Rússia 2020

Quote from Ksenia

If we think that 12 players will go to the Olympics, Lazareva has less chance to make it Olympics because you can't take 6 hitters to the Olympics imo. Yes, I think the rest of the players (Kosheleva, Goncharova, Parubets, Voronkova, Kurilo) are real candidates for the Olympics.

Russia can take 6 hitters IF they only bring 1 libero (Malova) but I don't think this will happen. Last spot is between Kosheleva and Lazareva and I agree with you Koshe has the edge on paper and experience-wise.

Btw, good to see Lazarenko in A-team. I think she will be the perfect 3rd MB in Tokyo (can also be used as serving sub), but I believe the coach will call Efimova

Kosheleva is still a big question mark for me. Sure, she has some great moments at club world champs, but it was also shown there that she had troubles with big teams. This coming VNL will be a good opportunity to see if she still has it. Otherwise, Lazareva should be in the 12 players squad.

Russia 2016 OG roster

Kosianenko - Ulyakina

Goncharova - Malygina

Fetisova - Zaryazhko - Shlyakhovaya

Scherban - Voronkova - Kosheleva

Malova - Ezhova

^So we could be seeing 6 out of the 12 players from Rio to Tokyo. We have a better setter duo this time in Startseva-Romanova, and the biggest addition to the team is Parubets. Also, not sure if Malova is performing well in Kazan or if she is still the best libero in Russia at the moment.

Quote from bibetron

Kosheleva is still a big question mark for me.

Honestly, the biggest question mark is Voronkova for me. Even Kosheleva, who recently joined the team, has taken Voronkova's spot. I can't say that Voronkova contributed more than Kosheleva. It will be better if Voronkova loses some weight because she has some difficulty in jumping.

Parubets and Lazareva's arms are long and this is an advantage for them to attack well. Lazareva can become a good player if she improves her skills.

The second question mark is the setter for me. I oft ask myself which setter is better but unfortunately I have no answer this question so far.

Quote from inc0gnito

Also, not sure if Malova is performing well in Kazan or if she is still the best libero in Russia at the moment.

I think she is still performing well so far. Yes, definitely she is the best libero in Russia at the moment imo. Neither Galkina nor Pilipenko's performance is close to her performance.

I agree with Ksenia. Voronkova hasn't played in the last few weeks and did not play great before (still solid). Maybe she just needed some time out... We will see who will be playing for Loko in the playoffs.

The setter position is still a problem. I think Startseva is doing better this season but I am not so sure about Romanova. So far her performances in the NT were dissapointing. There are no clear alternatives. Babeshina has a lot experience and had some good games taking over as starting setter in Moscow (struggled in the last few matches). I think Efimova has a good season and might be worth a try.

Malova is still strong. I think Russia should only take her as a libero and six hitters. Olga Frolova could be one of the OH. She has the best reception stats (with Parubets and Maria Frolova) in league.

You are reading my mind lol. I also thought about Frolova as second libero and 6th OH. I even wrote about it on another page, but not on this forum. Frolova is actually a player like Blagojevic who is able to play as both a libero and an OH. The difference between them is that Blagojevic is a very experienced player. Frolova maybe has no chance to go to the Olympics but i'm still glad to have her in the wide roster. Btw, I would like to see Kuznetsova in the national team. Yeah, she is as short as Parubets, but her attacks are very impressive and otoh her mentality is strong.

In the setter position, I actually want three players to fight for two spots. Startseva and Romanova are more experienced players. Efimova's sets may be perfect for Parubets because she also likes to play as fast as possible. But I don't know how it would work for the rest of the players. When it comes to Startseva and Romanova, I expect creativity from them, especially I expect them to play with MBs too much. Unfortunately, I sometimes fail to see creativity.

Honestly, I do not want Rusakova and Babeshina to come back to the national team because they haven't played in the national team for a long time and even if they come back to the national team and how many years can they play for the national team ? They are old players like Orlova and I don't want them to come back to the national team just for the Olympics. Krotkova is younger when compared to them and I want her to come back to the national team. She may play as second libero because her reception at least is better than liberos of D.Moscow.

Buzato complained that some players in the national team were inexperienced during World CUP, so I guess he will take experienced players to the Olympics.

With the Olympics being postponed to 2021, this hurts Russia more than it benefits them. The team's main offensive weapon, Goncharova, will be 32 years old by the time (Kosheleva will be 33). If I remember correctly, Gamova was also 32 years old and Sokolova was 35 years old during London.

Russia should really start looking for Goncha's heir-apparent this year. If not Lazareva, maybe Kadochkina is the answer.

I think Russia benefits from the postponement. I agree that Goncharova is not getting better but most players are not 30 yet. And the "old" ones (Startseva, Koroleva, Podkapaeva) should be able to play at the same level next year.

The good thing is that Russia has now more time to find the right players and system. And there are several interesting young players (Kadochkina, Kotikova, Fedorovtseva just to name a few) and some players below 25 who need the experience of another season (O. Frolova, Iurinskaya, Lazareva, Simonenko and more). Also we can still hope that we find more options for the setter position.

Kosheleva's chances to be part of the olympic team will be even lower next year (other OH are 5+ years younger).

Whoa. Galkina and Kurilo are out? At least Malova is back. How about Kotikova?

I miss Kotikova (still injured?), Iurinskaya and Olga Frolova (one of the best Russian receivers last season). No clue why Malygina and Stolyarova are included... Not sure about Novik (I think Sinitsyna did better in Sakhalin, but both not NT material). Would have prefered O. Efimova who had a great season.

If Voronkova does not get her previous shape back circa 2018, Koshe will take her spot as starter. Speaking of Kosheleva, it seems she had a better season in China compared to when she was in Brazil. I know I totally wrote her off from NT, since like 2017, but if she improves steadily I can see her now back to the team

EDIT: Sad Khodonova is not part of the list, I think she's better than Schreban

When she played in Brazil, she was recovering from that nasty injury she had back in Galatasaray. She wasn't near close to her best shape..

Kosheleva seems a really strong-minded person, I believe she will be in OG if she wants to be there

Quote from bibetron

Whoa. Galkina and Kurilo are out? At least Malova is back. How about Kotikova?

Maybe I'm blind but I don't see what's so special about Kotikova. For an OH she's not so tall (for Russian standards) and she hits better in Position 2 which is not really helping her a spot in the team. Kadochkina and Lazareva are more promising than her IMO.

Quote from inc0gnito

Maybe I'm blind but I don't see what's so special about Kotikova. For an OH she's not so tall (for Russian standards) and she hits better in Position 2 which is not really helping her a spot in the team. Kadochkina and Lazareva are more promising than her IMO.

Kotikova is the same height as Shcherban and had almost the same stats (attack %, reception %) in the season 2018/19 (injured most of 19/20) but she is 10 years younger. Kadochkina's reception is far worse so far, Lazareva playd OPP afaik.

NT trainings camp is cancelled (postponed).

http://www.volley.ru/news/22068/

Malygina I don't get why she keeps getting invited to NT.. Oh well Busato will see for himself After Goncharova, the opposite position is a black hole in Russia. Maybe one of Kosheleva/Voronkova can be backup OPP.

What about Natalia Malykh? Is she coming back to volleyball?