It could be the worst result Women Team of Russia has got from Volleyball Nations League, formerly known as World Grand Prix, losing 12 out of 15 matches. The national team also disappointed the supporters with straight defeats in their home country. Amid the audience seated the most successful head coach of Russia who have watched all the 3 matches and interviewed by Russia’s media Sport-Express (SE) about his views about the problem of the current team.
SE: Our women’s volleyball seems to be in a difficult situation. You must have watched the League of Nations matches in Yekaterinburg. What are we doing wrong?
K: I watched all three matches. First of all – playing at home, you have to play the strongest composition, respect your audience. This is our fault.
SE: Players and coaching staff are to blame?
K: And the players who did not go, and the federation. For home tour you have to collect the best players who could help. Their absence affects.
SE: Isn’t Russia supposed to beat Thailand in such a composition?
K: Such composition is difficult.
SE: In the current situation you do not have the desire to connect to the work of the coaching staff, at least a consultant?
K: No, I cannot work as consultant while I can talk with coaches, but I don’t have the opportunity to participate in the work of the team. I have good contact with Vadim Pankov, if he turns to me – I will be happy to give any help I can.
SE: What is missing in our team? Maybe competition in the championship?
K: No, competition, I think, has nothing to do with it. There is not enough amount of training work that can allow players to grow. Therefore, the following year, in connection with the Olympics, they have to make the national league calendar better so that players could recover. And today, someone is playing with an injury, someone is not at all. There was almost no time to prepare for the VNL. I think the team is still good. We are able to compete for medals in Tokyo. But it is also necessary to adapt to the situation.
We cannot influence the FIVB, but we can do something on the schedule of our own league. It should end earlier, we need to fit in four months. Yes, it will become somewhat easier. But you can find a combination of group, pair games. And so we are constantly on the road. What does it mean to fly to Sakhalin (the southern city of Russia, it takes 8 hours flight from Moscow to Sakhalin) ? 3-4 training days were wasted. Where to get them then? We need to improve logistics. Need to move away from the interests of clubs. One round of home games in the preliminary round is enough. Next – the playoffs, the fans will see their own. We need to better organize the championship. If not enough time to workout.
SE: Has the level of the championship in recent years dropped?
K: So I’m talking about this! National league must be the key to the national team. The main thing in the league is to prepare the players so that they can then come in good condition for the national team. And you need to discipline the players. I do not know what injuries other players have given to rest. But I think that additional time for recovery will help. Then you can ask them. Still, a lot of people did not play – Kosheleva, Goncharova, Fetisova, Zaryazhko. And our youth are not up to standard. Olga Zubareva was assigned to play against Holland, but she cannot yet play at such a level! And the performance of newcomers do not allow us to win.
SE: Does the economic crisis not interfere with our volleyball? After all, sport is largely dependent on the state, and the money has become less. And in general – is it possible to make money on volleyball?
K: Volleyball is not football. We do not have such halls, we cannot conduct such work to earn. There are clubs that have the opportunity to prepare not at the expense of the state. Kazan has a sponsor, Dinamo Moscow has many sponsors. These teams can offer the best conditions, and people leave us (Uralochka), we cannot retain them. But what is most alarming is that our youth is not growing, there is not enough training time. It’s not about the money. And the VNL – strictly speaking, a commercial tournament, has no crucial meaning. But the players still failed.
Well, trainers need to be taught to work. And we sometimes have two or three coaches in leading clubs change. They are responsible for the result, but do not always have time to prepare. The main task of clubs should not be the result in the national league, but preparing players for the national team.
