In with universe?
The same one where Maja Aleksić is no better than Asli Kalac 
Posts by JoanaBG
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I think the real reason was that she was upset for losing her position in the starting line-up to Veljković.
It wasn't much of a loss because Maja could never really set for her. Her best NT performance by far was WCh '22 when she played with Drča.
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Are we absolutely sure Maja is playing this year?
I mean... We have to cut her loose at some point. I'd be more than willing to sacrifice this year (WCh doesn't mean much anyway now that it's held every second year, which, SCREW YOU, FIVB) if that's going to make a more solid foundation for the future. We need to start thinking about LA, like, yesterday.I'm in two minds about Brankica as well. Sure she can be helpful IF she's perfectly physically fit. But then again, she won't last long either. With her, Tijana could maybe finally have a decent replacement (assuming Bjelica is gone, and I'm gonna SCREAM if Terzić calls her again), for a little while, but maybe it would be better to start investing in Taubner for the long run.
For me, Uzelac, Lazović and Tica need to be locks on the OH positions. I'm guessing Buša has gone full on Malešević on us and will just fade into the sunset. We KNOW Terzić won't have a full kindergarten team, but if there has to be one more experienced player on the team, I'd take Lozo over Milenković any day. It's doubtful that Terzić would too, though.
Aleksić and Kurtagić are locks, that's for sure. Osmajić needs to be there as well. And I'd really want to see Kocić instead of Popović on the team. I really do feel there's much more potential in Kocić waiting to be unleashed if only she really believed in herself and someone needs to be push her in the right direction.
Popović has only had one really good tournament with the NT and that was ECh '19, she's done fuck all the rest of the time, so she can stay away as far as I'm concerned. Stevanović is a goner, of course.
I have no ideas about liberos.
And Čikuc, Zelenović and the likes will never be more than, I dunno, Ana Lazarević back in the day, only there to make up the numbers. Just the way it is.
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Really nice to see Hena taking advantage of her opportunities.
Maja Aleksić might regret signing with Novara, though.
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But honestly neither Maja is that much popular. Like she is well respected and people will know that Maja Ognjenovic is volleyball player, maybe that she is married to Dača and how she looks, but she don't have "celebrity" status.
It also helped Maja's profile that she was in a very public relationship with Miloš Teodosić, who was probably the most popular basketball player at the time, so it was huge.
Maja is the only player since Spasojević who's been really willing to put herself out there. Most of our players really prefer to keep it to themselves, sometimes even excessively so like Veljković. I kinda wish we had more players who are outgoing and media-friendly as it would certainly boost women's volleyball here even further, but it is what it is.
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I think they're close. IMO Tijana is more appreciated, while Maja is more "famous" because she gives interviews and is in the media all the time, while Tijana rarely does it.
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Ana Ivanović is on billboards all over Belgrade right now as we speak, advertising some hair care product.
She has a very strong media presence, so she's definitely not forgotten. In fact, I'd say she's probably more appreciated now than when she was still playing. Back then people used to complain all the time why she's not winning more, and when she retired people finally realized that hey, having a top 20 WTA player is actually kinda big deal.OTOH, Jelena Janković has completely disappeared from the public eye, by her own choice.
I believe Anja Spasojević would have been the most popular Serbian women's volleyball player of all times, had she continued playing for NT. She had TONS of natural charisma and people were instantly drawn to her. I don't think any player after her, Bošković included, was as effortlesly charismatic. Not that it's their fault, of course, it's not something you can chose.
As for who the most famous women's athlete in Serbia over the last decade or so is, IMO it's Ivana Španović, followed by Bošković.
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Hmm, but Djokovic has probably been beating everyone for years now very clearly?
Absolutely, and it's not even close. He has a God-like status.
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BTW, who is recognized on the street in Belgrade from sports athletes? Apart from Djokovic and e.g. Vlahovic or someone from the football team? Maybe Boskovic?
