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Standings,
results and other stats
Champions Brooklyn Italians are limping at the halfway mark in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League (CSL).
Winners of the last two CSL campaigns, the Issam Daoud-drilled Italians are nine points adrift of first place Pancyprians Freedoms in Division One (West) and closer to the bottom than they are to the top.
In the East, Brooklyn’s 13 points from four wins and a tie in eight matches during the fall would be good enough for third place. But in a conference where CD Iberia and Barnstonworth Rovers also harbor serious title ambitions, they went into the winter break a lowly third from the bottom.
It’s an unlikely position to be in for a side that began the fall chasing a possible three-peat. This, after the Italians had retained the CSL title with a 1-0 decision over Polonia last June.
“In terms of our performance thus far, I would definitely
say it is disappointing, very disappointing,” Daoud admitted in mid-week.
“We are not playing like a two-time defending champion. Teams are not fearing us anymore. We are just as good as any other team in the league.”
The young coach had a laundry list of complaints against his side, one of the most successful in U.S. amateur soccer.
“We are not consistent,” he started. “Sometimes we win, tie or even lose. The last two years, we used to win every game.
“We are not defending well as a team. The last two years, we had the best defense in the league.
“We are not scoring goals. It is hurting us especially (since) we are not defending well. We are not able to win close games. We used to find ways to win close games. This year, we are unable.”
Daoud’s final gripe was that Brooklyn are not able to win against “good teams.”
All of these shortcomings beg the question, “Why?”
Lack of practice, inconsistency line-ups and injuries, the coach explained.
“This (season) we are not practicing,” he said. “As you know this is
amateur soccer, most of our players have work and school commitments.
They are unable to attend practice. So I was obliged to cancel
practices.”
On his ever changing line-ups:
“The last two years, I knew my line-up the night before the game. This year, I make the line-up five minutes before the game. A lot of my players have to work on Sunday’s (and) losing some impact players hurt us.”
Key players whose absence has been felt include midfield cog Matt Friel, an assistant coach at Monmouth University who missed most of the fall action.
Jamal Harewood, the goal hero in the 1-0 title triumph over Polonia last summer, returned to school, while young Kiwi Steve Holloway, Brooklyn’s top scorer, left to pursue a professional career in his native New Zealand.
Despite these challenges, Daoud is not giving up on the season and a three-peat.
Change is a-coming.
“As far as what are my intentions for the spring, I am planning to make some changes,” he said. “Despite all these challenges, we are still within distance (of) first and second place. Remember last year, we were nine points behind first place, and we won all our (remaining) games.”
HELLENIC TWO-STEP
Hellenic rivals, Pancyprian Freedoms and New York Greek-Amercian/Atlas ended the year atop the East and West standings, respectively, in the CSL top flight.
However, only Pancyprian (7-2, 21) can afford to breathe with some comfort. That’s because unlike Greek-Atlas (5-1-3, 18) who have Central Park Rangers (CPR) hard on their heels, just two points off the pace, the Greek-Cypriots have a seven-point cushion between them and CD Iberia.
Pancyprians’ triple threat of goal machine Julio Cesar Santos, Chris Megaloudis and Pete Halkidis has been a factor in yet another strong campaign.
A possible mouth-watering prelude to the spring half of the season in March will be the Pancyprian-Atlas clash in the U.S. Open Cup Eastern New York Final.
CPR EFFORT
Prior to this season, CPR’s reputation was largely as a modest outfit in the upper echelon whose perennial battle was primarily against relegation.
This past fall, Rangers became contenders in the CSL, and dangerous ones for that as underscored by their 6-2 thrashing of Pancyprian before Thanksgiving. They finished the year 5-3-1 (16), within spitting distance of Greek-Atlas in the East.
Manager Yuval Lion summed up his team’s season thus:
“Rangers enjoyed probably their most successful fall season
to date in
the League. After a rocky start (with) three points out of nine, we went on an unbeaten stretch of five games, beating such powerhouse teams as Polonia, Barnstonworth Rovers, CD Iberia and, famously, the 6-2 victory over the Pancyprians.
“The key to this great run was all about teamwork. Most importantly, we were able to keep a stable starting eleven and every player new how to play in our system.
“They gave consistent performances that mixed intensity, skill and dogged determination - something that has been missing from CPR teams of old. We now look forward to the spring, and with some returning players and further strengthening we hope to build on our second place spot in the East and mount the club’s first CSL title challenge.
“I would also like to give praise to the CPR reserve team players who
put in some good displays this fall. The team saw a lot of chopping and changing which hurt our play at times, but overall the boys put in great effort.”
POLISH WOES
Last season, with the league and cup double within grasp, Polonia
played bridesmaids in the CSL, losing 3-2 to Pancyprian in the Manning State Cup and 1-0 to Brooklyn in the championship decider.
That double blow followed a brilliant regular season that saw the Poles finish with a league best 11-1-4 (37) record en route to first place in the East.
The well-supported Brooklyn side has struggled this time around and ended the fall just four points from the drop zone in the East. They’ve lost more games (four) than they’ve won (three), drawn twice and are only one point ahead of second-from-the-bottom New York Athletic Club (3-4-1, 10) who have a game in hand.
How did the Polonia get in this situation?
“Our inability to capitalize on chances,” said manager Roman Gierczak, also counting injuries to important players and the return of ace coach Romuald Szukielowicz to Poland.
The injured included Bartek Pietrzko, who led the club with 17 goals last season, and fellow striker Lukasz Zajac. Both played only three games. There were several other regulars who were hobbled here and there.
Szukielowicz, meanwhile, returned home to coach Zaglebie Sosnowiec, a professional club in Poland’s Orange Extraklasa, the country’s version of the EPL.
Also back in Poland is Piotr Juraszek, described by Gierczak as the club’s “midfield brain.”
“These are the biggest reasons for our struggles in the fall,” he reiterated.
“Basically, we lost four games but three of them were “gifts” to our opponents because in every single game we were actually the better team in defense,” Gierczak argued.
He’s optimistic about the spring.
“Seven games to go is plenty of time to recover after fading in the fall.
Hopefully Bartek Pietrzko will be healthy and there is (a) chance of two new players, scorers, coming from Poland; but time will tell,” Gierczak said.
Polonia are also counting on winning their appeal on a 2-0 loss to Brooklyn Italians.
“Mauro Ruiz who played for Italians that game is from Polonez Glen Cove of the Long Island Soccer League,” Gierczak alleged.
“If we will get three points we will only be two points behind CPR for second place and the playoffs,” he pointed.
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