Armenian Soccer

[TomServo]

Re: Armenian Soccer

People with tickets weren't allowed to enter the stadium by the always-inept Armenian police.

Last 30 seconds in English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYrRoLfes4E

[Joseph]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Armenia football: time for management change

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Tuesday March 26, 2013

Armenia has lost its third straight match in the World Cup qualification campaign and has essentially lost all chances of going to Brazil. It is not like the chances were great from the start -Armenia did end up in one of the toughest qualification groups. But fans around the world expected much more from the very talented offensive line than a total of two goals in four matches, for an aggregate of 2-7.

These performances revealed and made more acute the particular problems with player selection, tactics and motivation that are the domain of the team management. They stand in particular contrast with successes of the team's players in their clubs. This naturally calls for an assessment of management failures of Armenia's football federation chair Ruben Hovannisyan and coach Vardan Minasyan.

Certainly, had Armenia won all or most of its recent matches, the many of the problems listed below may have continued to be overlooked. But following the abysmal performances, it is useful to review the list of sins and omissions.

Motivation

Speaking after the 0-3 loss to the Czechs on March 26, Minasyan came across as not quite adequate psychologically. Far from sounding apologetic about the result, he lashed out at journalists in a passive aggressive tone: "Did I ever saying we were going to Brazil? Our aim is to improve our game... Our level of play hasn't worsened, we just stopped getting results."

After struggling to put a goal past Malta, Armenia have not played a single qualification match in a motivated manner for complete 90 minutes. Armenia folded to Bulgaria, Italy and the Czechs long before the final whistle. All this is evidence of Minasyan's failure to motivate many of his players to remain focused on the game for its entire duration.

In comments following the match, one of Armenia's top players Henrikh Mkhitaryan took a swipe at several unnamed teammates that he believed did not play the game full-steam. But the problem with having unmotivated players on the field is not with these players per se, it is with the coach who puts them on the field. And today, the range of Minasyan's options has improved compared to what it was in 2010 and 2011.

In those years, Armenia did not always shine, but motivation was clearly there in all matches, including in the matches it lost to Ireland and Russia.

And when Armenia's players aren't coached by Minasyan, they remain rather motivated. Mkhitaryan is the top goal scorer in Ukraine's premiere league, having racked up 19 goals in 20 matches; Yura Movsisyan leads Russia's goal scorers with 12 goals in 15 matches and Aras Ozbilis is not that far behind with 8 goals in 16 matches.

Tactics

Armenia came to the March 26 match with its two insides (most significantly Karlen Mkrtchyan) and one defender disqualified, and three other players injured. This precipitated perhaps the most fateful decision of the match: Minasyan put Mkhitaryan to defensive tasks. Instead of sticking to short passing game that brought it success in the past, Armenia relied on long balls from the goalkeeper Roman Berezovski and right flank approaches by the young Kamo Hovannisyan. Neither tactic proved effective.

While Movsisyan and Marcos Pizzelli created some danger for the Czechs, with Mkhitaryan pulled back the offensive play looked disjointed. Edgar Manucharyan and Gevorg Ghazaryan, who have not had playing experience in their respective clubs for months, looked bleak; Ozbilis and Artur Sarkisov who have done great for their clubs in recent weeks did not come into play until late in the game, when Armenia already allowed the first Czech goal.

And that first Czech goal was as banal as the second and third Italian goals, and as many of the goals Armenia allowed in previous matches. Armenian defenders were once again beaten on a high pass. This keeps happening primarily because most of the Armenian players are vertically challenged. The only defender above 180 cm (6 ft.) tall deployed against the Czechs was Robert Arzumanyan and he too did not play his best match. The 190 cm tall Artem Khachaturov recently recruited from Moldova remained on the bench. While at 20 years, Khachaturov may lack experience, Minasyan's choice - Taron Voskanian - was lacking in both experience and height.