Bošković would, probably Ognjenović too. The Grbić brothers by a somewhat older crowd.
Definitely a bunch of basketball players, Jokić and Bogdanović most of all, and lots of retired ones too. IMO basketball players are even more recognizable than football players here.
Then there's Ivana Španović and I guess a few retired water polo players who went into politics and became public figures (Šapić, Udovičić) or Maja's husband Danilo Ikodinović who used to be in the media all the time because he was married to a famous singer and had a really bad motorbike accident in 2008 that was widely publicized.
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Serbia is a phenomenon in men's water polo, especially when it comes to the Olympics. This sport is certainly very popular in your country.
Well, I mean... yes and no. The national team certainly is very popular because they've won absolutely everything, but nobody actually follows water polo all season long, people just tune in once a year when there's a big competition. I can say with complete certainty that 90% of the team that won the gold in Paris this year will go down the street in Belgrade completely unnoticed and unrecognized by anyone.
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I don't really understand why Serbia and Croatia are so weak in women's water polo?
Because it's considered as men's sport, basically. Very, very few girls in both countries go into water polo and the coaching is at a really low level. I don't think it's going to change any time soon.
The situation with volleyball is completely different, as in both countries it has a reputation of a "girly" sport. It's probably always been the #1 school sport for girls, actually.
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https://www-old.cev.eu/Competi…chStatistics.aspx?ID=6450
The first big event under Terzic: still called Serbia and Montenegro. There is no one from that squad now. Maja was in a wide squad for that event but she didn't play in Turkey.
I remember that very well, at the time, simply qualifying for ECh '03 was considered a HUGE success. Nobody thought about playing at the Olympics, let alone winning medals.
Čitaković got pregnant that summer and had to miss the tournament, which was a big blow because she was supposed to be the leader of the team. And I don't think those who did play have fond memories of that tournament as basically the whole team got food poisoning.
Two years later, the ECh '05 in Croatia, now that was a different story. Women's volleyball was starting to get some traction here in Serbia, as in, people were becoming aware we actually had a women's team. And after we beat Germany in the first round, the expectations got very high.
Unfortunately, the team was still too raw with too many ups and downs still. Nikolić was playing like total crap the whole tournament and got so down on herself that she even thought about quitting volleyball for a while. Maja was REALLY unstable, and unfortunately, her replacement and namesake Simanić was a very average player who couldn't make a difference. In the end we finished at 7th place and the entire impression was kinda meh.
Ah, memories.
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OMG, nothing will ever compare to WCh '06. Even if we end up winning the Olympic gold some day, it wouldn't be as special as that bronze back then, simply because I can't even begin to describe just how unexpected it was. Those days (or better said, early mornings
) were pure magic, as simple as that. And my god, those crazy ass five-setters against Peru and Taiwan which nearly turned my hair grey, especially the first one, where we lead 14-10 in the 5th set (after going 0-2 sets down and Terzić changing almost the entire lineup) and then Čitaković spiked a free ball like 5 meters out and we had a total blackout and eventually had to save a couple of match points before closing it out. Molnar was great in that match, and yeah, she was a really good attacker early on in her career, but her body gave up on her.It's still so weird to think that Nikolić, Spasojević and Đerisilo never played together again after that tournament. It's also ironic that Nikolić was considered by far the weakest link out of the three of them and yet she ended up having by far the most successful career.
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great commentary otherwise and while it’s true bjelica isn’t the best I don’t think she deserves the shots fired. She was super great leader and super selfless playing less meaningful stuff so that Tijana could rest and was happy to do it. Plus the 2022 VNL run was one of my favorite things to watch as a fan and she was big part
OK, I'll admit it was a bit mean. It really was nice of her to take a very thankless role when Brakočević wouldn't, but she really is way beyond done at this point and selecting her again would be pure madness.
The Great Libero Reshuffle right before the start of the Olympics will forever remain one of the biggest mysteries in our volleyball history. What the hell happened there.
