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REPUBLIC OF IRELAND'S RECORD UNDER THREAT FROM ATTACKING ARMENIANS
Paul Doyle
The Observer
Sunday 9 October 2011
The former Swindon Town player, Tom Jones, can be credited for
Armenia's remarkable upsurge in form
Armenia's powerful striker Yura Movsisyan, left, has the potential
to unsettle the Republic of Ireland in Dublin. Photograph: Tigran
Mehrabyan/AP
"I am not pleased with the quality of our game, that is not what I
am used to seeing." When the manager of Armenia, who began their Euro
2012 campaign ranked 105th in the world, just below Qatar, makes that
declaration after a 4-1 home victory over Macedonia that lifts his
country to the top of their qualifying group, you know things are
not as you thought. And the Republic of Ireland have cause for concern.
That win for Armenia on Friday afternoon temporarily took them to
the top of Group B before Russia and Ireland won later that evening
to go first and second respectively and bump Armenia back to third,
but still in with a chance of becoming perhaps the most surprising
qualifiers for the finals in the history of the tournament.
Until now their best campaign had been for the 1998 World Cup,
when they finished fourth in their group but still won only one
of 10 qualifiers and scored just eight goals - in every other
post-independence campaign since their first one in 1994, they
finished either last or second last. Yet now they go to Dublin on
Tuesday as by far the most prolific scorers in Group B, thanks notably
to that win over Macedonia and last month's 4-0 triumph in Slovakia,
who just days previously thought they themselves had taken a big step
to qualification by drawing 0-0 in Dublin.
What is going on? An Englishman can shed some light. Tom Jones,
the former Swindon Town player and until recently manager of Swindon
Supermarine, ran the Armenian national team for three years between
2006 and 2009, first as Ian Porterfield's assistant and then, when
Porterfield died in 2007, as the manager himself.
He gave debuts to most of the young players who are now transforming
the perception of Armenian football. He also shaped the thinking of
the current manager, Vardan Minasyan, who worked as a coach under
Porterfield and Jones while also managing Pyunik Yerevan, the club
who have been Armenian champions for the past 10 years and for which
most of the current squad play or have played.
"Vardan is very organised but he took a bit of convincing about
our methods at first," recalls Jones, who soon after his arrival
in Armenia set about the national team's mentality. "They used to
be all about damage limitation. They weren't losing too heavily,
but nor were they getting in any shots because they weren't trying
to go forward and win the game.
"We had to convince them of the potential that they have. At first
even Vardan was saying 'no, we can't leave ourselves too open, we
can't disgrace the country', but in our first match in charge [at
start of Euro 2008 qualifiers] we won in Kazakhstan and then beat
Poland at home and then the guys truly believed."
Armenia did not win another game in that campaign, but they did earn
creditable draws with Portugal and Serbia and, more importantly,
the teenagers that Jones introduced gained valuable experience,
the fruit of which they are now showing. Nine of the 11 players who
are likely to start in Dublin are under 25, including the midfielder
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the striker Gevorg Ghazaryan.
"They were both teenagers when we called them up for the senior team,
but I had seen them play for the under-21s and knew that they had
quality," says Jones. "Henrikh, in particular, is definitely good
enough to play in the Premier League. He is very creative, gets his
fair share of goals and is also extremely hard-working and has a
great attitude."
The attitude of the Armenia team has been one of the most striking
aspects of their campaign: their high goal tally is testament not
only to their skill, but also their tremendous dynamism and enterprise.
"Armenia is a very poor country and for most of these guys, football
is the only outlet they have to make a decent life," says Jones. "As
well as the pride it brings the country, it brings professional rewards
because breaking into the top 50 world rankings makes it much easier
for them to get work permits to go abroad."
Mkhitaryan and Ghazaryan have both moved from Pyunik to clubs in
Ukraine and their other biggest threat to Ireland, the powerful striker
Yura Movsisyan, plays in Russia. That trio alone have scored more goals
in the qualifying campaign than the entire Irish team put together
Giovanni Trapattoni, the Republic's manager, organises his team
primarily not to concede. For the last eight games he has been
successful. The next one may be the toughest of all.
