The Kosmos won only once in 10 games in 2020. (Courtesy photo of Kosmos)
In terms of Cosmos success stories, 2020 was by no means one of the team’s most memorable seasons.
In fact, it was one of the club’s least successful before and after the restart.
The Cosmos never found their rhythm or their goal, whether it was the NISA Independent Cup, a shortened regular season for the National Independent Soccer Association, or a failure to win the NISA fall tournament.
They only won once in 10 games and ended with a 1-3-6 mark. They only scored 11 goals and conceded 13.
Very uncosm-like.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have had something to do with it, but to his credit the team never used that as an excuse.
After an underperformance, especially in the fall tournament, the Cosmos is planning some changes for the spring season.
A day after the Cosmos was eliminated from the competition, Erik Stover, Chief Operating Officer, expressed the club’s dissatisfaction with the team’s performance.
“This has been a very disappointing fall season,” he said. “We haven’t met our expectations and the expectations of the fans and we don’t have to tell maStover what specific changes could be made or talk about the future of head coach Carlos Mendes who led the team for the last three years.
Stover didn’t say what specific changes could be made.
The Cosmos has a long history, winning eight North American Soccer League titles, three after its restart in 2013. The team, players, coaches and fans expect the highest level of excellence. Anything less than a championship is considered a failure.
“We will use this extended off-season to analyze everything and come up with a plan for further development,” said Stover.
“We’re only in the middle of the 2020-21 season. So the good news is that we have time to correct things in order to fight for a championship.”
There was little doubt that some players were not living up to expectations.
New York only scored one goal in the fall tournament – Shavon John-Brown’s downtime in their 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Force on Monday. During the regular season, the team scored five goals.
Forwards Isaac Acuna, Bledi Bardic and Aly Hassan have not reached their potential. In the midfield there was no great skill level. The future of former Albanian national defender and midfielder Ansi Agolli, who will turn 38 on October 11, has to be decided.
While every team in every sport was forced to grapple with the pandemic, some clubs and players flourished while others didn’t. The cosmos took the pandemic seriously and worked closely with the University of Nassau Medical Center to regularly test the players.
Tomorrow: Local Story No. 5
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