Special for the Armenian Weekly
Armenia stumbled out of the blocks again, losing their Euro 2016 qualification opener against Denmark at the Parken Arena in Copenhagen by a score line of 2:1 on Sun., Sept. 7. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had given Armenia an unlikely lead after 50 minutes of play, conjuring up an opening at the edge of the box before rifling a left footed shot past a hapless Kasper Schmeichel in the Danish goal. That superb self-made effort was not enough to secure the points, however. Armenia conceded the equalizer to Bayern Munich’s young star Pierre Højbjerg after 65 minutes, and fell behind to a late Thomas Kahlenberg header with barely ten minutes remaining, following a good exchange and cross down the left by Nicklas Bendtner.
The lead up to this fixture was fraught with experimentation and last minute tinkering, as Bernard Challandes scrambled to find tactical solutions with a squad of players decimated by injuries. Armenia’s friendly match against Latvia—held in Riga on Wed., Sept. 3—would be the last chance to experiment. Yura Movsisyan, Aras Özbiliz, Karlen Mkrtchyan and Robert Arzumanyan were just a few of the key players who were either absent or recovering from injury or illness. The case of Mauro Guevgeozian was slightly different. He would ultimately be unavailable due to, for the lack of a better word, logistics. This has been a familiar problem for Mauro, who yet again failed to reach an agreement with the FFA to rejoin the squad from his club in Peru for what would have been a first competitive match.
With such limitations, Challandes chose for the first time to set up his side with three central defenders and a pair of wingbacks against Latvia. Although the match ended in a 2:0 defeat, the new formation showed enough promise to warrant a similar setup in the competitive environment of Copenhagen a few days later. Overall, the result in Latvia was not a reflection of Armenia’s play on the night. Armenia was undone by a pair of goals from Latvian striker Šabala but displayed some fine passages of play, albeit lacking the finishing touch in front of goal. With an attacking three of Ghazaryan on the left, Manucharyan on the right, and Mkhitaryan through the middle, numerous chances were created. Although none were taken, there was enough on display from the attacking three, coupled with Hovsepyan and Yedigaryan marshaling the middle of the park behind them to build confidence in the new formation ahead of the Denmark match.
In Denmark, employing a similar formation against a better side, the objective was to reluctantly concede the lion’s share of possession, absorb the subsequent pressure, knick a goal on the break, and ride their luck until the final whistle. Unfortunately for Armenia, the script didn’t end as planned, but the effort put forth by the players under the adverse conditions introduced by injuries was commendable.
Although the statistics from the match don’t read well (Denmark enjoying 64 percent overall possession, 48 dangerous attacks versus Armenia’s 17, and 18 attempts at goal versus Armenia’s seven), there have been notable performances in the past that followed a similar pattern. There have been games in which the defensive side prevailed by performing the ultimate smash-and-grab act against an opponent who was dominant in possession. Most notable of those historic performances were Chelsea’s defeat of Barcelona in a 2012 Champions League semi-final, in which Barcelona enjoyed 72 percent possession, and Switzerland’s defeat of Spain in World Cup 2010 when Spain enjoyed 67 percent possession.
When Mkhitaryan scored early in the second half, after Armenia had limited Denmark to half chances in the first period, the stage was set for Armenia to emulate the brave, disciplined performances mentioned above. And those are the best adjectives to describe such defensive tactics. You invite incessant pressure. You concede territorial advantage, and rely heavily on the player’s discipline of shape and decision making—especially when selectively choosing moments to counter attack. For 65 minutes the plan was going great, but the withdrawal of Mkhitaryan and Arzumanyan from the fray heaped extra pressure on the remaining Armenian players. Mkhitaryan’s ability to keep the ball, draw fouls, relieve pressure, and create the odd chance out of nothing was gone. Robert Arzumanyan’s leadership and organizational skills in the center of defense was also a big loss, as he too was unable to complete 90 minutes.
The equalizer came from a long throw-in that was only half cleared. A pair of Armenian defenders got their wires crossed and ultimately got in each other’s way. Young Højbjerg was on the spot to bury the loose ball from the edge of the box. As the game wore on and the physical demands of defending for the entire game started to reveal chinks in the armour, substitute Kahlenberg headed home the go-ahead goal. Kahlenberg played a ball out wide left to Bendtner, and made a darting run into the box. Artur Yedigaryan got caught ball watching and failed to track the run until it was too late. The floated cross was met in front of goal and that put pay to a performance that had up until then, more or less gone to plan.
The final throw of the dice from Challandes was the introduction of Artak Dashyan up-front for Edgar Manucharyan, whose play was generally ineffective. It was not enough. As time expired, a good opportunity to get the ball into the Danish penalty area from a free kick on the left flank was spurned by Marcos Pizzelli, who failed to beat the first man with his weak effort—a lack of quality and concentration when it was needed most. So Denmark eventually eased over the line with a 2-1 victory after contemplating the worst for a quarter of an hour in the second half.
The loss will be of particular disappointment to Armenia, especially after taking the lead against the run of play and seemingly overcoming the numerous injuries to key players by employing a new 3-4-3 formation and setting up in a decidedly defensive posture. Losing all three points away from home to the number two seed in the group may not signal disaster for Armenia, but taking into account Albania’s surprise 1:0 defeat of top seed Portugal in Lisbon, it is clear that seeding and ranking can be thrown out of the window in Group I, as all teams possess the capability to win and ruffle the feathers of Europe’s so-called elite.
Next up for Armenia will be a match against Serbia in Yerevan on Sat., Oct. 11, a team with many highly touted individuals playing at some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Serbia will provide many challenges for Armenia. Specifically, their strength on the flanks from dynamic wingbacks as well as their set piece proficiency will need to be overcome if Armenia is to prevail in the tie and get their campaign on track. Aleksander Kolarov poses a dangerous threat from free kicks, scoring Serbia’s equalizer in their 1:1 draw with tournament hosts France, a match that was also played on Sun., Sept. 7. Branoslav Ivanovic always provides an aerial threat from corners as well, and this will need to be countered by tight man-marking and defensive leadership from the likes of veteran players Robert Arzumanyan and Roman Berezovsky, the importance of which cannot be underestimated. Armenia has conceded at least two goals per game in their last seven outings, dating back to the end of the last World Cup campaign. Besides injuries, this is the most worrying trend—a trend that can hopefully be reversed starting next month.
The health of the squad for Serbia’s visit to Yerevan should be in a better state than it was for this latest round of matches. Yura Movsisyan is projected to get back into the fold for his club Spartak Moscow in late September, and will look to regain form quickly following knee problems. After the match with Serbia, Armenia will play its first international friendly of the campaign as they welcome France to Yerevan on Tues., Oct. 14.
Armenia:
Berezovsky, Arzumanyan (66’ Voskanyan), Mkoyan, Airapetian, Haroyan, Mkhitaryan (71’ Pizzelli), Ghazaryan, Yedigaryan (YC), Hovhannisyan, Hovsepyan, Manucharyan (84’ Dashyan)
Coach: Challandes
Denmark:
Schmeichel, Bjelland, Kjær (57’ Okore), Ankersen, Boilesen, Eriksen, Krohn-Dehli, Højbjerg (YC), Schöne (56’ Vibe), Kvist (74’ Kahlenberg), Bendtner
Coach: Olsen
M.J. Graham
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