1.5 blocks. Neither the number of running sets nor running sets/still sets ratio is a good way to evaluate if the setter is good or not.


    It's better to evaluate the setter based on the overall performance in the matches.

  • Are you even watching Russia's games in its entirety? Kobzar has definitely been the better setter overall. Leadership skills notwithstanding, he sets the balls to the middles better, is more scrappy in defense, and can "turn up" the team in the crucial moments. I love Kovalev but the only thing going for him is his block, that is why he is now mainly used as a blocking substitute towards the end of the sets.. Lastly, stats don't tell the whole picture, if you are able to I suggest you watch the replays of these matches in particular: RUSxJPN, RUSxSRB so you would see how Kobzar is currently the better setter.

    I followed Kobzar's game since he was with Belogorie back in 2012. He was kicked out of Belogorie and joined Kazan. Then again, Kobzar got kicked out of Kazan after Butko joined Kazan. esp, after Kobzar's poor performance in the first set in 2016 CL final. Then he settled down with Kuzbass till now. Russia NT mainly reply on Grankin and Butko in last a few years.


    Kobzar played horribly in the 2nd game in CEV cup semi this year, which is the main reason Kuzbass did not make the CEV cup final. He's lucky to have some good matches against Kazan in Russia league final. But that did not prove himself a good setter. I will never give the credit to a setter with such a horrible running/still sets ratio. I watched 5 or 6 games of Russia VNL this year. So I knew what kind of the setter he was. I'd rather give chances to Kovalev who has more potential than Kobzar. Kobzar is also a mentally disabled person. See how he celebrated when Russia led Brazil in set 3. He acted as if he's winning the WCH. Of course he got booed right away by the audience.

  • The statistics is not accurate. Also, a running set means the attacker faces no more than 1.5 blocks. Neither the number of running sets nor running sets/still sets ratio is a good way to evaluate if the setter is good or not.


    It's better to evaluate the setter based on the overall performance in the matches.

    Of course I know what running-sets means. Running-sets means the spikers face empty net or a single blocker. Still-sets means spikers face two or three blockers. For sure, other factors will affect the result too, but running-sets is the key factor to evaluate a setter. High running-sets tells us the setter's ability to avoid blocking, which also improves attacker's percentage overall.


    The more stats we count, the more accurate it would be. For example, the data of several hundreds of running/still definitely tells us something.

  • Kobzar is also a mentally disabled person. See how he celebrated when Russia led Brazil in set 3. He acted as if he's winning the WCH. Of course he got booed right away by the audience.

    I see nothing wrong with Kobzar's celebrations.. it may be over-the-top sometimes, but is no way disrespectful. And in comparison, Bruno is not a classier setter by all means :whistle:

  • I see nothing wrong with Kobzar's celebrations.. it may be over-the-top sometimes, but is no way disrespectful. And in comparison, Bruno is not a classier setter by all means :whistle:

    Whatever, If I pick Russia setters, I will follow the sequence of Grankin - Butko - Kovalev - Pankov - Kobzar.

    Kuzbass had two good MBs and one of the best OPPs in the Russian league, which may falsely make Kobzar stand out.

  • I was always pro Kovalev but I have to agree that Kobzar has earned and deserved the starting position. I also don't think statistics tell the big picture of a match, and that goes not only for the setting stats....
    Anyway, I just hope Butko and Grankin do not return, because although neither Kobzar and Kovalev are super skilful, the veterans had already way too many chances and for many times did not deliver.
    I am curious to see as well how Abaev will perform after his season abroad and wether Pankov will be considered again in the near future

  • Isn't timothee carle a libero? Or am I wrong

    Also what do you think their strongest 7 is?

    He's officially an OH, i think he can play as OPP since he was listed as Patry's back-up week 1 and 2.


    This VNL edition, all left hitters became libero at some point even Le Roux :cheesy:. (N'Gapeth excluded)


    As to their strongest 7, it's really hard to tell. They've been mixing-up a lot. But, I would like for them to go back with their line-up that won them gold in Curitiba. That is, if they can get the old N'Gapeth back.


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    I wouldn't mind seeing Trevor, Timothee, Thibault, Yacine, Bart and Antoine inside the court at the same time. :rose: