---
title: "Ruslan Rotan after Polissya's exit: 'We remained children' and the threat of the 'whip' for mistakes"
description: "Ruslan Rotan harshly criticized the players of Polissya after the exit against Copenhagen. The coach called the footballers' mistakes 'childish' and stated that he will now be forced to apply the 'whip' to restore discipline in the team. 🏆⚽️"
date: 2026-07-30T10:44:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/ruslan-rotan-criticism-polissya-after-match-copenhagen-en
tags: [ruslan-rotan, poltava, fc-polesye, fc-copenhagen, conference-league]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Ruslan Rotan after Polissya's exit: 'We remained children' and the threat of the 'whip' for mistakes

![Ruslan Rotan at a press conference after Polissya's elimination, discussing team mistakes and the need for player maturity](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/30/ruslan-rotan-kritika-polesya-posle-igry-s-kopengagenom/ruslan-rotan-kritika-polesya-posle-igry-s-kopengagenom-1.webp)

Ruslan Rotan, the head coach of Zhytomyr's Polissya, could not hold back his emotions after a crushing defeat against Danish Copenhagen in the Conference League. During the post-match press conference, the coach harshly criticized the actions of his players, calling their mistakes 'childish' and stating the need to drastically tighten discipline within the team.

The final aggregate score (3:3, 1:2) marked the end of the Ukrainian team's European campaign for the 2026/27 season. Despite the fact that during the matches the Zhytomyr players showed a game that, in Rotan's opinion, should have led to advancing to the next round, their execution was zero.

### "99% certainty" of refereeing errors and unrealized potential

The specialist expressed deep disappointment with the result, noting that the team had a complete advantage throughout the matches but failed to convert it into points.

"I am 99% sure that we should have passed this team if we take both matches. It is a pity about this unrealized potential. When you have such an advantage throughout the match, you need to turn it into goals. But we again did not draw conclusions from previous mistakes and 100 percent remained children," emphasized Rotan.

A particular bitter taste was left by an unplanned personnel loss. Eduard Sarapiy got injured literally before the starting whistle and could not take part in the decisive match, which deprived the team of an important support.

### The return of the "whip" and discipline problems

The main topic of the coach's conversation with the press was discipline. Rotan admitted that he tried to reach the players in different ways, but the lack of progress in matches forces him to change his approach. The coach directly stated the return of strict educational methods, which in Ukrainian football are often called the "whip".

"What worries me is that the same people in training receive that same whip, which is not liked in Ukraine: you point out their mistakes again and again... And then in such matches, something like this happens. If advice is not listened to, then something is wrong with discipline. As for game discipline, now we will have to act much tougher towards the players," concluded the specialist.

Now the Zhytomyr club faces the task of restructuring the team's work and proving that conclusions from this failure have been drawn.