Selection

The questionable tactical choices for specific matches come on the back of even more questionable selection policies of the national team. Repeatedly in recent years, Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) chair Ruben Hayrapetyan took a personal dislike of players, including several that could well compensate for Armenia's height disadvantages (Joaquin Boghossian, Denis Tumasyan, Grigor Meliksetyan), on the grounds of their allegedly insufficient patriotism or lack of skill.

"Don't ever ask me about" so-and-so, Hayrapetyan would tell journalists, when asked about a particular Armenian player he would not be recruiting. This same attitude left Armenia with an untested (and also vertically challenged) substitute goalkeeper after Berezovski was sent off in a crucial match against Ireland in 2011.

Even more obviously woeful has been FFA planning for friendlies that are expected to prepare Armenia for the qualification matches. In preparation for the match with the Czech Republic, Armenia was scheduled to play with two football minnows Luxembourg in February and Turkmenistan in March. The latter match got cancelled due to re-scheduling in the Asian qualification tournaments, leaving Armenia to play against its own under-21 team. And the Luxembourg match was played on an awful quality pitch in the middle-of-nowhere French town that lacked television coverage.

Last year, FFA scheduled two matches in two days, effectively leaving the secondary roster to play against Serbia, with the main team playing Canada the following day.

A way forward

Whatever may be his sins elsewhere, Hayrapetyan does deserve recognition for his role in Armenian football, particularly for the development of FC Pyunik, which he founded in 1992 and that helped produce players like Mkhitaryan, Mkrtchyan, Manucharyan, Ghazaryan and others, as well as the building of the Avan sports academy, which opened in 2010. But after more than a decade of Hayrapetyan as head of FFA, it is time for a change.

Thankfully, Hayrapetyan is not the only one to have generously contributed to the development of Armenian football. The most attractive replacement is probably Oleg Mkrtchyan, a billionaire businessman who is the chief sponsor for Russia's FC Kuban (with Ozbilis and Pizelli), Ukraine's FC Metallurg (with Mkrtchyan and Ghazaryan) and Armenia's FC Banants. Mkrtchyan has also helped Armenia's team get around on his personal jet and has been a frequent guest of the Armenian president's VIP lodge during Armenia's home matches.

Perhaps even more urgently, there is a need for a new coach. When Minasyan was appointed in late 2009 at a tender age of 35, his CV included just three years as Armenia's assistant coach that came just a few years after he himself retired as a football player. The appointment most likely reflected not Minasyan's exceptional skills, but Hayrapetyan's exasperation with searching for a coach abroad. Between 2002 and 2009, Armenia saw eight head coaches come and go, almost none remained for more than a year. The timing of Minasyan's appointment coincided with the rise of Movsisyan and Mkhitaryan, the two key players that made Armenia's string of successes in 2010 and 2011 possible, and helped Minasyan look better than any of his predecessors, at least for a while.

Prior to appointing Minasyan, FFA did reach out to the most successful active coach of Armenian descent, the Uruguay-born Sergio Markarian. In an interview, Markarian said he declined because the offer combined his coaching of the national team with one of Armenia football clubs, presumably FC Pyunik. (Incidentally Minasyan has been coaching both through most of his national team tenure.)

After several successful spells on the club level in South America, the 68-year-old Markarian has since 2010 coached and much improved the Peruvian national team. In 2009, Markarian appeared interested in coaching Armenia. Perhaps, it is time to give him another call.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Soccer

ARMENIA TO BID FOR EURO 2020 - FA CHIEF

R-Sport, Russia
March 29 2013

16:03 29.03.2013 (Last updated 17:04 29.03.2013)

YEREVAN, Armenia, March 29 (R-Sport) - Armenia will bid for the
right to host several Euro 2020 matches, the country's FA chief Ruben
Airapetyan said Friday.

The tournament will be the first to be shared among 13 countries,
with the aim being to reduce the economic burden on any single nation.

Airapetyan announced that the 55,000-seater Hrazdan stadium in the
capital city of Yerevan could stage three group matches and one
quarterfinal.

