Post by Deleted on May 14, 2021 13:29:16 GMT -5
Key players absent by team:
Italy: Malinov, Orro, Danesi, Chirichella, Fahr, Folie, Egonu, Pietrini, Gennari, Sylla, C. Bosetti, L. Bosetti, De Gennaro, Parrochiale (This is basically their Olympic Roster minus Mingardi/Nwakalor as Egonu's back up, if Mazzanti even takes a back up. I see Parrochiale going as a defensive specialist.)
China: Ding Xia, Zhu Ting, Yuan Xingyue, Gong Xiangyu, Li Yingying and Yan Ni. (That's six we could see substituted onto the team during week 3? I sure hope so.)
Serbia: Ognjenović, Drca, Mirković, Bošković, Mihajlović, Busa, Milenković, Lazović, Rasić, Veljković, M. Popović, Aleksić, S. Popović and Pusić. (This is their Olympic roster minus Aleksić if Veljković is in form and Pusić. We could see some of them get subbed in but I'm not holding my breath.)
The Netherlands: Dijkema, Balkestein-Grothues, De Kruijf, Beliën, and Koolhaas. (I'm not surprised some of these have taken a break. They are close to retirement age. I still think that the younger players will do just fine, maybe even better now that they are given the chance.)
Poland: Wolosz, Kowalewska, Mędrzyk and Maj-Erwardt. (This team all rides on the setting and Stysiak's passing. I also think that Lukasic played OH for Chemik Police this past season. She's decent when playing well. Will Nowica be healthy and able to run the offense? If so, they could make the final 4.)
Russia: Romanova, Voronkova, Parubets, Efimova, and Lazareva (OH/OPP). (These omissions are interesting to me. The other Olympic big guns are all on the roster already so excluding these is an interesting move by Busato. I think the roster as it is could make the finals easily.)
Germany: Lippmann. (She could make an appearance later in the tournament but Drewniok is great when she has a good connection. She played as Stysiak's back up with Scandicci this season. I'm curious to see how she performs. This team is going to continue to make some splashes. All of their other big OH's are on the roster. Since Hanke retired, Kästner and Imodu will be battling it out for that starting spot. Both set for Stuttgart and Schweriner this past season.)
Thailand having a COVID outbreak is unfortunate and we likely will get an interesting wash of players.
Korea will be trying to gel since ditching the twins after the bullying scandal.
Is Japan missing anyone worth noting? I don't recognize the setters but having Nagaoka back will certainly up their competitive level. They could possibly defend their way up to the final four since most European teams will be weaker.
USA, Brazil, Turkey, Dominicana, Canada and Belgium aren't missing any major players that we didn't already know about.
Bottom line: the CEV teams have a daunting season ahead of them and they are doing what they need to do to go the the distance. If the OG's had not been postponed, this VNL could have been jam packed with all of the worlds best players. I think we will get a more competitive VNL next season leading up to the World Championships.
I'm still pumped but if USA doesn't at least make the final with it's roster, we have problems.
Italy: Malinov, Orro, Danesi, Chirichella, Fahr, Folie, Egonu, Pietrini, Gennari, Sylla, C. Bosetti, L. Bosetti, De Gennaro, Parrochiale (This is basically their Olympic Roster minus Mingardi/Nwakalor as Egonu's back up, if Mazzanti even takes a back up. I see Parrochiale going as a defensive specialist.)
China: Ding Xia, Zhu Ting, Yuan Xingyue, Gong Xiangyu, Li Yingying and Yan Ni. (That's six we could see substituted onto the team during week 3? I sure hope so.)
Serbia: Ognjenović, Drca, Mirković, Bošković, Mihajlović, Busa, Milenković, Lazović, Rasić, Veljković, M. Popović, Aleksić, S. Popović and Pusić. (This is their Olympic roster minus Aleksić if Veljković is in form and Pusić. We could see some of them get subbed in but I'm not holding my breath.)
The Netherlands: Dijkema, Balkestein-Grothues, De Kruijf, Beliën, and Koolhaas. (I'm not surprised some of these have taken a break. They are close to retirement age. I still think that the younger players will do just fine, maybe even better now that they are given the chance.)
Poland: Wolosz, Kowalewska, Mędrzyk and Maj-Erwardt. (This team all rides on the setting and Stysiak's passing. I also think that Lukasic played OH for Chemik Police this past season. She's decent when playing well. Will Nowica be healthy and able to run the offense? If so, they could make the final 4.)
Russia: Romanova, Voronkova, Parubets, Efimova, and Lazareva (OH/OPP). (These omissions are interesting to me. The other Olympic big guns are all on the roster already so excluding these is an interesting move by Busato. I think the roster as it is could make the finals easily.)
Germany: Lippmann. (She could make an appearance later in the tournament but Drewniok is great when she has a good connection. She played as Stysiak's back up with Scandicci this season. I'm curious to see how she performs. This team is going to continue to make some splashes. All of their other big OH's are on the roster. Since Hanke retired, Kästner and Imodu will be battling it out for that starting spot. Both set for Stuttgart and Schweriner this past season.)
Thailand having a COVID outbreak is unfortunate and we likely will get an interesting wash of players.
Korea will be trying to gel since ditching the twins after the bullying scandal.
Is Japan missing anyone worth noting? I don't recognize the setters but having Nagaoka back will certainly up their competitive level. They could possibly defend their way up to the final four since most European teams will be weaker.
USA, Brazil, Turkey, Dominicana, Canada and Belgium aren't missing any major players that we didn't already know about.
Bottom line: the CEV teams have a daunting season ahead of them and they are doing what they need to do to go the the distance. If the OG's had not been postponed, this VNL could have been jam packed with all of the worlds best players. I think we will get a more competitive VNL next season leading up to the World Championships.
I'm still pumped but if USA doesn't at least make the final with it's roster, we have problems.
