Russia NT 2021

    Quote from inc0gnito

    Adding to the Malygina discussion, even if she plays MB in NT I doubt she can compete with Koroleva in attack as the former is as slow as a turtle.. so her main purpose will be blocking due to her 'great height' but then Fetisova is already there and is second-to-none in this element :super: For this reason, I would take Kotova as third MB to Tokyo, she is a pretty balanced MB and at least can be useful as serving specialist

    the problem is that the players who we like today, they have played in Uralochka (Koroleva, Enina, Evdokimova, Kotova). Let's not forget, Karpol had a big impact on those players. I wonder if Koroleva would have played well today if she hadn't played in Uralochka.

    I'm not a fan of Malygina but Goncharova, Kosheleva said something like this, there are some players who are very good at training "behind the scenes" but don't perform well on the court because they don't get supports/tactics from coaches (is she one of these players?), because Malygina is not the only tall player in the Russian league. Well, that's why I don't want to criticize because maybe he has a valid explanation.

    especially for MB, being very tall is not much advantage at female volleyball. Height of net is not so high anyways, and there are not many attackers attacking over the block. I remember once Gamova had a ball to her face while blocking😂 moreover, a 190 player can easily reach same height with a 200 cm player.


    agility and block anticipation are the things matter for an MB. 190 is more than enough to be a world class MB

    Quote from bibetron

    Yuan is different. She's not just very tall but also fast for her height. Like I've said a few weeks ago, If it's just about height, Merkulova would have been a great MB. There's a reason why she benched for Perepelkina and Borodakova. I have doubts with turning Malygina into an MB for the same reason. Not to mention that she doesn't have playing experience as one at international level to be reliable at this position.

    Well, Merkulova was injured for the last part of her career (that's why she retired at 27 y.o ;(), but she had great matches during the cycle you mentioned (against Japan in 2010 WC, Italy in 2012 OG, etc). IMO she was better than Borodakova who was like a ghost on the court in her last years in NT :gone:. Merkulova's peak was 2006-2008, of course, she had strong teammates, but to have more than 2 meters she wasn't that slow (like other MBs). People may haven't seen her much because she played with Akulova and Sheshenina who barely set to their MBs... in clubs with Kirillova, she shone in CL.


    Malygina is like an experiment that I think that won't work. She is better MB than Opp. Of course, no one thinks she'll be good as MB... Lazarenko and Enina deserved that spot. BTW, maybe Buzato likes tall players bc he worked with men teams most of his career?

    Quote from Husky123

    Well, Merkulova was injured for the last part of her career (that's why she retired at 27 y.o ;(), but she had great matches during the cycle you mentioned (against Japan in 2010 WC, Italy in 2012 OG, etc). IMO she was better than Borodakova who was like a ghost on the court in her last years in NT :gone:. Merkulova's peak was 2006-2008, of course, she had strong teammates, but to have more than 2 meters she wasn't that slow (like other MBs). People may haven't seen her much because she played with Akulova and Sheshenina who barely set to their MBs... in clubs with Kirillova, she shone in CL.


    Malygina is like an experiment that I think that won't work. She is better MB than Opp. Of course, no one thinks she'll be good as MB... Lazarenko and Enina deserved that spot. BTW, maybe Buzato likes tall players bc he worked with men teams most of his career?

    I think Merkulova's quite good in attack. But unfortunately, she's just a bit too slow to close the block :(

    Kosheleva posted this video on Youtube. She is already training with the team :heart:

    Wondering what would be Goncha and Koshe's realationship off court after the latter's kinda long absence from NT.. I know they used to be friends lol

    Another video from Kosheleva's channel. Sokolova has a cameo :heart::lol:

    VNL Roster


    S: Startseva, Matveeva, Lazareva

    Op: Goncharova, Smirnova, Gorbunova

    Oh: Kosheleva, Voronkova, Fedorovtseva, Pipunyrova, Kapustina (Sazonova)

    Mb: Koroleva, Fetisova, Brovkina, Malygina

    L: Pilipenko, Zaytseva


    It seems some players (Malova, Romanova, Lazareva, Efimova, etc) will be added in the middle of the competition replacing the newbies.

    I’m a bit shocked that Lazareva (Opp/OH) isn’t there.

    No Galkina? :what:

    Malygina and the Russian Volleyball Federation...


    707537efabc18d2044c6be1e7f5dadaa.jpg

    :gone:

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    I might have missed it but I did not see any of those players in Kosheleva’s vlog in the NT training

    Quote from KVB

    I’m a bit shocked that Lazareva (Opp/OH) isn’t there.

    She got Covid. That's why she isn't there... she'll probably join the team in the middle of the VNL.


    Quote from bibetron

    No Galkina? :what:

    She took a break bc she wanna become a mom.

    Quote from kittosuni

    YI might have missed it but I did not see any of those players in Kosheleva’s vlog in the NT training

    Kosheleva's videos have a delay of 1 week if I'm not wrong.

    I was expecting to see Kotova :down::down:

    Curious to see how the OHs will perform. In this category, they chose pretty well and I hope we get to seea bit of Pipunyrova and Sazonova.

    Goncha returning from being absent since 2016 and Koshe since 2014 IIRC.. I hope they don't overuse the veterans and let the young ones play the most. Looking at the other team's rosters, Russia has a chance of making it to the podium..