• Netherlands isn't interested in hosting the European qualification tournament:|

  • I don’t follow all matches of the NED team, but I think the problem is not just Morrison or the technical staff.


    When Netherlands was doing great at international competitions, Slöetjes was unstoppable. Buijs was also performing great, and Plak was also a good option. This season, Slöetjes was bad/unstable all season long, and the same happened with the NT jersey. Buijs barely played, and when she did, she was just awful. Plak was simply terrible this season, she played well in like 2-3 games and the rest was a huge mess. My point is that they underperformed under the supervision of great technical staff other than Morrison’s. In addition to that, De Kruijf was injured and Yvon was out for a long period.

    I think the same - I mean I don't say Morrison is great coach or sth but honestly all Dutch players besides Robin are in worse shape than in 2016 and 2017. Sloetjes, Buijs and Grotheus are not playing that well so it is a direct effect.

  • I think the same - I mean I don't say Morrison is great coach or sth but honestly all Dutch players besides Robin are in worse shape than in 2016 and 2017. Sloetjes, Buijs and Grotheus are not playing that well so it is a direct effect.

    I agree that it isn't all the fault of Morrison, because the players aren't in great shape. But the technical plan has to be right. And you have to anticipate during the match.

    A large part of this is the task of the staff.

  • I agree that it isn't all the fault of Morrison, because the players aren't in great shape. But the technical plan has to be right. And you have to anticipate during the match.

    A large part of this is the task of the staff.

    Some part yes - but actually there is no way this Dutch NT does sth like 2016 OG - there are many better teams and players right now which was exactly visible on Sunday.

  • I agree that it isn't all the fault of Morrison, because the players aren't in great shape. But the technical plan has to be right. And you have to anticipate during the match.

    A large part of this is the task of the staff.

    But it's hard to say that the technical plan wasn't right or that the staff wasn't prepared, because the players are the ones responsible for implementing the strategies on the court. So my point is that as outsiders we'll never know if the defeat must be accredited to a lack of a good plan or a lack of skills of the ones who should make the technical plan work. What I can see right now is that NED's offensive players (i.e. Buijs and Sloetjes) are struggling to score more than 10 points in a match since the club season.

  • But it's hard to say that the technical plan wasn't right or that the staff wasn't prepared, because the players are the ones responsible for implementing the strategies on the court. So my point is that as outsiders we'll never know if the defeat must be accredited to a lack of a good plan or a lack of skills of the ones who should make the technical plan work. What I can see right now is that NED's offensive players (i.e. Buijs and Sloetjes) are struggling to score more than 10 points in a match since the club season.

    This is why both should have not appeared in 3rd set.


    There is no good replacement either. Daalderop never gets to play even in unimportant matches past years. Now there is no plan B or C.


    Only plan A for which Sloetjes and Buijs need to score. Relying on Buijs no team will achieve greatness...

  • I agree with all of you that, apart from de Kruijf all the starting players have gotten weaker, especially Lon is no longer one of Europe's best OPPs I believe, though she's still my favorite. But well she's 29 and she herself knows that her body is not like many years ago.


    Bongaerts most likely replaces Dijkema's spot, Daalderop takes Buijs's and Plak could be okay as OPP, but well still there's no one who could replace Balkestein. Jasper is probably the only candidate, but I'd say she needs more than 2 years playing as starter to be good enough. The dilemma of Libero position - I don't honestly know who's better between Knip or Schoot, Kirstin played really good 2 years go in NT and showed up positive developments but her current shape doesn't seem to have gotten better.


    Though the result was a bummer I don't think it's fair to blame Morrison, okay no one got better but hey we shouldn't forget he was the replacement of Guidetti, it wouldn't be too late blaming him if the Netherlands don't make it to the Olympics which I hope that won't happen :(

  • I agree that it isn't all the fault of Morrison, because the players aren't in great shape. But the technical plan has to be right. And you have to anticipate during the match.

    A large part of this is the task of the staff.

    And they all got hurt after the WCH..... it was not just 1 player, but a bunch of them... Their preparation for the whole summer was not right and that`s why they had so many injuries.


    I saw on World of Volleyball, Guidetti calling out Ze Roberto and saying like a lot of Brazilian players get injured during the summer. Natalia was injured and she played VNL while injured, she got injured during VNL and still played the OG Qualification....she will probably play WC.....of course she will show up not 100% when she joins Vitra......But Ze Roberto does not care, he only cares for Brazil.

  • Now also the Dutch federation announced the roster for ECH:
    Setter: Bongaerts and Dijkema.
    Opposite: Plak and Sloëtjes.
    Outside hitters: Daalderop, Buijs, Balkestein-Grothues and M. Japser.
    Middle blockers: de Kruijf, Lohuis, Beliën and Koolhaas.
    Libero: Schoot and Knip.