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Bjelica should definitely be out and I don't see how that's even a matter of discussion. We're actually going to need an OPP who is able to take at least some load off Tijana, whose 10 YEARS on the national team are starting to show. I don't know if that's Bukilić or Taubner or Zelenović or whoever, but it sure as hell isn't Bjelica. Bye gurl, and enjoy your national pension you contributed next to nothing to.
I'm in two minds about Drča. Yes, it could be useful to keep her around for another year to help with the transition. However, we really shouldn't fall into the "Maja trap" and keep holding onto her for just another tournament and just another year and then just another and just another until she's completely drained and doesn't have anything more to provide. Unless she by some magic manages to keep going strong, then by all means keep her until she's 40 if she's still really good.
Stevanović and M. Popović should be out as well, they don't have anything more to give. Silvija Popović as well, but I think that goes without saying.
Now, it's a little more tricky with OHs. Milenković should be discarded immediately and for good, in fact, I don't think there's a reasonable explanation why she was in Paris in the first place.
But at least two out of Buša, Lozo and Lazović need to stay. We can't go full kindergarten on that position. Uzelac and Ivanović are definite locks for the next year, but they need someone more experienced by their side. And as much as I want Lazović to make it, I really don't see her ahead of Lozo and Buša in any aspect, her age is the only thing she has going for her. Also, of course Branka Tica should be given a chance. It's yet to be seen how much potential she really has and it's not like we have five Gabis bursting through the pipelines, so we can just throw away everyone who isn't pure world class at the age of 20.
But most of all, we need a COACH. It doesn't have to be some superstar, but it needs to be someone who is able to make a bond with the team. It's clear Guidetti failed miserably in that regard.
Also, the days of screwing around with VNL are over. We need to start caring about the world rankings, because otherwise it can come back to bite us in the ass. It almost happened in Paris already.
I think I already voiced my displeasure with the route this sport is taking. I thought this Olympic format was awful, I absolutely LOATHE the fact we're going to have a 32-team WCh already NEXT YEAR and in general my interest is not a third of what it was. Maybe that's why I was able to swallow this epic disaster that were the Paris Olympics much better than I would have been able to some years ago.
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People accusing Guidetti of sabotage is ridiculous. The truth is, we played like crap, just like we did throughout most of the last year, although it wasn't as obvious then because there was much less at stake.
Guidetti was never a good fit for this team, for whatever reason. It's sad that we wasted the OGs like this and it's doubtful we'll ever be medal contenders again, but it is what is. We must focus on regrouping now.
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Jesus Christ. If it really was some sort of an elaborate evil scheme, they wouldn't have told the entire world THAT THE LIST ISN'T FINAL. Instead they would have waited until the last moment and been like "Oooops, Aleksandra and Ana got injured, we have to replace them."
And yeah, the mighty Serbian federation.
Remember when Serbia wasn't supposed to play the Tokyo Olympics qualies but got in after Cuba magically pulled out, and got to host the qualifying tournament on top of that? Oh yeah, right. -
Oh no no no. EVERY SINGLE TIME one of them comes up with such nonsense, I'm going to remind them that their country was literally (and I mean LITERALLY) built on genocide. In fact, I'm going to come to this board just for that. It's been enough.
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This may be off topic, but a couple hours ago Yuan Xinyue confirmed with VB (1 year)
Not if they give her a Turkish passport too!
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Yes.
Bošković plays well, but Eczacibasi loses: what a LOSER she is, she can't even win the match on her own!
Bošković plays well, someone ele plays well, Eczacibasi wins: what a LOSER she is, she needs Hande/Voronkova/whoever to win the match!
And absolutely, saying she has a toxic personality and that she was happy to win the Club WCh because she got sponsorship money and not because she cares about her team is totally "constructive criticism".
Also, I don't think ANYONE, Serbian memebers included, claimed she played well in the last year's final series.