Alexandra Trusova leaves Plushenko

[Thrashergurl]

This one confuses me. Sasha seemed a good fit with Plushenko and has shown improvements with her skating. They seemed to have the same goals and work ethic. He gave her the individual attention she wanted and that seemed to be a main factor in her decision to leave Eteri. I feel sorry for Plushenko with this one. I bet he’s genuinely heartbroken.
But...at the end of the day our confusion and speculation doesn’t matter. These girls are in it to win it at any cost. They’re doing what they think is best for their own career, and it seems cutthroat in Russia.
Eteri has really gained some respect from me though. She takes these girls back, nurtures them and they seem to show improvement. She definitely cares about them. Plushenko also seemed to really care about Sasha and I hope he finds a skater of his own to find that bond with.

 

[Arbitrary]

Could all that be staged right from the very beginning?
Go, try a hand with a different school, learn anything goid you can and come back when feeling right?

 

[dante]

He gave her the individual attention she wanted

What she wants and what she needs turned out to be two different things.

 

[chasingneverland]

This one confuses me.

I'm not sure it's entirely her decision. Even her leaving Eteri - a lot of that driving force was her parents.

However, I think they realize that her having quads isn't enough.

I also think Sasha's never been in so much danger of missing the podium in a big competition as she was at World's. Yes, she's had messy skates before - Euros for one. But a medal was never in jeopardy. I think her team freaked out. (I also think they thought it was one thing to lose to Anna and Aliona and a completely different thing to lose to Liza T and be only 9 points above Karen Chen.)

I think up until that point they never really thought her Olympic spot was in danger. (Assuming no injuries, it had been almost assumed that she would go since she was 13ish.) Losing to Liza T affects her standing within Russia itself.

I think her team panicked.

 

[Minz]

didn't Sasha a like a nasty post about EG and abuse on Instagram a few months ago?

Sasha said that it wasn’t her. She said she doesn‘t like comments/posts and that her Instagram was hacked. According to her this has happened several times..

 

[Minz]

Hopefully in the future she will not have to give humiliating interviews with remorseful elements to television channels. Not the case. Where she returns, she goes by numerous invitations and without a probationary period,

I’m sorry, but I can’t help but noticing the shade that is being thrown to Aliona here... This would have been a perfecly fine press statement had it not been for that...

 

[mrrice]

How many top skaters does Eteri have now? I think I would worry about not getting enough attention in her rink.

 

[Olympic]

UGH. I actually appreciated the fact that a top Russian lady was not part of the Eteri machine

 

[Tolstoj]

Unbelievable, Eteri will have six senior ladies, all of them possible contenders for the gold medal, going into the Olympic season. How will they manage to keep everyone happy? Will this increase Liza's chances for an Olympic spot, or will the Fed send three Eteri girls?

That was their plan from the start, they want Eteri to control everything in Ladies (and potentially Men's too, they'd love it) like Viner does in gymnastics.

When people in the west cringe at figures like Irina Viner, powerful and successful but also extremely harsh on their athletes, in Russia they are all like "gimme" and nobody cares about potential issues when putting all the power to one person such as mental abuse on the athletes. (and let's be honest ISU doesn't as well when they voted her "coach of the year")

So big respect for what she built, watching her ride to the top was entertaining for sure, but personally i'm very disgusted by this system in place as it kills competition (never liked monopolies), all successful girls with her, not the same treatment for the others outside, retire when Eteri says so, etc. especially what is happening in Junior Ice Dance too is also distasteful, where you have one team so talented, consistently beated by the other because the girl happens to be Eteri's daughter.

I believe every skater in every country should be scored fairly, so everyone should have the same chances regardless of who is your coach, where you're coming from. Apparently not everyone in FS believes this and that's a problem.

As for Trusova herself, i hope she is happy, i feel bad for Plushenko cause he invested money in this academy and he's the biggest victim of this system, they played him.

 

[katymay]

Also Katy if Sasha was available she should have done some of those shows with all the other TT girls and guys because they had skaters outside of TT skate in those shows to like Dima and Sofia and others I think.

The only thing is if Sasha had done some of those shows then the speculation and media craze would have been off the charts about her returning to TT who wants to deal with that?

I hope the skaters made some real money on that tour and not just the coaches or the Federation.

