pesazi

Actually a really, really nice movie, NightFox. It makes Bratoev look pretty good which he is certainly not. The only thing he provides is a good connection with Sokolov. But it's rather Sokolov who makes him look good than the other way round.

Sokolov obviously carried Bulgaria in attacking, but the true reason for their success (success is very relative in this case) was Skrimov. He gave the team a new identity, leaving this old "serve, block and Matey" strategy that brought Bulgaria nowhere. Bratoev distributed the balls more or less, but I can't see anything special in his setting. His passes to the left side seemed often unprecise to me, his play with the middles diesn't impress either. But the worst about him is his technique. I don't know who of you guys saw him live, but his fingers are stiff and his hands aren't smooth at all. Before you say I'm a Bulgaria hater - Dimitrov has very good hands. Hopefully he's given a chance soon.

Ridiculous, show me those stats! More than that, personal players' stats don't win matches, you gotta see the bigger picture. Btw, the best setter (we're talking about setting only here) is probably William.

Will you like me too if I send you a highlight tape of my plays? Please like me! I never saw a highlight video which make a player look bad...

1st. "Don't behave like a teen..." is just a silly argument making you look even worse. People usually say things like that when they have nothing to say ?
2nd. Don't tell me that USA won Olympic gold because of Brasil problems.

I'm the silly one because I don't like to be called stupid? Come on, that's ridiculous. I don't care who you are, but if you're not a teen you maybe should stop using this "?" stuff, usually used by 12 year old kids.
As for the Olympics, in general you're right and there should be no excuses made. And USA absolutely deserved it. A well known Brazilian who left this forum because he couldn't take the ignorance anymore once said Brazil should have never advanced to the final.
But even Doug Beal said afterwards Brazil wasn't at its best. He had said he was glad Ricardo wasn't in Beijing after they won WL. Giba was injured, Murilo played improvised as an opposite, and Rodrigao didn't even played the final. Need more?

Millar is a good blocker and contributed to the success, but he is not the reason for it and other middles could've done the same. Lee is way better. Whatever you think a star is, Millar is nowhere near the top ten MB, therefore not outstanding and no star. Compare his skills and his career to middles like Gustavo, Mastrangelo, Hübner or even young Simon and you'll understand. See, simple as that.

what makes Kurek a star? For example, maybe a little fact that Dynamo Moscow wanted him in their team, the same time that Zenit bought Juantorena to their team

Great argument! So every player in Moscow is a star? Kaziyski was a star too when he came to Moscow? Do you understand the difference between made players and talents? Kurek is a huge talent, but he has a long way to go until he gets a star status. It's an investment in the future for Dynamo. Kurek has to learn to take the game over when the team needs him. He has to learn to decide matches for his own team, not for the opponent. Those are the most important qualities of a star, and Kurek just does not have them yet. Many talents couldn't learn this all career long.
Somebody told me a joke that Zenit is happy to see Kurek in Moscow, as they can be sure to not lose against them anymore. You know, golden set 2010/2011, CL final 2012...

Pesazi - So you are saying that Millar isn't a star cause he is 36, Samica isn't bacause he's 30. So following your logic Giba isn't a star too, cause he's 36. Isn't he? What an old weak player he is. Definetely not a star at all. You should be ashamed of your stupidity. And btw. I'm not comparing Millar and Samica to Giba, cause I don't think they are stars too (but Kurek, Grozer, Wlazły, Winiarski, Łasko, Antiga are for example), but I'm just pointing how stupid you are judging players quality by their age.

Right, Giba is not the same player as he was before, but he is still very good. And more than that he was not only a star compared to players like Samica, he was the best and most complete player in his era. Calling me stupid? Don't behave like a teen, what you probably are. Doesn't make you look too smart yourself. Btw I was told evil chrison gives warnings to users calling other users stupid, lol.

To everybody calling Kurek, Samica, Millar, Antiga, Grozer, Guma... stars. Giba was awarded MVP in major events four times, won the OG, the WL eight times, World Champs three times and more. I don't say players have to achieve as much as he to be considered a star, but all your excitement about your "stars" should not prevent you from realising that all those players combined have pretty much nothing. Don't tell be about Millar being Olympic champion. It was Brazil's internal problems and injuries, plus Ball, Stanley and Priddy and coach McCutcheon (who are stars) who achieved that. None of them playing in Poland in their prime! So shocking!

NXT, they are stars because they are known? Nobody knows or cares about them outside of Europe. And according to success, I trust a Brazilian more than anybody else when it comes to vball knowledge.

Now to the Brazilian superliga. I'm sure most of you don't even know what you are talking about, as you don't have the possibility to watch it. Brazil has players in their league, which would easily play in the Polish NT. Brazilians unknown players like Lorena or Vini are more interesting then Poles in their NT. Quiroga and Leal are going there, though Brazil doesn't need them.

