• NED mentally unstable. They lose all important matches. After the matches with ITA and TUR:

    1. Balkestein-Grothues could be a libero

    2. Main OHs Daalderop - Plak (Plak can progress, while only Buijs regresses when she plays against strong teams)

    3. Morrison is not suited for emotional condition. Team NED with him emotionally fades.

    4. Dijkema is the main disappointment of this summer. Her connection to de Kruijf and Sloëtjes especially terrible

    Also I have no idea who should be the new head coach.

    It may sound crazy, but may be second coach Beltrale (?) At least he's emotionally brighter than Morrison

  • It may sound crazy, but may be second coach Beltrale (?) At least he's emotionally brighter than Morrison

    Is that the guy who coached a little this summer at Montreux or the VNL when Morrison was absent?

  • I don't know if I'd use the term "brighter" to describe him but he's certainly more emotional, more typically Euro in his approach compared to Morrison's California Positive Vibes thing. If the Dutch team is longing for the good ol' days of Gui, Beltrale (?) is more in line with that for sure.

  • Netherlands and Morrison are indeed just a horrible mix, out of all the Euro teams maybe I can see his vibes do well maybe with a team like Russia, but for sure not Netherlands.


    And actually since I think Russia would still be a level too high. I'd pick similar teams on a lower level, like Ukraine or the team that was recently left coachless: Belarus. I can even see him do better in Asia.


    But most of all, I saw this even when he was in VakifBank and Gio's bench in NL, the guy never really was a leader prospect even if it sounds a bit harsh. Honestly I don't think head coach is the role for him and I also have no idea who or if NL should replace him now. Probably now is too late so its on the players themselves.

  • Besides Morrison, I think setter is a big problem for Netherlands. Dijkema is the worse setter among the setters from top teams. This really prevents team to play with their full potential

  • I would like to join in the Dijkema-bashing:drink:

    I used to like her a lot 2014-16, but since then she's disappointing since.


    I disagree about Morrison tho, he took these girls to ECh final and WCh semis; he deserves to get the attempt to take them to OG.

  • Even Dijkema made fun of herself on instagram today LOL

  • The players are very frustrated and can't believe they've played this bad. Especially Buijs and Plak didn't look happy with the staff. All the plans they made didn't work en they couldn't anticipate during the match. According to them they should have focused on their own strengths and not only on how to stop Egonu. A conversation would have taken place last night between staff and players about things they need to improve and things that need to chance.

    Losing against Turkey in 3 sets makes things worse for Jamie. There might be some trust issues.


    After focusing a lot on Egonu in IOQ, he just didn't care his opponent this time and focused on Dutch side. Hande kept tipping the ball and noone covered it, Jamie watched it all game.

  • Losing against Turkey in 3 sets makes things worse for Jamie. There might be some trust issues.


    After focusing a lot on Egonu in IOQ, he just didn't care his opponent this time and focused on Dutch side. Hande kept tipping the ball and noone covered it, Jamie watched it all game.

    Exactly! I think there are some problems between the staff and players if you see the reactions, but you never know for sure.

    Against Italy they said for the first time they were the favourites to win. During ECH they even said they were not the favourites in the group, which definitely was not true! It shows there is still a lot work to do mentally

  • De Kruijf isn't going to play world cup:( They already agreed on that during club season. I don't get if you're priority after olympic qualification is the world cup, you are going to play with your best middle blocker during ECH and not at the WC.Eline Timmerman is replacing her.

    Daalderop is walking on crutches. She took pictures todays, they have to tell if she is going to Japan. I see no chance for a medal if both de Kruijf and Daalderop aren't with the team:down:

  • can Timmerman/Lohuis play every match like VNL. I will enjoy that much more than Belien/Koolhuis.


    I still believe NL will not get good results with Buijs in lineup all match.

    I hope Timmerman will get some chances against the weak opponents. Good way to gain some experience and she deserves it, because she played good during VNL. For the most important matches I would play with Lohuis and Beliën. Beliën has to play the position where she can do the slide attack, because she is good at it and she really needs some confidence!

    Outside hitters position is a big problem during WC now that Daalderop is out. Balkestein-Grothues can't play all matches, because she is to injury prone. Buijs needs a good back-up, because her level of play isn't consistent. M. Japser and Oude-Luttikhuis are just not good enough for this level of play.

  • What a match, I haven't seen this level of volleyball in a long time!:obey: Brazil didn't play bad, the Netherlands were just better. But it could have been a five set match and maybe it deserved to be a five set match.

