I think Muserskiy is going to Tokyo somehow. He is just too valuable for the team. Has Mikhaylov receive serve before? Maybe they can push him to the outside to fix the OH issue 😂
Yes, on his way to an Olympic gold medal 
Russian NT 2021
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Yes, on his way to an Olympic gold medal
please consider adding a trigger warning next time!!!
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please consider adding a trigger warning next time!!!
hahaha omg heyyy 🤣🤣🤣
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Yes, on his way to an Olympic gold medal
i wasn't volleyball fan before 2014, but watching this made my love for volleyball increase tremendously. Russian fans must be overjoyed, while Brazilian fans faced the worst nightmare. Alekno was freaking brave to bet on Muserskiy and Mikhailov.
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So I think Russia has two roster options going to Tokyo: 1. 4 OHs, 3 MBs, 2 Opp OR 2. 3 OHs, 3 OPP, 3 MBs
Roster 1
OH: Volkov, Kliuka, Podlesnykh, Bogdan
MB: Yakovlev, Kurkaev, Volvich
OPP: Mikhaylov, Muserskiy
S: Kobzar, Pankov
L:
Roster 2
OH: Volkov, Kliuka, Podlesnykh
MB: Yakovlev, Kurkaev, Volvich
OPP: Mikhaylov, Muserskiy, Poletaev
S: Kobzar, Pankov
L:
As much as I like Poletaev, he really need to prove himself and compete with Muserskiy as Maxim's backup. But I will not be surprised if he makes it and Russia brings 3 Opps to Tokyo
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Is Podlesnykh better than Semyshev?
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Is Podlesnykh better than Semyshev?
Semyshev is the better player overall, but since he was sent home, everyone assumes he is no longer in contention for Tokyo.
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Semyshev is the better player overall, but since he was sent home, everyone assumes he is no longer in contention for Tokyo.
Too bad because he can play like 3 cycles of Olympic to go.
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So I think Russia has two roster options going to Tokyo: 1. 4 OHs, 3 MBs, 2 Opp OR 2. 3 OHs, 3 OPP, 3 MBs
Roster 1
OH: Volkov, Kliuka, Podlesnykh, Bogdan
MB: Yakovlev, Kurkaev, Volvich
OPP: Mikhaylov, Muserskiy
S: Kobzar, Pankov
L:
Roster 2
OH: Volkov, Kliuka, Podlesnykh
MB: Yakovlev, Kurkaev, Volvich
OPP: Mikhaylov, Muserskiy, Poletaev
S: Kobzar, Pankov
L:
As much as I like Poletaev, he really need to prove himself and compete with Muserskiy as Maxim's backup. But I will not be surprised if he makes it and Russia brings 3 Opps to Tokyo
So far all of the loses are with teams who killed us in serve receive. Unfortunately none of our OHs are consistent enough in that department.
So i think it is pointless to bring 3 OPPs if none can help in reception anyway. The 3rd one will just be sitting in the bench and you dont need that in a very short tournament like the Olympics.
as someone who loves Poletaev, Im actually surprised to say that Im ok if we leave him at home over Musersky. There’s just more upside in bringing Musersky.
It is probably late in the game but I would like if they explore the possibility of Baranov going as the 4th OH to help at the back. Podlesnyk and Bognan are so much a like and that both have not been impressive defense wise. This is probably also the main reason why Semyshev was sent home since he was the weakest amongst the 3 even though he is slightly better in attack.
I dont think we will make the VNL finals so we will most likely see the projected Olympic starters in week 5 especially that Brazil is out last opponent. -
So Muserskiy is out for VNL, and I would be surprised he will be included in the roster for OG next month. But based on the Russian forums, the injury was a way to "save face" for Dima and the Federation, as the former didn't really convince and for the latter to avoid issuing a statement for Muserskiy not making the roster for Tokyo.
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I prefer Poletaev because of his serve. I think Muserskiy will be the third MB if he's not going home.
Is Podlesnykh better than Semyshev?
Podlesnykh is a much better server and attacker and defender than Semyshev.
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So Muserskiy is out for VNL, and I would be surprised he will be included in the roster for OG next month. But based on the Russian forums, the injury was a way to "save face" for Dima and the Federation, as the former didn't really convince and for the latter to avoid issuing a statement for Muserskiy not making the roster for Tokyo.
Muserskiy was considered to be a favorite by some fans for making the OG roster mostly because of his fame and size and past achievements, especially the miracle in London that's always fancied for a repeat. Can this miracle happen again when such a bold move is no longer a surprise? Taking his NT performance in the past 4-5 years as a fact, you don't see a difference of the NT result when he's present / absent from the team. He's still in contention mostly because Polateav is not convincing enough to lock the backup OPP spot after his recovery. I don't see a possibility of reintroducing him at the MB position.
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I prefer Poletaev because of his serve. I think Muserskiy will be the third MB if he's not going home.
Podlesnykh is a much better server and attacker and defender than Semyshev.
Yeah, Podlesnykh indeed is good enough for the spot of a reserve OH.
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It is really hard to predict what will happen here. In fairness, neither Muserskiy nor Poletaev had considerable amount of playing time for us to judge, but yes, Muserskiy looked super slow and clumsy and it has surprised me because looking at the Japanese league videos he looked really good, outplaying stars like Kubiak, and Kurek.
In the middle, even when he is not so good he is important because he attracts the blockers more than anyone else, but I believe since pre-pandemic times Sammuelvuo is not much keen on him there, so he might be out. -
Russia have the luxury of having 5 potential MBs. Not fair. 🤣
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It doesn't matter who'll be Maxim's sub because we all know that Mikhaylov will be on the court all the games (of course, an injury can happen, but it's not likely).
Yeah, and it's been like that for ages. I remember in Rio when they had Bakun in a really great shape and regardless of Maxim's shape, he wouldn't be tried.
I wish they were more conscious about his condition. He is not young anymore and OL is right next - there is no need to use him so much. -
From the last 2 weeks of VNL it seems that Sammelvuo will go with Kobzar as the starting setter and Kurkaev as the 3rd MB instead of Vlasov. I suppose that bringing Kurkaev is understandable because he is good but I think Pankov should start in Tokyo even if he wasn't too good those past few matches. Hopefully Sammelvuo will not be too blinded by favouritism or saltiness towards Dynamo players from the club season. I wonder when we will get to know the roster.
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From the last 2 weeks of VNL it seems that Sammelvuo will go with Kobzar as the starting setter and Kurkaev as the 3rd MB instead of Vlasov. I suppose that bringing Kurkaev is understandable because he is good but I think Pankov should start in Tokyo even if he wasn't too good those past few matches. Hopefully Sammelvuo will not be too blinded by favouritism or saltiness towards Dynamo players from the club season. I wonder when we will get to know the roster.
Who will be the other 2 MBs? Yakovlev & Muserskiy?
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Who will be the other 2 MBs? Yakovlev & Muserskiy?
I think it's Volvich, and last one should be Yakovlev unless he still has injury problems. Muserskiy doesn't look too good in the middle, I prefer him as OPP if Poletaev is not healthy. IMO it would be nice to see both Kurkaev and Vlasov but I feel like it won't happen
