Those who expected another easy victory, game with China, he could be very disappointing. But Nikola Grbić rather, it belongs to those who expect nothing before the meetings. Serb again got a lot of material to analyze because Polish volleyball players on Thursday in Gdańsk they certainly did not play perfectly. But it’s hard not to notice how they recovered from their unexpected defeat to Iran, and how several of them stood out on the pitch and took their chances.
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Grbić does not promise victory even in a friendly match. “What about the League of Nations or the World Cup”
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The Fornal showed that he can change the result at a crucial moment. It guaranteed stability
The match with the Chinese was supposed to be the easiest in theory during the entire tournament in Gdańsk. It was on Thursday that Nikola Grbić was supposed to test the most. First of all, check the players who usually do not get a chance to play in the starting line-up or even in double substitutions. AND Serb that’s what he did. The meeting was started by Łukasz Kaczmarek, Jan Firlej, Jakub Kochanowski, Karol Kłos, Kamil Semeniuk, Tomasz Fornal and Jakub Popiwczak. Karol Butryn also entered, Mateusz Bieniek and Marcin Janusz.
The Poles played the first set terribly. Chinesewho ended the game with a 75% attack success rate were at times unstoppable. They put up a single block themselves, and that was where, for example, Kamil Semeniuk’s action ended. Again, it seemed that the Poles, as with Iran two days ago, miscalculated, thinking that the rival would not be able to clearly threaten them. The Chinese had three set balls, but then the one who turned the tide reacted.
Tomasz Fornal already on Wednesday he showed that with his play he can change the result at a crucial moment. He gave a tie-break against Iran with his services in the fourth set. He served an ace twice with the Chinese in the early stages of the game. But from 21:24 onwards it was hard to believe what he was doing. First he scored a point in attack, then he scored a point three times in a row by serving. After the attack in the Chinese cars in the next action, the Poles won the set 26:24, although even for a moment earlier they did not look more stable, more confident than their rivals. It was the Fornal who guaranteed it.
After the end of the second game, “Kochan” was kneeling in front of him, Kurek kicked him in a whim, as TVP Sport journalist Filip Czyszanowski wrote on Twitter, and Kaczmarek pushed towards the service area before each play. And that was not the end of Fornal’s great performance. Although he did not add any more aces, he accepted every ball played towards him, and in the attack after two sets he had six balls finished out of eight. He also finished the last ball in the third game, in which he increased his attack effectiveness to 82 percent. He became the hero of the meeting and that is how he flashed in Nikola Grbic’s eyes. He showed that he should take it into account when choosing the strongest squad. First and foremost.
Apart from Fornal, the match with the Chinese was crucial, especially for Łukasz Kaczmarek. The attacker could impress in the block or in the serve. He did not do well in the attack at the beginning – he only finished one of the four balls. Later, however, he returned to a solid game, improved efficiency and looked better. Although this is again a situation in which he gets a chance to play in a greater amount of time and does not convince in an irrefutable way.
Poles finally got rid of their mistakes. As if Grbić agreed a list of penalties with them
The biggest difference between Poland in the match with Iran and Poland in the match against China? Errors, or in fact their lack. Against Iran, after three sets, Nikola Grbic’s players had twenty broken plays and almost thirty points given to their rivals by their own, unforced mistakes. And in the match against China? After two sets, ten – only seven in service, two in attack and one in reception.
It looked as if Nikola Grbić agreed with the players a list of penalties for mistakes. He probably could not be fully satisfied with the style of the game, because the Chinese were still skilfully using the Polish block, they played very effectively in the attack, but one more thing improved, which the Serbs had a grudge against after the match with Iran.
– We must not lack reaction to our opponent’s game. This is our problem – he said and sensitized the players that they cannot freeze on the pitch just because it is Iran, or in this case China is playing well. And it must be admitted that the Poles tried to follow the words of their coach. In the first set, the bad habits of Tuesday’s competition with Iran were also visible. But later on, they responded excellently to the crisis. First thanks to Fornal’s licks, and then Bieka and Kochanowski. The service stimulated the other elements and so in the third set from 17:16 with the ball for the Chinese it was 22:16 for Poland. After this series, Grbić’s team rushed to win.
Grbić jokes that he will be handing out tickets to Bologna just before boarding the plane. And seriously? Nobody can be sure of it
To show strength, it would be better for the Poles to win in sets to 15.12 and 13, not having any problems with beating the rival. For the spectacle, but also for drawing conclusions from this match, it’s good that the Chinese turned out to be a bit more demanding opponent.
Has anyone already shown with this match that they are ready to go to Bologna? One could indicate: Tomasz Fornal. But Nikola Grbić explains day by day that his elections and building the Polish representation are not only about the meetings, but also training, behavior or approach to specific challenges. He tests and checks players many times, in very different ways, to give himself the best, cleanest image of the team. During the match with China, a few players clearly gained, and the rest lost a bit. Grbić repeats, however, that he will not send anyone to Bologna before the end of the tournament in Gdańsk. And he jokes that he can only distribute tickets for a flight to Italy before boarding the plane.
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