Yeghishe Melikyan after Cyprus draw: "I won't allow anyone to interfere with my work with Armenia"

Armenia national team head coach Yeghishe Melikyan reflected on his side's 1-1 home draw against Cyprus in Matchday 5 of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Armenian coach expressed satisfaction with his players' performance despite the draw. According to Melikyan, the team successfully executed its tactical plan but lacked quality in the final stages of attacks.

The coach also provided updates on injured players, explained Artur Miranyan's absence from the matchday squad, assessed the performances of Zhirayr Shaghoyan, Nair Tiknizyan and goalkeeper Arsen Mishiev, and revealed the reasons behind his decision to switch to a new tactical formation.

Another major topic of the press conference was the relationship between the national team's coaching staff and clubs. Melikyan delivered a strong message to the head coach of Ararat-Armenia, urging him not to interfere with the national team's work.

Yeghishe Melikyan's full press conference after Armenia vs Cyprus (1-1)

"We fully executed our game plan"

— How would you assess today's match?

— We prepared well for this game. The players did a great job and fully executed our plan. Everything we had prepared worked. We played well, attacked effectively and created dangerous chances.

We were ready for Cyprus to sit back and play on the counterattack. We managed to create dangerous situations in the final third. Yes, we had problems with finishing, but we constantly posed a threat to our opponents.

The most important thing is that the team understands what it is doing on the pitch.

It's very disappointing that we have so many injured players. God willing, they will all recover and return to action. Then our team will become stronger, and our results will improve.

The key is that the players understand our requirements and know how to operate on the pitch. Now we need to improve our quality and wait for the injured players to return.

— What can you tell us about the injured Eduard Spertsyan and Erik Geragusyan? Will they recover in time for the national team's matches in the spring?

— Of course, there is still plenty of time until spring. I think Sergey Muradyan, Eduard Spertsyan, Vahan Bichakhchyan, Bueno, Erik Geragusyan and the other injured players should all recover.

I hope everyone will be available by then, and we will have a very strong team.

At the same time, I am satisfied with our current squad as well. Today, these players showed confidence, character and discipline.

"I advise the Ararat-Armenia coach not to interfere with my work"

— How would you assess the partnership between Zhirayr Shaghoyan and Nair Tiknizyan on the left flank? It seems they have developed a much better understanding and have become more effective together.

— Everyone saw how well Zhirayr Shaghoyan played today. As for Nair Tiknizyan, he always performs at a high level.

Shaghoyan is a player who still lacks consistency. Every coach has their own methods of working with players and helping them develop.

When I was working at Pyunik and had a conflict with the federation, I never allowed myself to interfere with the national team or its head coach. And the team's results at that time were mixed.

That's why I advise club coaches not to interfere with my work. I never interfere with the work of club coaches.

There was only one situation involving Noah. I requested a private meeting with the club's head coach. We calmly discussed an issue and understood each other perfectly. But I have never brought such matters into the public sphere.

Now I advise the head coach of Ararat-Armenia not to interfere with my work.

I am the head coach of the Armenia national team. And let everyone know this: when a footballer comes from his club to the national team, he becomes my player, and I will work with him as I see fit.

Shaghoyan played well today. I know when to be strict with a player and when to take a different approach. That's exactly why he played well today. Because I know how to work with him.

— Earlier, Armenia's goalkeeping coach publicly criticized Ararat-Armenia for giving goalkeeper Arman Nersesyan too little playing time. Do you consider that statement appropriate?

— Yes, but that happened after the earlier incident.

Before that, nobody from our coaching staff had interfered with the work of clubs. After what happened, my assistant expressed his opinion and told them to focus on their own responsibilities.

That was his personal decision. But I want this matter to end here. Everyone should focus on their own work.

I will not allow anyone to interfere with my work. Every coach has their own methods.

We also have a lot more we could say, but I don't think we should.

"Sevikyan came on with great determination. I'm satisfied with all the players"

— How would you assess the performances of the substitutes, particularly Edgar Sevikyan? It seemed that he wasn't in his best form and struggled to make an impact after coming on.

— I'm satisfied with all the players, both those who started and those who came off the bench.

It was a difficult match. Sevikyan came onto the pitch with great determination. It's not always easy to get into the rhythm of a game like this.

Yes, he lost possession a few times, but overall, I'm satisfied with his performance.

— How would you assess goalkeeper Arsen Mishiev's performance?

— He showed that we have competition in the goalkeeping position. We also have Gor Matinyan, who will definitely get his opportunity. We are creating healthy competition among our goalkeepers.

I'm very pleased with Mishiev's performance. He was good with his feet and dealt confidently with the opposition's pressing and pressure.

He couldn't save the team when we conceded, but overall, his positioning was good, and he had a solid game.

"Miranyan will be in the squad against Latvia. I want to test Garibyan and Ranos"

— Why was Artur Miranyan left out of the matchday squad? It seemed that, among the strikers, he had been getting the most playing time at club level.

— Miranyan arrived at the national team camp with a minor injury. He needs three or four days to recover, so we decided to give him some rest.

He will be included in the squad against Latvia.

I also want to point out that Artur has already played four matches in the current Nations League campaign and demonstrated his abilities.

In these two matches, I want to take a closer look at Artur Garibyan and Grant-Leon Ranos.

Yes, these are competitive matches, but I'm not afraid to rotate the squad and test different players. It's important for me to understand who we can rely on in March and how we can use them.

"With the 4-1-4-1 formation, we disrupted Cyprus' tactical plan"

— Today, Armenia played with four defenders. Was that decision motivated by the need to attack more, or do you believe this formation suits the team better and plan to use it in the future?

— I don't even remember Armenia playing in a 4-1-4-1 formation before. At least, I can't recall us using this tactical setup.

We chose this formation because of our personnel losses and because we believed it could work effectively against Cyprus.

It's quite an aggressive, attacking formation. At the same time, we wanted to neutralize our opponents' strengths.

We managed to shut down their short and medium-range passing options. As a result, Cyprus could mainly attack through long balls.

In this way, we disrupted their tactical plan.

— There was a noticeable difference between the first and second halves. Armenia pressed much more actively after the break. Was that a decision you made in the dressing room?

— We had the same plan for the first half. We pressed well, although not throughout the entire half.

In general, we wanted to play attacking football for the whole match. At halftime, we simply made certain adjustments and increased the intensity of our pressing.

— Overall, the team played with discipline, but at times it seemed that players were leaving their positions, especially the full-backs. Were these mistakes or part of the tactical plan?

— No, that was intentional. We deliberately introduced more creativity into our play.

Both full-backs operated very high up the pitch. During attacks, they were supposed to perform the roles of forwards, contribute to creating chances and pose a threat near the opposition's goal.

In those situations, Narek Grigoryan and Karlen Hovhannisyan provided defensive cover for them.

This meant we were constantly changing the players' positions on the pitch.

High-quality positional football requires positional rotations and a certain degree of freedom. That's exactly what we were trying to achieve.

Therefore, everything that happened on the pitch was part of our tactical discipline.

As a reminder, Armenia drew 1-1 with Cyprus on November 12 in their home match in the fifth round of UEFA Nations League Group C2. The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute through Yasonas Pikis, before Artur Garibyan equalized in the 58th minute.

Yeghishe Melikyan's team will play their final group-stage match against Latvia.