I'm with VolleybalXL, it's more a matter of who's going to be the 13th player rather than if Luca Porro and Mattia Bottolo will make the cut. At the moment I see Porro ahead of Bottolo, but let's see what De Giorgi will do.
I think it's either they take a potential sparkplug (Mattia) or a hitter that fits the system better (Luca). What's more alarming for Italy is if they don't find an explosive opposite tht can replace Romano who has been on and off recently.
Japan and Nishida's mouth are indeed very overrated. Watch VBW not give a damn about this competition at all and continue milking Ran's whitepassing existence while he achieves nothing other than win 12 year olds hearts.
But.... Ran is actually part-white though..... imo the hype that team Japan gets is well deserved this year because of how much they've improved, they're pretty much the new kings of Asian volleyball after Marouf retired and Iran is in shambles. Still bitter that the hype for volleyball hasn't reached Italy who basically has everything (a competitive league, amazing national team prospects, and cute players lmao) or maybe even USA or Argentina.
Oh, I must have misunderstood the thing then. My bad.
Thai media reported that AVC filed an objection to FIVB about the new qualification system for the Olympic Games, suggesting there should be a continental qualifier.
https://www.smmsport.com/reader/news/371793
Not sure if CSV & NORCECA will have the same action.
I think the complain is valid, doing so would favor the Americas and Europe, and at the same time, there would be lesser opportunities for Asia and Africa. The Olympic rings literally represents the 5 continents, not just Europe and the Americas lmao.
There is a rumour that Akimova will sign with Galatasaray. Do you think that true?
Last I heard, she was in talks to join a French team along with the younger Kobzar. I think it would be better for her to play in Turkey, it's more competitive than the Russian or French league.
I believe she wouldn't be listed if she hadn't accepted an offer
This is gonna be interesting... She did say she wants to play somewhere in Europe. If she somehow performs well in the national team, maybe some teams may try to recruit her.
Airi Miyabe in the lineup is quite surprising, do you guys think she'll accept the offer and play in Japan?
Russia would have been one of the top teams for NT season this year. Arina, Parubets, Voronkova + Goncha is really good on paper. If there were some miracle, I hope they still get to play at least WCH.. In my opinion, Sport should be outside politics but that's another topic
I personally think they should sit the Worlds this year out because tensions are still high, and I think Paris 2024 would be a perfect "comeback" tournament (if they can qualify, of course...) for them, including the men's team. I'd love to see Russian players play abroad though, I heard Kobzar and Akimova from the juniors category received an offer from a French club.
No, Russian players who play abroad can play CEV competitions.
Also I don't think Voronkova transfer will be effected. Unless Russian federation doesn't give permission.
Oh wait really? I thought CEV said that players from Russia and Belarus are not allowed to play. Must have misread that. I hope Voronkova's transfer will not be affected.
Which team will suffer the most when the import players leave?
Def Zenit-SP, Jenia and Tine are easily the best floor defenders in the team. IDK much about Poroshin (?) and how will he fill Micah's shoes but he seems like a pretty competent setter. Kazan has been trying to play faster, I think I remember seeing him play that one time in Russian league and he pretty much tries to set in a faster tempo like how Micah usually does. Surmachevskiy is in and out of the court a few times too so I guess the transition won't be as hard. Man, I just hope the foreign players can safely get home.
Any news about the girls with the current situation in Russia?
Arina played in the Fenerbache game in the Turkish league, I think she won't play in the CEV though, which is kinda sad. I wonder how Voronkova's Ezca deal will go.
With that saying, I think his Kuzbass boys should still be invited to the Russian NT (indeed, Yaroslav played well last year), but not with that untouchable status. There are other options that should be tested... Abaev, Lyzik, Fedorov, Klets, Semyshev, Tetyukhin.