    Dutchies were really focused and aggressive, something I haven't seen before since Morrison is the coach. Even he showed emotions! :)

    I don't get the criticisms about Bongaerts, she played great! Okay her sets are not the cleanest, but if you watched Dijkema lately, you can't complain about the sets Bongaerts gave. She involved the middles a lot and played a fast game:box: I was surprised Koolhaas played instead of Lohuis. I prefer her, because she is younger and showed some good things. But if Koolhaas keeps playing like today, she totally deserves the starting spot next to Beliën. Great in attack and some nice block touches. Beliën plays with more confidence now she plays the slide attack. Only thing is she makes some unforced errors always wanting to hit the ball hard. Maybe Morrison has to play with Beliën on the slide and de Kruijf infront of the setter when she is back on court.

    Buijs played good, both in attack and receive. She really was fired up to win this one. Also Balkestein-Grothues played a good match with great defence and some smart touches at the net.

    Sloëtjes back to her old form today, hope she can keep it up. And then we come to my MVP of the match: Schoot. She played great, perfect in receive, defence and setting. Today she showed a libero can make a big difference!:super:

    Hope the team can keep up this level of play, so they can get some confidence. In this way they are capable to win a medal at the WC.


    Sorry for the long post, really excited.:flower:

  • I didn't expect that I would ever say this, but I'm glad national team season is over😅 And I think the team itself are glad to.

    My findings from this summer:

    Setters

    Dijkema played really bad this summer, zero connection with the players and technical very poor. Hope she can find her from back in Firenze and that she will be ready for qualifications in January. But I think it's clear now she isn't the first setter anymore. Bongaerts showed some good things, she is a creatif setter and can play a fast game. She needs to be more consistent, more experience will help her. In Schwerin she has to take her chance and get the starting position.

    Opposite

    Sloëtjes isn't in her best form right now. The big reason she isn't as good and effective as she used to be, is she lost explosivity. Plak had a bad clubseason. When she was on court this summer, she mostly showed some good things. I doubt if she will be good enough as outside hitter considering her bad reception. In Aydin she will play in a good league and more play time than last season will help her to develop. For now I would pick Sloëtjes as first opposite, Plak always can come on court and have an impact.

    Outside hitters

    Buijs showed us once again she isn't good enough for top level. She is a bad receiver and lately she also has difficulties with killing a ball. Balkestein-Grothues is the only one who was most consistent at the WC. She proves the Dutch team still needs her defensive skills. Daalderop is the same story as Bongaerts. Good prospect, but needs to be more consistent especially in serve receive. Hope she can do the same thing in Firenze as she did last season. Daalderop and Balkestein-Grothues should be the starting oustide hitters IMHO during olympic qualification.

    Jasper surprised me this summer. She became more consistent, but she needs to improve her receiving and learn how to hit smart considering her height.

    Middle blockers

    De Kruijf is without a doubt the best player the Netherlands has now. Best attacker and blocker, although she isn't a great blocker. She has a great fighting spirit that can help the team a lot. Beliën was a real disappointment this summer, just a ghost on court. She is going to play for a better clubteam than last year, so I hope she will find her form back. If not, she doesn't deserve a starting spot.Koolhaas became better, when she gets a good fast set, she is a good attacker. She is to slow in block, but so are all the middle blockers of the team. It's a good thing she finally going to play in a good league! Lohuis is a good prospect. When Beliën doesn't find her form, I think she should be a starter, considering she has the best block in the team.

    Libero

    Schoot is clearly better than Knip. Defensive she is good, but in serve receive she isn't consistent. Knip played really bad when she came on court this summer. I don't see her develop more now she will be the second libero in her clubteam and not playing in a good league.

    Coach

    Enough said about Morrison. I would like to see a coach who shows some emotions. As we saw in Russia, it can make a big difference!
    I would like to see Bernardinho as coach of the Dutch team.

    Hope the players can reset their minds during club season, so they will be ready for qualifications in January. It will be very tough to qualify when they keep playing like this, but we will see, a lot can change in a short time.

  • Morrison got fired! I didn't saw this coming:what:


    I'm curious who will be the new coach?:/


    Source: https://www.volleybal.nl/nieuw…bondscoach-jamie-morrison


    The source below says that; the support for Morrison in the player group had disappeared in the past year


    https://nos.nl/artikel/2304805…andse-volleybalsters.html