    As said before, the Olympic qualification tournament and the world cup are the most important tournaments for the Dutch team, but they also want to win a medal at the ECH.


    Hope they will play the important matches with the following line-up:
    Bongaerts - Plak
    Daalderop - Buijs
    Lohuis - de Kruijf
    Schoot

    Beliën disappointed me very much during qualification tournament, same goes for Sloëtjes, so I would like to see Lohuis and Plak getting a chance. IMHO Bongaerts from now on has to be the first setter and Daalderop deserves more chances.


    https://www.volleybal.nl/nieuw…dames-op-het-ek-volleybal

  • They will get more points for the world ranking if they get a good result at WC than at ECH.

  • Sloetjes may not be at her best but she’s still way more reliable than Plak in my opinion and she’s needed to challenge the best teams. Unless Plak has one of her beast matches but she’s already had 1 this year so we’ll probably have to wait a while for another one. :D


    I don’t mind them starting Buijs and Daalderop to see how they handle the reception but I think the best serving teams will cause one of them to be subbed pretty early.

  • I don’t mind them starting Buijs and Daalderop to see how they handle the reception but I think the best serving teams will cause one of them to be subbed pretty early.

    Yes the receiving will be a problem, but they can make up with it in attack. The last set against Italy they didn't do a bad job in receiving. They can bring in Balkestein-Grothues to receive and it's important Japser becomes more relaiable in serve receive, so she also can come in to receive

  • I'm just curious, why is the World Cup a priority ? What are they gaining from winning it?


    Hard to believe they will perform well in the WC (11 games) after playing ECH. There will be no time for rest...will be a marathon.

    World Cup gives the same quantity of points than the Olympics. It is still uncertain NED qualification to Tokyo. And if they dont qualify, they will drop a lot in the ranking (maybe even outside top 10).

    So, I do think it is clever to take World Cup as a priority. Not all the teams are sending their best line up and NED could be at least 4th, which secure to save points from Rio in case they dont get the berth to Tokyo.

  • I'm really disappointed in the team this summer. They've played 2 times against a good opponent and lost both matches with a clear 3-0. I'll start with Morisson. I've said it before and I will say it again: Morrison isn't a head coach and not the right one for the Netherlands! They need someone who makes them mentally stronger. They didn't even fight for eachother today...

    Of Course it isn't all to blame on Morrison, but if a team makes the same mistakes over and over again, you can't keep saying the same thing during the time-outs. Next to that it wasn't a wise decision to keep changing the starting team during the tournament and not be clear who will be the starter. I hope Morrison will leave, but I don't know if it's wise decision to start with a new coach if the first tournament will be the olympic qualification. Also I have no idea who should be the new head coach.

  • About the team:

    Everyone underperformed! Only thing that's good is Sloëtjes played an okay match. Starting setter should be Bongearts and she deserves so much more trust. Okay, she didn't play at her best, but the reception didn't help her. If she gets more confidence, than she can be a leader and hopefully will make less serves errors and play more with the middles. For Dijkema I've no words... She played bad against Italy and now again. It was like Stoltenborg was on court, all double toches and the ball way behind the hitter:gone: Hope van Aalen will be ready soon, so she can take the spot of Dijkema.

    Buijs again proved she is not good enough for high level, making all reception mistakes and having difficulties with killing a ball. Balkestein-Grothues can't be missed. She could be a great libero with her reception amd defence, but than there would be no outside hitter to receive. Hope Daalderop is fine, she has no luck, already had so many injuries. She is a great prospect, but has to work a bit on her reception. Block and defense are not good. Both Knip and Schoot are unstable, especially in serve receive. Beliën and de Kruijf are to slow in block. De Kruijf isn't a good blocker, but she is even better than Beliën. She is just a ghost on court! Hope she will find her form soon. Or Lohuis has to have a good season in Stuttgart and becomes faster in block, so she can take the starting position. I think no one wants to play world cup anymore... During the tournament they have to find the best starting line-up, so they will be ready for qualifications in January.

  • If I were Dutch NT, I would play ALL my cards in the World Cup. They really need to grab at least the 4th position in order to not lose so many points in the ranking in case they do not qualify to Tokyo (actually, just qualifying doesnt mean they will get the same points than 4 years ago...).

    For being 2 times in a row vice european champion, 4th in the last Olympics, 4th in last WCH and now not making SFs and maybe missing Tokyo 2020 would be a total collapse.

    It is such a pity because NED was such a pleasure to wach in the last 4 years. I remember the awesome performance of Stam Pillon in Rio, as well as Sloetjes, and now they arent even favourite for the last european ticket.


    I really hope NED wont be a shooting star. After so many good results in the last olympic cycle, I thought they have come back for staying in the top.