Ruslan Rotan. Where are your wings that I liked?

Ukraine’s youth team ended the outgoing year on a positive note with two major victories (over Malta and Northern Ireland). However, sadly, this is not the case when the latter is most remembered. Because in this case, the failure of our youth team and its mentor Ruslan Rotan will be remembered above all: the coach and his players could not solve the tournament problems: the Ukrainian team took only third place in the qualifying group and not will go to the European Championship-2021 …

***

… On December 27, 2018, the legendary (I’m not afraid of this word) former soccer player of the Ukrainian national team, Dnipro and Dynamo Ruslan Rotan received a nice New Year’s gift from the FFU Executive Committee. The “governing and governing body” of the National Football Association approved Ruslan Petrovich as head coach of the Ukrainian youth team. Alexander Golovko, who held this high post before Rotan, was removed from office. The reason the former Dynamo Kiev captain lost his job is that his players could not solve the task of the tournament – to make it to Euro-2019.

Golovko led the youth team for three years, starting in 2015. Under his leadership, the team took third place in the qualifying tournament for the continental championship, leaving behind the strong teams of England and the Netherlands. The federation leadership (and in particular the association president Andrei Pavelko) considered such a result a failure, and showed the door to Alexander Borisovich, having previously thanked him “for his fruitful cooperation”.

Rotan was appointed head of the youth team at the initiative of the National Teams Committee. Specifically, your boss Miron Markevich. Rotan’s former mentor in Dnipro wanted the new coach to be “a persistent and principled mentor, a true leader”. Besides Markevich, Oleg Protasov, the first vice president of the FFU, also lobbied for the appointment of Rotan in such a responsible line. But the main role in this appointment, according to our experts, was played by the head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Andriy Shevchenko. When they were players of the Ukrainian national team, Shevchenko and Rotan got along well. Andrei Nikolaevich spoke very flatteringly about Ruslan Petrovich’s playful virtues. Having headlined the country’s first national team, Shevchenko, while heading towards team rejuvenation, kept calling Rotan under his banners, giving him the opportunity to hold the hundredth fight. First of all, Shevchenko’s coach was bribed by the brilliant skills of the Rotan football player: an incredible vision of the field, the ability to make a great pass, but even more so, his leadership qualities. Sheva had no doubt that the same licensed and qualified coach would emerge from Rotan.

UAF. Ruslan Rotan and Andriy Shevchenko

Ruslan almost immediately after the end of his active career went to taste the coach’s bread: in early October 2018, he became an assistant to Vyacheslav Shevchuk at the Olimpik. Rotan made no special (or special) achievements in the new field, but after two and a half months he made a serious leap in his career, leading the Ukrainian youth team. Under Alexander Golovko’s leadership, the youth team did not solve the tournament problem, moreover, the relationship between Andrey Nikolaevich and his former Dynamo teammate somehow went wrong, and all this predetermined Golovko’s fate. Despite the fact that under his leadership the “youth” until the last round intended to enter the Euro, and throughout the “cadence” the team under his leadership lost only twice (England and Scotland) “, said the doctor – to the morgue, which means to the morgue. ” In the place of the follower of the current “Flint” mentor, Shevchenko wanted to see a more comfortable and flexible figure. Thus arose the option with the appointment of Rotan.

***

After accepting the congratulations, Rotan then said that the offer to lead the youth team was a “surprise” for him, but after speaking with Pavelko, Markevich and Shevchenko, “all doubts disappeared.” And in the same “speech from the throne”, the 37-year-old said that “we have to occupy the first place in the qualifying group for Euro 2021 and help prepare the players for the national team.” In general, the objectives are clear, the tasks are defined: moving towards new horizons.

Around the same time, UEFA headquarters hosted the draw for the UEFA Euro 2021 qualifiers. Our team this time did not fall into the “group of death”. Rather, on the contrary: I got into the group of life. Denmark, Romania, Finland, Northern Ireland and Malta – these were our five rivals. With the exception of the Maltese, the rest of the opponents are on the same level. Good, but not cosmic. And if we take into account our “golden generation” that joined the “youth team” after winning the World Cup among the 20-year-olds, it was the “blue-yellows” on the eve of the start who were considered the main contenders for the championship. in the group.

But Ruslan Petrovich didn’t do well in a new place right away. On September 6, 2019, he made his debut in an official match as helmsman of the youth team: his teammates at home, weak-willed and without possibilities, lost to their teammates from Finland – 0: 2. It was not possible to understand what caused such a fiasco even during the party itself or afterwards, since Rotan himself did not give any intelligible explanation. If, however, you try to capture the essence of that slap in the face, then the first thing that became apparent from what you saw was the absence of a coach’s thought. It seems that the team played without a coach, on a whim. What kind of “persistent and principled mentor” is there? The impression is that there was no mentor at that Zaporozhye meeting in our bank.

Four days later, Rotan and his team played in Malta – 4: 0. The initial defeat was recognized as an “annoying misunderstanding”, and the team dispersed to the club’s “apartments” to prepare for the October-November spark, against the national teams of Romania and Denmark. Unfortunately, I was disappointed: the Romanians lost by 0: 3 on the road, the heirs of Prince Hamlet had a fight, but still lost 2: 3. That is, in fact, after the first four qualifying fights, it was of course no one was going anywhere.

The pen test in 2020 for Rotan and his team did not turn out to be the best. In Denmark they got a 1: 1 draw, after which they had to almost officially forget about the trip to the European Championship. In Finland, they got their revenge with the same score they lost in the opening match, then won a tortured 1: 0 victory over the Romanians. But the away game against Northern Ireland put everyone back in their place: the Ukrainians lost 0: 1. The remaining two games, against Malta and Northern Ireland, for example, had no tournament value for our youth team. His head coach said something like that. Like, we’re already preparing for the next season. “We have not achieved the tasks and goals of this cycle. We have to focus on the next one, ”Ruslan Petrovich said with a sweet smile.

***

And for some reason there is internal confidence that for the next qualifying round our youth team will be trained by the current coaching staff. Because their head coach is so smart, speaks so well and everyone likes him, even more so without a doubt, he gives the right players to Shevchenko’s national team. In addition, the UAF leadership is completely satisfied with that: the progress, they say, is visible, there were objective difficulties, you have to give the person another chance.

UAF

But the fact of the matter is that there is one more inner confidence: no matter how much you give it a try, it is most likely not better. A soccer player with the training of a genius could not become the same coach. Why is it the same there? In none of the official matches (with the exception of two fights against Maltese amateurs) did Rotan’s youth team not look like a technical team. Well, I didn’t see the “hand” of Ruslan Petrovich, his ability to control the game, not to mention the ability to make timely adjustments. So far it has failed. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have returned it. Because I don’t see this same progress. And here in Golovko, sorry, I saw it. Even more so for Petrakov, who, after his victory in Poland, had to be put in charge of the youth team, but later feared to offend the “good man”.

Although, of course, it can be seen better from the Cherepanova mountain. If our football bosses are satisfied with the coach who is fighting with his team only for third place in the not very strong group, so be it. However, let me remind you that the former was fired for this, and the current one promised to fight for the former. But, as Miron Bogdanovich puts it, “that way.”

So, most likely in the new team, we will again hopefully await the emergence of a “persistent and principled coach, a true leader.”