Melikyan: “I went all-in to beat Moldova”

Armenia national team head coach Yeghishe Melikyan summed up the friendly match against Moldova, which took place in Yerevan and ended in a 1-1 draw.

For the national team, this was the second June test ahead of upcoming official matches. Earlier, Armenia also drew 1-1 with Kazakhstan. According to Melikyan, despite the lack of victories, these matches gave the coaching staff a lot of important information ahead of the Nations League.

“These two matches will help us a lot in preparing for the Nations League games. We worked well, saw what the players are capable of and understood what we can change. I don’t see anything bad; the guys worked well,” Melikyan said after the match.

The head coach admitted that in both games the opponents tried to disrupt Armenia’s play, and at times they succeeded. At the same time, Melikyan noted that the overall impression could have been completely different if the team had held on to the winning score late in the match against Moldova.

“If we had won, the picture would have been completely different. But we conceded at the end. We need to work on finishing attacks and find a player who can score goals,” the national team coach noted.

Melikyan stressed that in the closing stages of the match he took a serious risk in order to win. The plan worked: Armenia increased the pressure and scored, but then conceded after an individual mistake.

“I went all-in to win. The plan worked, we scored a goal. But we conceded because of an individual mistake. Bueno had a good match, but he made a mistake in one episode, and it led to the goal,” Melikyan said.

According to the coach, the team’s main problem at the moment is converting chances. Melikyan believes that Armenia could have won comfortably if they had shown more quality in the final phase of attacks.

“We could have won at least 3-0 if we had more quality in two or three positions. But first of all, we were simply unlucky. I don’t understand how, in several moments, the ball simply did not want to go into the net,” the head coach noted.

Melikyan also spoke separately about the performances of several players. He praised Narek Grigoryan, who played as an inside forward and, according to the coach, opened up the opponent’s defense well. The player also had scoring chances of his own.

The coach also explained why David Davidyan was used as a right wing-back. According to Melikyan, this option may be useful for the national team in case of an injury or suspension to Kamo Hovhannisyan.

“I tried David Davidyan at right wing-back. He will be our backup option in case of an injury or sending-off involving Kamo Hovhannisyan. I know that Davidyan can play as a wing-back; he played in that position at Pyunik. Of course, there were problems, but we will solve them,” the coach stated.

Melikyan also mentioned debutant Aleksandr Mishiev. The goalkeeper had a confident match, saved Armenia twice and, according to the head coach, performed well not only on the line but also with his feet.

“Aleksandr Mishiev had a good match and saved the goal twice. For a debut match, it was good. He also played confidently with his feet and was composed. We have young and promising goalkeepers,” Melikyan said.

Set pieces were another separate topic. The head coach admitted that Armenia pay a lot of attention to them, but there was a problem during the match: after crosses, the players were not reaching the ball in time, even though there were tall players in the squad.

Speaking about the future squad of the national team, Melikyan emphasized that final decisions will be made after the start of the club season and European competition matches. The coaching staff will closely monitor the players’ form.

“We will determine the main squad of the Armenia national team after the European matches and the start of the season. It is difficult to say now; we need to see what kind of form the players will gain. There were players who did not live up to expectations, so we will continue watching and searching. We lack quality in several positions,” Melikyan noted.

The head coach also did not rule out Hovhannes Hambardzumyan’s return to the national team. According to Melikyan, if the defender is in good form in the autumn, he will receive a call-up.

In conclusion, Melikyan once again emphasized that he does not want to criticize the players after the match against Moldova. In his opinion, the team is on the right path but must solve its main problem — converting the chances it creates.

“I took all the risks, but it didn’t work out. I don’t want to criticize the players; they worked excellently. We are on the right path, we played well. The only problem is finishing,” Yeghishe Melikyan concluded.

Armenia will play their next match on September 25 in the Nations League against Latvia.