Aalborg + What If...

The first time we played Aalborg, in Aalborg, we played one of our best matches so far this year. We were on top the whole time and never really gave them a chance to get anything going on their side of the net.

This time was different. We definitely didn't play as well as we did the first time. Aalborg was also back in their best lineup with a full complement of opposites and outside hitters so they were more comfortable.

In the end, it was the classic battle between serve/serve receive that decided the match. Aalborg missed way too many serves and we passed well enough when they didn't make a mistake to win. After the first set there was little doubt about who would win, but this was clearly not a pretty match to watch.

We have to work more on scoring points in the defensive and block phases of the game. We rely too heavily on our serve to score points and sooner or later we're going to have to scratch out some points by blocking, digging or transitioning, otherwise we're going to get into trouble.

Now, on to something totally different.

Just for the hell of it, and maybe because I had six hours of total travel time to Aalborg this week, I thought it would be fun to extend the question of the FIVB enforcing a limit on the amount of foreigners and explore what the Danish Elite could look like if all the national team guys were forced to come home.

(For the purposes of this fantasy I'm assuming that, all of a sudden, there would be no place anywhere for any of the Danish national team players outside of the country. Of course, this wouldn't happen, but it's necessary for my purposes.)

First, let's list the guys out there - Outside Hitters: Lundtang, Knudsen, Ditlevsen. Opposite: Lyck. Centers: No one (ugh!) (Maybe Korsbak counts. But he wouldn't be affected by the rule change) Setter: Axel.

Lundtang is already practicing with Gentofte so I guess it's safe to say that he would end up there. This would certainly make a huge difference for Gentofte, giving them a strong veteran leader and really, really stable passer/attacker with a whole bunch of experience. I think Jesper could make a huge impact on this team if he ended up there.

Knudsen is an interesting question. He's from Kolding right? So, you could maybe make a case for a team like Middelfart or possibly Aarhus since they are closest. But, it's hard to imagine Kristian playing everyday in a place like Middelfart without the bright lights of the big city close by. He'd probably end up in Gentofte as well but just for arguments sake, let's say he would decide to go the Jylland route and play in Aarhus. Boom, instant contender. No one in the Danish Elite can match up with him. He plays at a completely different level than pretty much any one else. And you'd have a quality setter like Soren Hansen giving him the ball about 400 times per match. Add a couple of foreigners and Aarhus looks really good.

I don't see any reason why Peter and Mads don't come home to Fyn for, at least, one or two years. Maybe they would be attracted to the bigger stage of Copenhagen but as long as Marienlyst can offer a nice environment for the players I think they would enjoy the idea of coming back. That would give Marienlyst a pretty strong team, four national team starters and at least one back up. A couple of foreigners here to plug in where there are needs and the team would look really good. Hopefully, they would still want me around and not make a move to get a different setter...

...Which brings us to Axel. Gentofte has a young setter in Sebastian that is doing a good job, grew up in the club, has a bright future and that they are (rightfully) proud of. I don't see him being welcomed there. Aarhus has Soren Hansen, although I'm sure they would take Axel anyways, let's assume he wants to be the number one guy. Like I said before, I hope I would still have a home in Marienlyst, so who's left? Did you guess it? Middelfart baby! This is the obvious choice. Kind of like the Argentinian Martin Stenderup, they could pick him up and not miss a beat. A couple more foreigners and another one for practice purposes and this could be an okay team. I'd like to see it at least.

Obviously, this is an unscientific look at what could happen. What would probably happen is that they would all go to the same club, somewhere in Copenhagen, Holte maybe and just form a national team club team. I think it's interesting to think about anyways. It's also kind of nice to recognize that by adding five to six quality Danish players the entire league would be both more competitive and more exciting. A little more development and things look a lot better for the future...

Foreign Rules?

Now that it looks like the FIVB is set on cutting down the number of non-native players in leagues all over the world, I thought it would be interesting to throw some totally un-researched, non-expert observations and predictions out there.