I agree with this. It's time for Russia to test their young players out, especially since Max isn't getting any younger (I feel like Paris will be his last tournament with the NT) and there is a shortage of good opposite hitters in Russia. Klets is probably Russia's best chance for a tall opposite, followed by Murashko. As with the other positions, I wouldn't mind a Kobzar-Abaev setting duo (with a sprinkle of Pankov). Middle blockers are basically set once Lyzik comes since Russia still have Kurkaev if Yakovlev and Volvich underperforms. Fedorov can easily kick Golubev out of the starting libero position just like he did in Zenit-Kazan, but the real bloodbath happens in the open hitter position. Semyshev, Volkov, Kliuka, Podlesnykh and Tetyukhin would be fighting for a spot in the national team.
All this drama omg, that's just sad. All I hope for is that the issue gets resolved because their campaign is seriously suffering from it, SPB's backup setter is not performing well, Voronkov is choking, Poletaev is "injured", Yakovlev and Kliuka are underperforming, SPB is just a mess. Hope they figure things out at least before CL comes.
https://volley2022.ru/news/2411/
Is this like an "All-Stars" match with Russians vs the imports on April (?)
Lokomotiv was so close to defeat ZSP in 3 sets, leading 20-16 in 3rd set but somehow managed to lose it. Won the tie-break with 18-16 after all.
Is Sammelvuo married to an heiress that sponsors ZSP? I really do not see how he keeps his job, not only the losses but the incompetence that he possess seems to be contagious.
The recent Zenit-SPB matches made me realize truly how bad of a coach Sammelvuo is. I heard he and Kobzar had some disagreements, which is why he did not start (and play) in a lot of matches, even in Champion's League. The match against Lokomotiv was really lost for SPB until he put Kobzar back in and pushed Loko into 5 sets (the 5th being an extended set even!). SPB has lost all of their 5-setter games in the recent matches and I definitely see Perugia going no-mercy on them. Can't see how he got renewed for the NT, maybe because of the silver medal finish after going from no medal in 2016?
Display MoreAlthough it is a bit too early, I like to spin some ideas (for VNL) here to stir up unhappiness:
No. 1 the most important thing for the NT is to have a competent coach, imho, pretty much anyone out there should be better than Buzato (technically speaking, B is not really a coach)
S: Vetrova, Startseva,Filishtinskaia, Kobzar
OP: Goncharova, Lazareva, Akimova, Kodochkina, Antropova (if she wants to play for team Russia)
MB: Fetisova, Lazarenko, Koroleva, Pushina, Brovkina, Suvorova, Fitisova
OH: Fedorovtseva, Voronkova, Parubets, smirnova, Gatina, Chernova, Pipunyrova
L: Malova, Zaitseva, Pilipenko
Setter's line is a little weak, and all other lines I believe are pretty decent.
I like this lineup very much, but I would lessen the open hitter pool and add another libero, maybe someone from the U21 and U18 team? That's pretty much how the Men's NT discovered Fedorov. Open hitter pool is stacked enough with four players (imo Fedorovtseva, Voronkova, Parubets and Smirnova are enough), you could even put Kadochkina in the and it would still be good. I think Koroleva and Fetisova are not going anywhere and still might play in the future, but it's nice to have players like Suvorova and Brovkina who have loads of potential, they might even add Sergeeva if she got a bit faster.
I'm lowkey sad they got Terzic, I do not like him lmao. None of the Serbian hitters' reception got better under him, which is, imo, one of the biggest problems of Russia.
Just watched the final. Has Ilya become full time starter libero for Zenith?
He starts whenever Kazan has matches against good teams, I think it's safe to say he is
According to Match TV Lavarini will be approved today as a head coach of Russian NT.
So excited for what's about to happen in the women's team, I hope they get a legit chance to win gold as early as Paris.
The biased guy who runs volleyballword's social media is from the Philippines. He appeared in Ci Michel's behind the scenes video during the recent VNL.
LMAO omg a lot of my volleyball mutuals from the Philippines also hate VW admins to the point that some of them got blocked by the main VW twitter account