That sort of made things even worse. It was almost like everyone EXCEPT Sasha was invited during different legs of the tour. I couldn't help be feel hurt for her. I do believe she wanted to do more quads than Eteri wanted her to do, but I also think Eteri was right and she (or her dad) was wrong. I think the Eteri group also has a better handle on the type of program that is better for her, she needs to embrace her own style and stop being a poor imitation of the others. Rise or fall, I'm glad she is back with the Eteri group, and I hope it all works out. IMO she never should have left, it was a terrible decision that I suspect her dad was behind. I think Plushenko is a good person who really wanted the best for her, and I wish him luck with his other skaters.

 

[withwings]

i feel bad for Plushenko cause he invested money in this academy and he's the biggest victim of this system.

Absolutely.
Perhaps he finally understood this himself. I wish he regain his wings and inner strength to keep his course.

 

[Tolstoj]

Absolutely.
Perhaps he finally understood this himself. I wish he regain his wings and inner strength to keep his course.

I think he should switch fully to Men skating and start to invite more foreign skaters, basically watch for other opportunities of success.

How long until Zhilina also comes back to Eteri? at this point it's only a matter of time. RusFed clearly wants that coach to control Ladies Figure Skating, she's not that successful with mens, her boys are done as soon as they enter a senior competition so Zhenya could work his way there, then maybe comeback with girls too with more successes as coach.

 

[Zagipatra]

So big respect for what she built, but personally very disgusted by this system in place as it kills competition (never liked monopolies), all successful girls with her, no help for the rest, retire when Eteri says so, etc. especially what is happening in Junior Ice Dance too is also distasteful, where you have one team so talented, it could win the olympics one day beated by the other just because the girl happens to be Eteri's daughter.

As for Trusova herself, i hope she is happy, i feel bad for Plushenko cause he invested money in this academy and he's the biggest victim of this system, they played him.

Amen...Finally someone who mentions the Diana Davis win at the Russian Cup...

This systems, however sick we find it, will work for ET who will have young girls who secure the trophies whereas she uses Zhenya and especially Alina to lure people to her show to get $$$. I'm sick to my stomach.

Plushenko, whatever I think about his coaching qualities, at least invested in his students as opposed to disposing them when it gets tough and than using them as cash cows...

 

[nussnacker]

i feel bad for Plushenko cause he invested money in this academy and he's the biggest victim of this system, they played him.

Oh no, i hoped he learned that Blitzkrieg isn’t going to work in figure skating. It’s not a systemic problem, that Sasha lost to Liza Tuk at worlds, it’s a Plushenko problem. I’m sure her performances at Rostelecom and Worlds didn’t make her happy this season. Had she delivered something like that next season, it’s almost certain she would’ve been left off the team.

He wanted to go to Olympics straight with 1-2 years of coaching experience, by hunting coaches like Rozanov and having a star-studded coaching stuff of Olympic champions, building a rink and small houses, and giving lucrative contracts, well it turns out coaching is more complex than that. You actually have to build expertise and knowledge, and build your own system.
He learned it the hard way, that you have to learn and grow first, before you will be able to teach. At least, I hope he learned that.

 

[Scott512]

I think it comes down to Sasha leaving wasn't a surprise for Eteri. She did it during the transfer window and it happened "properly".

She also returned "properly".

(Aliona on the other hand just stopped coming to practices, left after the transfer window, and then asked to come back when she didn't make World's. Aliona's departure caught them off guard - they had already started making programs for her and getting her ready for the season - they DON'T LIKE to be caught off guard.)

Also, I think some of it is they're not worried about Sasha's competitive drive and technical arsenal. (They were worried that Aliona didn't even have her triples stable, didn't have her 3A, and was injured/recovering from illness. Also they were worried about Aliona's work ethic - they can teach jumps - but work ethic especially in that group...)

I also think a small part of it is Aliona's candor and forthcoming personality as well as charm in interviews. (Eteri and Plushy too for that matter are too calculated and focused on PR.) (That doesn't apply to Sasha who is too shy or Anna who is too thoughtful of how something might be perceived for them to worry about that.)

Interesting points and all true.

 

[Scott512]

Amen...Finally someone who mentions the Diana Davis win at the Russian Cup...