"The Armenian president set a goal to reconstruct Hrazdan stadium
in the next five years and it will be one of the best in Europe,"
football chief said.

The arena, named after a nearby river, was built in 1971 and renovated
in 2008.

The Euro 2020 bidding process will start in April, with the final
decision to be made in September 2014.

Others to have expressed hosting interest include several cities in
Ukraine, Munich, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and Bulgaria's Vasil
Levski stadium in Sofia. Rome, Berlin, Istanbul and Madrid have also
been mooted as possible venues.

The organizing committee of the 2018 World Cup in Russia has also
expressed an interest in staging some of the games as a Luzhniki
Stadium legacy feature.

Euro 2020 will feature 24 teams, the second to do so after Euro 2016
in France.

UEFA president Michel Platini said last month that interested nations
may apply for group games plus one knockout round fixture, or the
final plus the two semifinals - or both.

[TomServo]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Split among thirteen nations? Maybe.

I would dread the organization and preparation if it was just Armenia hosting.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Soccer

UEFA.com
May 4 2013


Shirak wrap up Armenian title

Published: Friday 3 May 2013, 23.17CET
by Khachik Chakhoyan

FC Mika's shock defeat by FC Banants gave FC Shirak the chance to win
the title with two games to spare, and the Gyumri club duly claimed
their first championship since 1999 with victory at FC Pyunik.

FC Shirak secured their first Armenian title in 14 years with two
matches to spare after their 1-0 win at FC Pyunik was coupled with FC
Mika's 2-1 reverse against bottom side FC Banants.

Mika began the day five points behind the leaders but a Banants winner
in the dying moments gave Shirak the chance to wrap up their fourth
championship and first since 1999.

Despite fielding their strongest side, Shirak failed to create any
chances in the first half and were lucky not to concede when Artak
Edigaryan's free-kick hit a post for Pyunik. The contest was livelier
after the break with chances at both ends before Yoro Lamine Ly
converted substitute Levon Pachajyan's low cross nine minutes from
time for his 16th goal of the season.

"I am so happy," a teary Shirak coach Vardan Bichakhchyan told
UEFA.com. "I have never felt such happiness before. All credit to my
players, it is their win. Shirak had been striving for this success
for so long. [The city of] Gyumri needs such victories and we made all
the citizens happy. This is pure joy, and we made it by our own
efforts and eagerness."

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=arm/news/newsid=1948035.html

[TomServo]

Re: Armenian Soccer

A bad/quiet week for most of our players. I don't think Özbiliz even played this past week but the week prior he was probably the worst I've ever seen him against the very weak Amkar. Mkhitaryan (and Shakhtar as a whole) also struggled against some third-rate team -- it actually looked like they were going to lose until the very last minute. Movsisyan only played for about 40 minutes against his former team Krasnodar (he was subbed in about five minutes into the second half) and he was okay but Spartak really needs to get it together. They've supposedly expressed an interest in Özbiliz.

[TomServo]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Three RPL teams are interested in Armenian player Aras Özbiliz: Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, and Rubin Kazan.

Spartak's coach has apparently stated that they're no longer interested, though he was saying the same thing about Yura Movsisyan a year ago. I don't know how comfortable Özbiliz would feel at Rubin Kazan, given its... Turkic composition (Tatars are mostly OK, but there's also two Turks and an Azeri). I guess that leaves Dynamo Moscow...

[Mher]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Heno's move to Liverpool almost a done deal

[Mher]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Liverpool Reach Agreement With Shakhtar Donetsk

http://www.vavel.com/en/football/premier-league/liverpool-fc/241795-liverpool-reach-agreement-with-shakhtar-donetsk.html

Report: Liverpool in for much-hyped £22million Henrikh Mkhitaryan

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2013/06/report-liverpool-in-for-much-hyped-22million-henrikh-mkhitaryan/

[TomServo]

Re: Armenian Soccer

If it happens, I hope he is able to distinguish himself in the much more competitive EPL.