Latvia head coach Paolo Nicolato defended his tactical approach following the 0-2 UEFA Nations League defeat to Armenia in Yerevan and emphasized that the national team must continue introducing younger players, even if their development comes at a cost in the short term.
Latvia spent much of the opening half defending deep, allowing Armenia to have possession in their own half rather than pressing high. Nicolato explained that this was a deliberate decision designed to limit Armenia’s technical players from finding space between Latvia’s defensive and midfield lines.
“Our plan was different. We knew they were very, very good between the lines, so we decided to drop back a little bit, let them play in their own half and cover the spaces better,” Nicolato said.
“For us, it was not important to press very high because, in that case, we would have had to stretch the distances between the lines and between our units. To be honest, in the first half we didn’t concede many chances. We conceded from a corner, and that is an important situation we need to avoid.”
That corner resulted in Armenia taking the lead through Georgii Arutiunian in the 32nd minute. The hosts eventually doubled their advantage through debutant Artur Garibyan in the 75th minute, with Latvia particularly struggling to contain Armenia’s attacks down one side of the pitch.
“That was the part of the pitch where we suffered a lot,” Nicolato admitted. “I tried to change something, but I cannot say that it worked. We had a lot of difficulties in that area of the pitch. That is true.”
Nicolato also explained that Latvia had two main ideas when they regained possession, immediately looking to counter-attack when the opportunity was available or trying to create numerical superiority and build with the ball when a direct attack was not possible. The execution, however, was not always at the required level.
“We made some technical mistakes and some wrong passes. After playing these long passes, you need to run a lot when facing this kind of counter-attack,” Nicolato said.
“I would like us to play technical football because I think that is also one way to defend against them. Yes, we made some mistakes, but I cannot say that we lost because of any big mistakes. Some of the situations came because of the quality of their players.”
One of Nicolato’s biggest decisions before kick-off was handing Markuss Strods his senior international debut from the start. The 19-year-old was one of five Latvia players to make their first appearance for the national team on the night.
Nicolato explained that injuries limited his options in the position, mentioning the absences of Renārs Varslavāns, Jānis Ikaunieks and Kristaps Grabovskis, but also mentioned that Strods selection was about much more than simply filling a gap.
“First of all, he is one of the players who has potential,” Nicolato said. “In that position, we have a lot of injured players, starting with Varslavāns, then Ikaunieks and Grabovskis. To be honest, we didn’t have many options to fill that position.
“But I think we needed to give him some experience. We need new faces in our team and we need to develop new players, like Vientiess and Patijčuks. These kinds of players are the future of our national team. There is a price to pay, but in my opinion, that is the only way to improve for the future.”
Denniss Cirkins was another debutant and arguably Latvia’s most intriguing player tactically. He began on the left of the three-man defence before Nicolato moved him into more advanced positions as Latvia chased the game.
The Italian explained that those changes were not simply an experiment but reflected what he believes Cirkins can offer the national team.
“He has good quality compared to the options we have in our team,” Nicolato said. “At some moments, I tried to move that quality further forward because we needed to score a goal.
“I think he has the quality to play in different positions. He can play as a defender or as a winger. To be honest, I liked his performance in all the positions because his individual qualities allow him to do that.”
From Armenian journalist who were present in the press-conference Nicolato was also asked to compare the current Armenia side with the team Latvia faced two years ago and believes the hosts have made significant progress.
“I think Armenia are much better now in terms of organisation, concepts and principles,” he said. “They are playing very good football, not only against us. I watched a lot of their matches and they play very well. They have quality players and their ideas on how they want to play are very clear. I think this Armenia team is stronger than the Armenia we faced two years ago.”
Looking beyond the opening Nations League defeat, Nicolato also called for expectations surrounding Latvia to remain realistic. With five matches still remaining in the campaign, the Italian believes expectations that are too high compared with the team’s current potential risk creating unnecessary frustration.
“The problem sometimes is managing expectations that are too high compared with our potential,” Nicolato explained. “When there is a big difference between expectations and potential, it is easy to create frustration.
“We need to be intelligent and smart about this. It is right to have expectations, but we also need to balance those expectations with our potential.”
Despite the mistakes in possession against Armenia, Nicolato made it clear that he does not intend to abandon his attempts to make Latvia more comfortable with the ball.
“I would like to see this approach in terms of commitment, and then I want to see more from us with the ball because I like to play with the ball,” Nicolato concluded.
“Sometimes we will make mistakes, but it doesn’t matter. I want to improve my players by playing football.”
Latvia will now turn their attention to Monday’s home Nations League match against Cyprus, where Nicolato’s side will look for their first points of the new campaign.