This systems, however sick we find it, will work for ET who will have young girls who secure the trophies whereas she uses Zhenya and especially Alina to lure people to her show to get $$$. I'm sick to my stomach.

Plushenko, whatever I think about his coaching qualities, at least invested in his students as opposed to disposing them when it gets tough and than using them as cash cows...

Why are you or anyone bringing Diana into this? It's not like their win at the junior Russian Cup final was even a close competition. They won by a lot of points.
If they won by one or two points that's a different story.

Some people make it sound like Diana and gleb beat the current Russian world champions dance team.

As for the Total Domination by TT with the ladies that's going to change after the Olympic season because more than one girl will leave let's put it that way for greener pastures. It is a business after all.

And Sasha and AK return to TT because they now have a better chance to make the Olympic team and EG has like a 90% chance to coach the ladies gold medalist. I mean she has Sasha Anna KV and aliona. When just a couple months ago that was not the case.

 

[Tolstoj]

Amen...Finally someone who mentions the Diana Davis win at the Russian Cup...

This systems, however sick we find it, will work for ET who will have young girls who secure the trophies whereas she uses Zhenya and especially Alina to lure people to her show to get $$$. I'm sick to my stomach.

Plushenko, whatever I think about his coaching qualities, at least invested in his students as opposed to disposing them when it gets tough and than using them as cash cows...

I've nothing against her, she has improved over the years but the other team K/A are just way more talented in flow, skating skills, connection, speed,... pretty much everything, including more difficult elements and more original entrances. One of a kind team you don't see very often even in Russia, and they consistently lost all season to them pretty much because she's the daughter of the most powerful coach in Russia.

Why are you or anyone bringing Diana into this? It's not like their win at the junior Russian Cup final was even a close competition. They won by a lot of points.
If they won by one or two points that's a different story.

Some people make it sound like Diana and gleb beat the current Russian world champions dance team.

Exactly, it wasn't even close which makes it even worse. But if you watch the two teams with figure skating eyes and without looking at the scores, you can notice a big difference in quality of skating.

 

[Zagipatra]

Why are you or anyone bringing Diana into this? It's not like their win at the junior Russian Cup final was even a close competition. They won by a lot of points.
If they won by one or two points that's a different story.

Some people make it sound like Diana and gleb beat the current Russian world champions dance team.

As for the Total Domination by TT with the ladies that's going to change after the Olympic season because more than one girl will leave let's put it that way for greener pastures. It is a business after all.

And Sasha and AK return to TT because they now have a better chance to make the Olympic team and EG has like a 90% chance to coach the ladies gold medalist. I mean she has Sasha Anna KV and aliona. When just a couple months ago that was not the case.

Well, they are an extension of Eteri seeing as she is always visible at competitions and promotes them on her instagram. The other teams at RC may have been weaker but I'm willing to bet that Eteri will at one point be announced as their second coach or something to increase their scores. I mean, the Tutberidze advantage is hard to deny when the Japanese skaters are waaayyy better technical but don't get nearly as many points or the same PSC marks.

Exactly, TT accepted Alena and Sasha back for their own sake and to increase their chances of an Olympic sweep not as an act of goodwill.

 

[skylark]

@katymay posted:
I think that Eteri tour might have been a knife to the heart for Sasha-all the performances and fun her friends were having on tour. Sasha, Anna Maya and Daria were (are)very good friends, and it had to be hard for her to see all the photos being posted. And Plushy's team would have been pretty lonely with no one in her age group etc.

How many top skaters does Eteri have now? I think I would worry about not getting enough attention in her rink.

I think @katymay makes a very good point. I think the camaraderie of skating together, working so hard, and pushing each other to be better is part of ET "system." It may even be partly that Eteri understands the power of young teen-age girls having each other to lean on, commisserate with, and celebrate with. The fun.

I obviously don't know what goes on in ET school, but I wonder if it may be like a family dynamic where there are several children, or lots of them. They compete and have roughhouse sort of fighting, but children in a large family nurture each other. They nurture the way they've been nurtured, i.e. like the parents do. It gives them an enviable closeness and source of support.

 

[mrrice]

UGH. I actually appreciated the fact that a top Russian lady was not part of the Eteri machine

Right........I guess Tuk is the last top skater to be with neither coach