Posts by Joana

  • Serbia NT 2013

    My 2 cents:
    First of all, I think the generation that broke though and won the WCh '06 bronze is nearing its end. I don't think we'll see Nikolic on NT again, and that's fine by me. Let her last match on NT be the ECh '11 final in front of her hometown crowd. That's about the best farewell one can get. :)


    I don't know about Ognjenovic. Obviously, she's physically able to play for a number of years yet, but I'm not sure her heart is really in it anymore. Maybe she'll take her career more seriously now that her love story is over. If not, say thank you and good-bye to her as well and let Antonijevic take over.


    Now, the problem is that Antonijevic's tendon injury is chronic and not completely solved by the surgery last year. She's already hinted she might not be on NT this summer. In her own words, "I'm always available for NT, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to contribute considering my condition". Take that as you will.


    OHs, OHs... I really, really don't want to see Djerisilo on that position again. It's not fair to anyone. Let her play ONLY if she can be OPP, which is what she really is. Although, if Brakocevic HOPEFULLY keeps up her good form, Ivana could only be a substitute and I'm not sure if that would be wise at this point of her career. Maybe it would be better to let Bjelica show what she's really made of. Or Nesovic, even. It would obviously be ridiculous to have Starovic on NT at this point, but you never know... :roll:
    But back to OHs. I think it's time to drop Molnar. She's had two very bad seasons in a row and seems physically unable to keep up. A great talent once, but ravaged by injuries. Sad, but we should move on. We have two similar players in Blagojevic and Malesevic anyway and they are younger. Mihajlovic should be a lock for the starting line-up, because, man, do we need some hitters who actually can hit the ball. And yeah, get rid of Vesovic as well. We've all seen what she's (not) capable of.
    Malagurski needs to be given a shot, and considering she hasn't seen much action this season, some extra time on NT should be good for her.
    Make some room for Klisura, Busa and Cikiriz. They'll most likely not ready for the big time yet, but they can train with the big girls.
    Boskovic is still too young to be considered here, I think. Let her first play with the youth NT at the WCh this summer. I'd like to see her develop as an OH - OHs with good offensive abilities are always in demand!


    MBs. No problems here. Hopefully. Although, what's Veljkovic status on Villa Cortese? Why has she been dropped from the starting line-up?


    Liberos. This could get ugly. Who knows what Cebic's form will be like after all this time out. Perhaps leaving Rabita wasn't the best idea after all? I can imagine how psychologically difficult it would have been to stay there, but she could at least have proper training.


    But anyway, I just hope everyone (or thereabout) will be healthy. Please please please not another repeat of the last season!

  • Serbia - WienerLiga 2012/2013

    There are very young players on literally every single team, but Vizura is the only one that relies exclusively on them. They also have the biggest prospect of Serbian volleyball, 16 year old OH/OPP Tijana Boskovic. She's originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina and has acquired Serbian citizenship recently. Despite her very young age (only turned 16 in March) she's been in the starting line-up almost the entire season.


    Crvena Zvezda also has a very young team, the oldest player is the Hungarian NT setter Julia Millovits, born in 1990. They'll probably be champions again, but they haven't really been impressive this season. Their biggest asset by far is Ana Bjelica, but she will probably go abroad at the end of the season. And she has to, because she's outgrown the Serbian league and needs to move on in order to improve, I'm afraid she's started to stagnate somewhat already.

  • 2013 / 2014 Transfer News

    Quote from Matthias

    Christiane Fürst said in a German article that she wants to stay in Vakifbank. She doesn't care about the money ( :wavy: ErolGarip :wavy: ), she only cares about living and feeling well with what she is doing. Both Fürst and Guidetti tell only the very best about Vakifbank club :thumbup:

    So does Brakocevic. :) She feels she's improved her game a lot, is enjoying the great atmosphere and spirit on the team and wants to stay there because she doesn't have a single complaint about anything. She mentions Glinka in particular as one of the best persons she's ever met.

  • The 2013 CEV Champions League

    Quote from pao13

    You are silly.Montano and Calderon are much better.Brako is lucky to play in Vakif with good reception and with a very good setter

    Well, I'm sure they wouldn't want to trade her for Calderon or Montano right now :D
    I'm not saying she's better than them, they're different type of players and have different roles on their teams anyway. But she's fit in extremely well and has been a huge asset for Vakifbank this season, and that's all that counts.
    Brakocevic is such a mystery, from nearly amateur level last season to the European champion and F4 MVP a year later. 8o


    Vaifbank is obviously the most balanced and well-rounded team in Europe now. And that's always going to be more fruitful that having one or two nuclear weapons on the team while the rest is underused or simply not up to par.