Melikyan ahead of Cyprus clash: “We have major absences, but we are ready to win”

Armenia head coach Yeghishe Melikyan and national team midfielder Karlen Hovhannisyan took part in a press conference ahead of the UEFA Nations League Matchday 3 fixture against Cyprus.

The Cyprus vs Armenia match will take place on October 2 in Nicosia. After two rounds, Armenia sit second in Group C2 with three points, while Cyprus are third with one point.

Press conference ahead of Cyprus vs Armenia

Karlen Hovhannisyan

— Has the team managed to recover from the previous two matches, and how ready are you for the game against Cyprus?

— Playing three matches in eight days is very difficult. But our national team is ready, and in the upcoming match we will play only for the win. I believe the team is physically ready.

— Armenia came into these matches with major personnel losses. Can you feel the absence of those players?

— Of course. Every footballer is very important to the Armenian national team, and the absence of any player is felt. But we can compensate for that, and we are working on it.

— What is the mood in the team after the defeat to Montenegro?

— We are in a fighting mood. We are going for the win only. We have a good team, and I feel that this national side and these players have a big future.

Yeghishe Melikyan

— How well have you managed to prepare the team for the match given the personnel losses, and what do you expect from the game against Cyprus?

— We really do have major absences. Ten important national team players are injured. All ten of them are genuinely very important to the team. If someone does not believe that, I can explain everything in detail later in Yerevan.

At the same time, we can still put together a competitive team and compensate for those losses. We are not losing hope because of these circumstances, and we are ready to win.

We understand that we have problems and are trying to solve them, but we are not using them as excuses. Those are two different things.

We suffered a painful defeat against Montenegro. After the match, we worked individually with the players and tried to prepare them psychologically for the next game. By tomorrow, we will have the team in a fighting condition.

— What is the team’s psychological state at the moment?

— The defeat upset all of us greatly. I saw how disappointed the fans were, and the players probably felt it ten times more strongly.

But we are professionals. We have to work through it, get back on our feet and fight in the next match. We will do everything possible to put that defeat behind us and play for three points tomorrow.

— What can you say about the Cyprus national team and its most dangerous qualities?

— We have studied the opponent well. They have strong players. The team captain is a very good footballer. The right winger who plays in England, Marcus Edwards, is individually very strong. On the left flank they have Loizou, who represents Red Star Belgrade. They also have a good centre-forward.

Cyprus have their own playing style. They were a little unlucky against Latvia — in terms of the game itself, they had a significant advantage. We have analysed their actions thoroughly.

— Ognjen Čančarević and Zhirayr Shaghoyan were not included in the squad for the match. Is that connected with their poor performance against Montenegro?

— This is probably the most pointed question today, so I will explain everything.

If we are talking about Čančarević having a poor game, then, for example, Henry Avagyan has played six matches for the national team, and we lost all six. If we dropped players after defeats, we could have stopped calling up Avagyan a long time ago. But that is not how we operate.

Čančarević has played four matches recently: two wins, one draw and one defeat. We do not look at the situation that way, and we are not giving up on either Avagyan or Čančarević.

The simple reason is that Čančarević suffered an injury and therefore will not be able to play. There is no need to create unnecessary rumours or intrigue around the situation.

Yes, I may be unhappy with his performance. There are other players whose performances I am also unhappy with. But you cannot drop a player after every poor match. If I start doing that, we will simply run out of footballers. We are not Spain. We have to work with the players and continue playing.

I know many people were unhappy with Čančarević’s performance and may criticise him, but that should not influence my selection. I am the one who decides who will be with the national team and who will not.

At the same time, I consider it normal that politicians who watched the match also criticise the players. It means they care about the national team, and that is the most important thing. They have the right to express their personal opinions. Let them praise us after victories and criticise us after defeats. I like that. But such comments will not influence my decisions.

As for Shaghoyan, his absence from the match squad is related to rotation. Earlier, Karen Nalbandyan and Narek Aghasaryan were also left out of the squad. We had this plan from the beginning: to use Shaghoyan in the first two matches and then give other players an opportunity.

It is normal rotation. We called up more players than can be included in a single match squad precisely so that we could make changes before every game.

We have not given up on anyone because of one poor match, including Zhirayr Shaghoyan.

The following players will miss the match against Cyprus for the Armenian national team due to injury: goalkeeper Ognjen Čančarević; defenders Styopa Mkrtchyan, Sergey Muradyan, Julio Bueno, Edgar Grigoryan, and Kamo Hovhannisyan; midfielders Vahan Bichakhchyan, Hovhannes Harutyunyan, and David Davidyan; and forwards Grant-Leon Ranos and Finn Geragusian.

Artur Serobyan will miss the match due to suspension.