Tokyo only, only hardcore
Thomas Sammelvuo decided on the Olympic squad on the application flag. The difficulty was, that volleyball has been played for a long time with an application from 14 human, but the IOC is doing its best to reduce the number of participants in the Games, cutting out wherever possible. You can play volleyball - and the same people go to Tokyo 12 human, as for the Games, when the trees were still big, and the liberos were absent as a class.
The second difficulty is Dmitry Musersky, who has taken off, who was able to simultaneously close the positions of the second diagonal and central blocking, which would leave room for personnel maneuver. Without the injured Musersky, he had to cut him alive. Cut off Dynamo Vlasov and Baranov, leaving another Muscovite Bogdan as the fourth spiker.
It means, that Sammelvuo has no confidence in the final game, and here the maximum amount of straw is spread. Neither Volkov, neither Kluk at the League of Nations was convinced of his indispensability, so that Podlesnykh and Bogdan will cover these fundamental rears. This is the first stress point in the precast steel structure.
The second vulnerable point is the libero Valentin Golubev, who was left in splendid isolation. In the League of Nations, he received no better gamers, to put it mildly. And in defense, speaking even softer, did not flash. And the role of the libero in modern volleyball is not inferior to the role of a binder: this is the quality of reception (respectively, overall game quality), and finishing odds, without which matches cannot be won.
The third vulnerable point is precisely the binders. We don't have an equally reliable candidate here., like Bruno, Gianelli, Christenson or di Cecco in their teams. The problem is, as Kobzar, and Pankov are able to play a high-quality confident game and fail it just as well. And not a fact, that these cycles are not synchronized. Plus to both - sports anger and arrogance, willingness to take risks and exacerbate, aggressive pitch and good block. In the negative - tactical sometimes inexplicable failures, and serial, as well as children for this level of loss in transmission quality.
Actually, the quality of the game at these three points will determine the result, because in the center and diagonals we have everything pah-pah-pah, apart from small roughness. It seemed, eg, that Vlasov is more accented, than Wolwich, able to create pressure on the mesh. But came to the fore, apparently, Artem's experience. Inclusion in the composition of Poletaev in the absence of Musersky looks justified, Victor, if anything, will be able to help on the pitch. Mikhailov's position is not discussed, Kurkaev and Yakovlev - according to the model, what the doctor ordered, and even with increased flow efficiency.
If it all works out, Russia at the Olympics is able to cling to medals. The specificity of the tournament in its transience, everyone can fail once, and Brazil, and Poland. And Russia including. We won't even consider leaving the group: in this regard, the first match with Argentina will be decisive 24 july. Then three super rivals in a row - USA, Brazil, France - where the struggle for not reaching the ¼ finals for Poland or Italy will unfold.
All checkpoints, training and sighting games are over, further only hardcore. How Tokyo 2020 will turn out for Russia in 2021, we do not undertake to predict. One thing is clear - we will see the real strength of our team, whatever it is.