From: Baghdasarian
Paul Doyle
The Observer
Sunday 9 October 2011
The former Swindon Town player, Tom Jones, can be credited for
Armenia's remarkable upsurge in form
Armenia's powerful striker Yura Movsisyan, left, has the potential
to unsettle the Republic of Ireland in Dublin. Photograph: Tigran
Mehrabyan/AP
"I am not pleased with the quality of our game, that is not what I
am used to seeing." When the manager of Armenia, who began their Euro
2012 campaign ranked 105th in the world, just below Qatar, makes that
declaration after a 4-1 home victory over Macedonia that lifts his
country to the top of their qualifying group, you know things are
not as you thought. And the Republic of Ireland have cause for concern.
That win for Armenia on Friday afternoon temporarily took them to
the top of Group B before Russia and Ireland won later that evening
to go first and second respectively and bump Armenia back to third,
but still in with a chance of becoming perhaps the most surprising
qualifiers for the finals in the history of the tournament.
Until now their best campaign had been for the 1998 World Cup,
when they finished fourth in their group but still won only one
of 10 qualifiers and scored just eight goals - in every other
post-independence campaign since their first one in 1994, they
finished either last or second last. Yet now they go to Dublin on
Tuesday as by far the most prolific scorers in Group B, thanks notably
to that win over Macedonia and last month's 4-0 triumph in Slovakia,
who just days previously thought they themselves had taken a big step
to qualification by drawing 0-0 in Dublin.
What is going on? An Englishman can shed some light. Tom Jones,
the former Swindon Town player and until recently manager of Swindon
Supermarine, ran the Armenian national team for three years between
2006 and 2009, first as Ian Porterfield's assistant and then, when
Porterfield died in 2007, as the manager himself.
He gave debuts to most of the young players who are now transforming
the perception of Armenian football. He also shaped the thinking of
the current manager, Vardan Minasyan, who worked as a coach under
Porterfield and Jones while also managing Pyunik Yerevan, the club
who have been Armenian champions for the past 10 years and for which
most of the current squad play or have played.
"Vardan is very organised but he took a bit of convincing about
our methods at first," recalls Jones, who soon after his arrival
in Armenia set about the national team's mentality. "They used to
be all about damage limitation. They weren't losing too heavily,
but nor were they getting in any shots because they weren't trying
to go forward and win the game.
"We had to convince them of the potential that they have. At first
even Vardan was saying 'no, we can't leave ourselves too open, we
can't disgrace the country', but in our first match in charge [at
start of Euro 2008 qualifiers] we won in Kazakhstan and then beat
Poland at home and then the guys truly believed."
Armenia did not win another game in that campaign, but they did earn
creditable draws with Portugal and Serbia and, more importantly,
the teenagers that Jones introduced gained valuable experience,
the fruit of which they are now showing. Nine of the 11 players who
are likely to start in Dublin are under 25, including the midfielder
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the striker Gevorg Ghazaryan.
"They were both teenagers when we called them up for the senior team,
but I had seen them play for the under-21s and knew that they had
quality," says Jones. "Henrikh, in particular, is definitely good
enough to play in the Premier League. He is very creative, gets his
fair share of goals and is also extremely hard-working and has a
great attitude."
The attitude of the Armenia team has been one of the most striking
aspects of their campaign: their high goal tally is testament not
only to their skill, but also their tremendous dynamism and enterprise.
"Armenia is a very poor country and for most of these guys, football
is the only outlet they have to make a decent life," says Jones. "As
well as the pride it brings the country, it brings professional rewards
because breaking into the top 50 world rankings makes it much easier
for them to get work permits to go abroad."
Mkhitaryan and Ghazaryan have both moved from Pyunik to clubs in
Ukraine and their other biggest threat to Ireland, the powerful striker
Yura Movsisyan, plays in Russia. That trio alone have scored more goals
in the qualifying campaign than the entire Irish team put together
Giovanni Trapattoni, the Republic's manager, organises his team
primarily not to concede. For the last eight games he has been
successful. The next one may be the toughest of all.
From: Baghdasarian