Ludwig
Analysis of the Canadian NT at the World Championship
“Canada played arguably in the toughest first round Pool of the tournament. We knew before the tournament that it would be very tough for us in this Pool. Going into the tournament with the goal to advance into the second round we thought we had to beat Cameroon in the first match, get hopefully one or two sets from the other matches and focus again on our last match against Bulgaria. Bulgaria was the lowest ranked team in our Pool. But, their results of this summer (victory at Yeltzin Cup and Grand Prix 3rd group) showed that the ranking doesn’t reflect their level.”
“We started the tournament with the expected win against Cameroon. We played solid two sets, didn’t give Cameroon a chance but lost our concentration in the third set. The next two matches vs. Brasil and Turkey were very similar. Both teams put a lot of pressure on us with their serves and we struggled to run an effective offence.”
“In the first set against Serbia we were overwhelmed by their presence at the net. Whatever we played Serbia had a solid double block. In this match we reacted in the second set. Our game became more solid and we could execute better in offence. Eventually, in the last round Bulgaria played very well but we also made it easy for them. We produced too many errors in that match.”
“We struggled a lot with our first contact because the other teams put a lot of pressure on us with their serves and attack. We are not used to this consistent kind of pressure. This had impact on our offensive game. We were not able to put consistent pressure (with serves or attack) on our opponents.”
“For a lot of my players it was also the first time this year that we had a lot of games on a high level. We had only 4 players who were at the World Championship in Japan (the last time we played on a high level tournament). We played for the first time Grand Prix and the level of the teams in our Pool in Trieste was higher. We do not have the experience to compete on that level. It is important for us that we keep playing Grand Prix and that we get even more matches on that high level.”
General analysis of the second phase
“I am not convinced that the competition format is good. The 4th ranked teams of the first phase have no chance to advance into the third phase anymore. And on the other side there was only one meaningful match on the last day between Russia and Serbia.”
“Either take only 3 teams of the first phase or go with a quarterfinal immediately. Nevertheless it was impressing how Italy and Brazil were playing in the second phase. I haven’t watched all matches but the ones I watched both teams were dominating their opponents.”
“A positive surprise for me on this tournament is the resilience and the performance of the Dominican Republic. They have the ability to play on a high level but I have never seen them doing it with this consistency. De la Cruz has an outstanding tournament and Castillo is a world class libero.”
Semifinal prediction
“Based on the performances so far I think Brasil and Italy are the main contenders for the title with a little advantage for Brasil.”
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