Who goes to Poland? Minor stars like Samica, unknown like Grozer (now he left).

One last thing about Kurek. What exactly makes him a star? Hitting "into the 3rd meter". Being a teen star? Or rather disappearing in important moments, choking every time when the team needs him? But even Kurek didn't stay in Poland, he knows where he can finally become a better player and get more money. GMCnetwork, I thought PLS can keep every Polish player?

@kapitan_bomba, if you have a problem with Germany, don't bother me with that. It's not too hard know what RFN means.

I'm not excited by PLS, but our clubs achieved some medals and depreciate everything is not a good argument.
You say that PLS is anywhere near the level of the top leagues. I would say: PLS is somewhere near to the top leagues. We are chasing them.

Still, I'm the only one here who argues at least. Giving minuses do not count as argument. "Chasind the others" is nothing else than not being on their level put in a positive way.

pesazi, place PlS in your rank, write who is fosrt etc. btw, fisrt you write Bundesliga is more interesting adn next that german club is no hard to beat? i dont know what is your statemant

Serie A on top, both Superligas following. Hard to tell which league is better, they are so different. Then PLS. Turkey has some clubs with money, but that doesn't make a good league. Forget about Greece. France is okay, Bundesliga suffered under Friedrichshafens domination. Maybe this year helps to make some changes.
I never wrote Bundesliga is interesting, what are you talking about? I said they are more successful in the CL, as VfB won it and no Polish club did. Please don't tell me about Plomen Milowice...

Lol no foreign star playing in Poland? Łasko, Grozer, Millar (last season) or Samica are not (or used to be) international volleyball stars?

You consider a 34 year old Millar as a star? And a 30 year old Samica? You should get the difference between good players, former good players and stars. Lasko is good, that's true, but he is not a star either. When he left Italy he definitely wasn't.
I had to laugh about Grozer. Remember he came from Germany and was more or less an international nobody. Now that he is a somebody, he says goodbye to PLS and moves on to Russia.

Chrison, are you kiddin me? The only time a Polish club won the CL was in 77/78. Skra was in the F4 because they hosted it, and they failed every time. Even the Bundesliga has more to offer, lol.

Same thing with CEV Cup. It was never won by a polish team. Kozle and Resovia were runner-ups the last two years, true. But winning against German and Slovenian teams in the semis is not that hard.

Challenge Cup. Wow, finally some results. When I watched the finals with some friends we laughed about the quality.

Be proud of it, that's fine. But don't say PLS is anywhere near the level of the other top leagues.

Sure I'm excited about the Superliga. I'm also excited about the Russian Superliga, and even more about Serie A. But the only people who are excited about PLS are the Poles, so strange.
You say the game is faster and more interesting in Brazil, so what exactly makes PLS equal?

You say the Club World Champs can be used to compare the leagues? Besides that there is only one team from each league, which is not enough to compare anything, Sesi lost in the quaterfinals of the play-offs this year against RJX, who didn't advance to the finals either...
Furthermore, this tournament was held when the european leagues were about to start, but there was still a long time before the Brazilian league did. So Sesi was still doing the physical part.

You think they care about the money? Please, the Superliga is ruled by billionaires, owning the clubs. Nobody cares about that little money. Just take the women's tournament: Unilever didn't even care about it and let Sollys Osasco go there. They did, but only with their subs.

Tell me, what have Poles achived so far to make you so proud? Do you really think foreigners care about PLS? Neither Giba nor Murilo would ever consider playing in Poland. Same way Dante laughed last year. There is no foreign star playing in Poland, none.

I don't think that we have worse clubs and worse league... Maybe we don't have Brazilian in every team but we can keep any polish player in our league and don't forget, this season we had 4 teams in finals of every european (and world) club tournament.

Maybe you don't think that, but then you are wrong. Did you ever watch a match from the Superliga? Probably not, otherwise yow knew better. This year's play-offs had an extremely high level. Way better than everything I ever saw in Poland.

You can keep any Polish player? You can't. At least not by offering them money. The best paid player in PLS this year, Zagumny, got about 300,000. Other, better setters get way more. The best paid player in Brazil, Dante, got 1,4 million. Kurek is about to leave Poland, the only reason for him not to do so is that he loves his status in PLS. Check your facts.

You're proud about the international accomplishments? Skra hosted the F4 and Resovia, your champion didn't win the CEV Cup. About the Chellenge Cup... come on, nobody even knows the competing teams.
The World Club Champs are a joke. It's a preperation tournament, nothing else.

Please guys, switch on your brain. There is absolutely no reason why Giba should want to play for a worse club in a worse league and less money.
Wait, maybe he loves the country and got rid of the carnival in sunny Brazil...not.

Zyta already explained, it's a typical newspaper hoax, trying to get some attention from gullible kids.

Just believe her, Nightfox.