First, I can’t believe the FIVB is in favor of a rule that limits the amount of foreigners to three per team and two on the court at the same time. Make no mistake, unless the price for a transfer goes up, this will affect the FIVB’s bottom line. They make a small amount of money on every foreign player that plays professionally. For them to advocate a rule that cuts down on their own profits (especially considering the FIVB’s reputation) is unheard of.

Second, I’m not sure that this rule change will do what they expect it to. At first glance, I thought it was a pretty good idea. No question, there are a lot of teams in Europe that wouldn’t be where they are today without heavily relying on foreign talent. But, does limiting the amount of foreigners translate into a strengthening of the home countries’ national programs? I’m not so sure. And these are the reasons why:

If the talent is not there, it’s just not there. Some countries are just not ever going to be world powers in volleyball. Japan is probably the best example of this. By all accounts, they have the best training methods, they have a huge fan base, a surplus of players and their league restricts each team to only one foreign born player. How good is their national team? Good. But. Not. Great. Even though their national team already has this rule in place and they have every advantage possible, they will never be the favorites to win the world championships. Now, I’ll happily admit that volleyball is thriving in Japan and if the goal of this FIVB rule change was to make volleyball thrive all over the world then perhaps I would agree that the change is a good idea. That is not, however, the stated purpose of the rule. It is to strengthen the national teams, and homegrown talent, in the respective countries around the world by getting more playing time for players who are born in the country they are playing in.

There is a big difference between a competitive league on a high level and a competitive league where all the participants are terrible. This is where the argument hits home. What would the Danish elite division look like right now without foreign support? Middelfart – gone. Marienlyst – slightly weaker. Gentofte – same. Aarhus volley – gone. ASV Aarhus – same. Hvidovre – same. Aalborg – same. So, the elite would be five teams or seven teams with two more teams that are playing in the first division right now. The league would be competitive, but would it be good?

Some people might ask what the league would look like if no foreigners had ever come to Denmark. And that is a fair question that would probably take some time to answer. But, I would argue that the league would not be better off in terms of the level of volleyball.

The problem is that this argument can be extended to a lot of countries. Sweden would be in trouble. Germany would be in trouble. Belgium would be in trouble. Etc…

Overall, changing the rule for foreigners will mean a huge shift in the strength of a lot of leagues. Yes, there will be a lot of space for homegrown talent to step in and prove what they can do. This is great in places like Italy, France or Russia where there is a huge pool of talent to pull from. Other countries will not be so lucky. So, some leagues will all of a sudden be bad in relation to what they have previously been. Maybe, and it’s a big maybe, they will build themselves back up in the space of a five or ten years as new talent develops. But, is the risk worth it? Some leagues might never be good without foreign players.

It seems to me that the free market regulates the foreign player consumption around the world, why put artificial restrictions on that? If a player is good enough, trains hard enough and wants it enough, they will get their chance eventually whether they are foreign or native. More than anything, what I think is important is that volleyball overall is being played on the highest level possible. More top notch competition creates more top notch players and that is what volleyball needs. More top notch players means a bigger talent pool to draw from for national teams. If a volleyball player thinks that they are being cheated out of playing time by a foreigner then they should play harder (or better) and find a way to get on the court.

Gentofte

For whatever reason, we didn't play very well on Saturday. Whether it was because a couple of our guys were affected by playing against their old club as has been posited other places, or whether Gentofte had a good game plan and played well, or whether our numerous injuries are starting to catch up with us or whatever else doesn't really matter. We played one really good set and ended up doing enough to win. Really though, the match could have easily been 3-1 to Gentofte and it could just have easily been 3-0 to us, so there wasn't a big difference between the two teams.

One of the biggest factors was our inability to win any points in our own serve. I think it was a combination of not serving well enough and Gentofte passing/siding out really well. Clearly though, we didn't block or play defense at an acceptable level. Hopefully we'll be able to do a better job of that in the future.

After experiencing both teams, it's hard to imagine Gentofte losing to Aalborg like they did last weekend, but I guess surprise is the spice of life...

We're on pace for an absurd three matches played in a span of like eight weeks. Aalborg next weekend and then another huge pause for the national team. Any rhythm as far as playing is concerned is basically gone at this point.