The head coach of Zhytomyr "Polissya" Ruslan Rotan spoke with Football Hub after the defeat to "Dynamo" (1:4) in the match of the 4th round of the Ukrainian championship.
Ruslan Rotan (photo: polissyafc.com)— Ruslan Petrovich, what was the biggest problem today: physical condition, psychology, or tactics?
— I won’t say that the problem was in physicality or tactics. The most disappointing thing is that when we took the lead, we were playing well, but we brought an unnecessary goal upon ourselves. After that, the psychological state of the team deteriorated, especially after the penalty — we fell apart. I really didn’t like that. In the locker room, we agreed on one thing, but on the field, we were not that team anymore. This is about psychology and attitude. Because the conditions were equal: "Dynamo" played on the same day and returned home in the same way. But we couldn’t draw the maximum out of ourselves, and when we started to lose, we looked doomed. There were some moments, but everything was spontaneous, without balance.
— After your team conceded, you refreshed the left flank, brought on Korniychuk, shifted Nazarenko and Hutsuliak, but left the forward on the bench. Tell us about this plan.
— Firstly, we played three days ago, so we took the load into account. We brought on Veletny. Mykhailychenko got injured, so the substitution of Korniychuk was forced. Hutsuliak played for some time as a forward, Nazarenko was also uncomfortable, so he was replaced. Ultimately, everything returned to its places.
— "Polissya" played as the dominant side from the first minutes against "Dynamo," the champion of the country. Why did you decide to play this way?
— Why should we be afraid? We dominated on the field, scored a goal, and had more chances. But then psychology and reaction to mistakes, especially after the penalty, broke the game. It felt like we dropped our hands — that shouldn’t happen.
— Have you reviewed the episode with the penalty? Do you think it was a penalty?
— I don’t want to discuss that. Such penalties can be given 150 times in a game. Let others sort it out.
— "Polissya" creates chances, plays well, but has now lost five or six matches in a row. How much does this affect the psychology, and what do you tell the players after such games?
— Here, patience and faith are needed. You are right: statistics are often not in favor of the opponents, especially in the first half. But the reaction to conceded goals is our weakness. In football, psychology does a lot. Confidence comes only with victories. Now we are, you could say, in a "hole": defeats, travels, tough matches — all this doesn’t add confidence. And each defeat seems to consume the players’ faith in themselves even more.
We provide examples, show statistics, explain to the guys that they need to keep working, look ahead. This will end if we keep aiming for our goal and do not give up. However, the fact that today after the second goal we practically dropped our hands — that’s the biggest disappointment.