What a meeting of volleyball geniuses!
Nightfox, how is it possible to leave out Grozer from the list? This player is able to serve with 128 km/h straight to the wall on the other end of the gym!
Mikko Oivanen, the player who won almost every title during his career, ruling the infamous PlusLiga some years ago.
Sokolov, who made a huge efford on the bench to help Trento to almost win the CL and the cup this year.
Agamez, with his unique technique, intelligent roll shots and consistency which helped him to make his mark in Turkey and Greece.
Lasko, who developed into one of the best, some even claim the second best opposite right now in the great PlusLiga, proving his quality in international competitions with his clubs and his NT. PlusLiga also helped him to finally make his wrist hit a line ball.

Actually not too hard, it's Maxim Mikhaylov. Maybe one exclamation mark would've been enough, but hey, I give you props for writing in english, which becomes more and more a rare thing on this site, as the quality keeps dropping lower and lower.

Congrats, you wrote one of the best comments on this topic, even if I don't agree with your taste of music.

If you're talking about Grozer's panzer style, Schöps indeed won't replace him. If you're talking about quality, I can assure you Resovia won't lose any of it. Resovia is really lucky to sign a player of his quality. That would have never been possible without winning the championchip.

Excluding Brazil NT golden time, club volleyball is of higher level than NTvolleyball, with tougher and more equal opponents generally.

That's an interesting topic. Can you define your thoughts?
I see it differently. I agree with you that there are more club teams playing on a high level than national teams, but if you consider the very top, the top three NT are on a higher level than the top three club teams.
Just take CL winner Kazan and compare the team to the Russian NT. You'd keep Mikhailov and the middles, maybe even Vermiglio on a good day. But compare the wing spikers to Biryukov, Khtey and Tetyukhin plus Verbov on the libero position, and it seems quite clear which team is stronger and deeper. You could argue about Muserskiy, Grankin and Butko too.

I'm expecting Kruglov to play in the group phase,so Maxim could take a little breather before the Olympics.We'll probably see more of Apalikov,too

I rather think Moroz will take the place behind Mikhailov. He was topscorer in the regular season as far as I know. Very high and hard hitter. But maybe you're right, and Alekno wants to have a more experianced player as back-up. It won't make a difference anyway, provided that Mikhailov can play.
As for Apalikov, I really hope we see him alot. This guy is so good, also mentally, but still kind of underrated. He was the real MVP in the CL final.

I've never seen Makarov play(he's now Russia's third setter,right?).Is he good?

He is definitely a solid player, but I don't see him in the lineup as long as the other two don't injure themselves. Russian users can tell more about his qualities.

There is so much talent in this team, and finally Alekno seems to have made something out of it. The only thing that can stop them imo is the winning-mentality of the Brazilians. On a lucky day, Italy has chances too.

He used them as tactical tool, taking Mikhaylov or Vermiglio out of the game, depending on who is in the back row. Plus, Sokolov was in the front row, so Trento had a good blocking line-up.
Quite smart, especially because he was blocked before as you said. Unfortunately for Trento, Sivozhelez still killed the ball.
The first and probably last time you criticised Kaziyski, you had no reason. So ironic.

I wish I would see Sokolov play. But in fact, his own national coach benches him in almost every match. And then he throws him into the deep end in the CL semis in a crucial moment. I guess you know how the set ended.
Whatever, Stoychev has several occasions in the next month to prove himself.

Thanks Zyta & champion to save me further work. There's not much to add.
Of course Stoychev has qualities too. Saying he was a bad coach in every aspect of his work would be quite dumb. But his quality is more to be able to keep such a team, composed with stars who have an ego, together and keep them motivated after so much success. He didn't proof any outragious tactical knowledge so far.
He composed a team, that simply runs over almost every other team. As soon as Trento had to face a team that was able to hold up physically, and was coached better, Trento's flaws were bared. That team was Kazan. To quote myself from 01.01.12:

@rayray: Does your obsession with Bulgarian players/coaches really go so far, that you call me "arrogant" and "mediocre of mind" for not sharing your opinion about their greatness? Learn a lesson from champion. He is objective and kind.

Champion, I agree with most what you said, but as I already told you, I don't like that idea of putting Sokolov on the wing spiker position. Nikolov will retire withing the next three years, and Sokolov is definitely able to start a new era. Still, the most important thing will be to find a new, better setter than Zhekov. Everybody speaks about Aleksiev's fails, but in my opinion it's Zhekov and the dated system/bad coaching which ruined Bulgaria's chances in the past. I don't know about any talents on the setter position. I hope for you there are.

@HCLT: Sure he does, as he did it several times before. And of course he is some kind of maniac, but he is still young and can change his manners, probably the hard way. As long as he doesn't lose his mind, he is a very good player with even more talent left, and very entertaining to watch. I really hope he finds his way back in the NT some day.

Spiridonov is the kind of player you love to play with, but hate to play against. I like him. Volleyball needs some characters like him. Could anybody who speaks Russian tell us what exactly happened?