After the end of the European Championships, the Serbian women's volleyball team began to suffer a personnel crisis. From winning the runner-up at the Rio Olympics in 2016 to winning the World Championships in 2018, Serbia has made a magnificent transformation and officially entered the ranks of world champions. Serbia has been a favourite to win all major events throughout the Tokyo cycle, but after two failed attempts at the Olympic Games and the European Championships, Serbia seems to be on the decline.
After the European Championship, 2 main vice-attackers, Rasic and Wilikovic, announced their withdrawal from the national team, and Boskovic lost 2 helpers. Rasic's departure is a bit of a surprise, after all, European and American athletes have a long career life and can play until the age of 35. As the world volleyball recognized as the first secondary attack, Rasic attacked and defended comprehensively, and was the core of Serbia's front row defense. Now without Rasic's help, Serbia is doing nothing to limit the opponent's attack.
Vilikovic missed the Tokyo Olympics because of his baby and did not return until the European Championships. Although she caught the last train of the European Championship, Wilikovic, who had not played for the national team for a long time, was greatly weakened, and head coach Terdyc did not focus on her. However, the secondary offensive line suddenly lost two players with excellent strength, and Serbia was difficult to find suitable substitutes in a short period of time, which was the big problem facing the team. Even if there are newcomers to the top, the gap with Rasic is very obvious, and Serbia's defensive ability has declined.
Mikhailovic, the main attacker who missed the European Championship, is fully preparing for serie A and has recently conducted a pass training. Miha's injury left neither the Olympic Games nor the European Championships as a main player, and Serbia directly lost a strong attack point. Boskovic didn't have his teammates to share the offensive pressure that the final was too tiring to play as well as Egnu. Missing the national team games one after another, but having to seriously prepare for the league, Miha's operation is puzzling.
Since Miha's injury, head coach Terzic wants to train Razovic, but after the actual combat test of the European Championship, the gap between Lazovic and Miha is obvious, and there is also a crisis in the main offensive line. In case Miha suddenly announces his retirement, Razovic and Bussa will certainly not be able to hold up the main offensive line. In addition to the two positions of the main attack and the secondary attack, the hidden dangers of the second pass position are also not small. Veteran second pass OjenianOvic is close to 40 years old, coupled with the fact that he did not become the standard-bearer of the Tokyo Olympics, he has long had the idea of retiring. Although he expressed to the camera that he wanted to play in the Paris Olympics, retiring was also a matter of a momentary change of mind.
If even Odenianovic leaves, Serbia is not just a matter of personnel crisis, but a major internal change of blood, which may directly affect the team's performance. It is not wise to rely on Boskovic alone, Serbia also needs to select reserve talents in the new Olympic cycle, and the crisis it faces is no less than that of the Chinese women's volleyball team.