Played in the 1-0 win over Japan (on late at 89 mins, 1-0) & 4-2 loss to Germany (on at HT, Germans up 1-0) at the 2022 WC. Hasn't played for the Ticos since some friendlies last September.
The midfield was a strength of the CR national team, last 10 odd years, so he must be an okay player to get 7 caps. Wonder if he'll be cheeky enough to remind Barba of his red in the big Playoff game, which yes Salas missed. Payne the other current Nix player involved in that match.
Looks like CR have only a single game in the March window, hosting Honduras CONCACAF Nations League. Presumably Salas won't be playing in that.
https://wellingtonphoenix.com/news/costa-rica-international-joins-the-nix “He’s a player with high amounts of energy, he’s technically very sound and he’s a winner by nature. Youstin’s a very decorated player. He’s won a lot of trophies. And importantly he can fill in across a number of positions."
“He has world cup appearances as a right back, but he mostly plays as a six and he can fill in as a 10 if needed.” AL KHOR, QATAR – DECEMBER 01: Jamal Musiala of Germany is challenged by Youstin Salas of Costa Rica during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match between Costa Rica and Germany at Al Bayt Stadium on December 01, 2022 in Al Khor, Qatar. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Giancarlo Italiano has been tracking Salas since he was appointed head coach and has thanked the Phoenix board for the extra investment to make the loan move a reality.
“They’ve seen the work the team has done. We have a very good solid base of players playing exceedingly well.
“They also see we need some depth in the second half of the season not only in terms of the starting team but also players coming off the bench, and Youstin gives us an extra injection of quality.
“It’s a great time to bring him in. It helps us with depth and he will complement the whole group.”
Phoenix general manager David Dome says the mid-season move shows the belief the board has in the men’s team this season.
“The owners have decided to dip further into their pockets and extend the men’s squad budget to make this signing,” Dome said.
“They believe the team can achieve something special this season and want to give Chiefy the best chance to bring the A-League trophy back to Wellington.
“The team and the board can’t do it alone however. We now need the fans to get behind the Phoenix like they did in our last home game against Melbourne Victory earlier this month.”
Youstin Salas will join the squad in Wellington as soon as his work visa is approved.
In Rudan's first & only season, he had the Nix firing. Louie Fenton was playing real well in that back 3/5 structure. Then Fenton got injured, and he was missed badly. Nix limping into finals. Marko tried Justin Gulley, and even David Williams at RWB, before Ryan Lowry played there in the playoff loss at VUC. A match the Nix had no luck in.
Just one case I can think of. You need depth. Salas is very experienced, and has played in championship teams. Good on Welnix for opening the wallet, and giving Chiefy a guy it seems he has been chasing for sometime. It's a statement they think they have a real shot at the toilet seat.
He's a DM/RB - at least that's where he played in the World Cup in 22. So backup for Rufer/Pennington maybe considered ahead of Al-taay. Given his visa doesnt come through till after the Bribane game he may be considered a bench option for Feb 6 to cover DM/RB. he's only here on loan till the end of the season, unless there is a buyout clause tucked away if he's successful. With Rufer and Pennington very likely to get suspended within the next few games he'll be needed.
Rufer I'm sure picked up his 5th yellow last game and suspended for Bris.
On the back of Alireza Faghani ref drama in the Asian cup: Excluding sydney and Melbourne derbies: Alireza Faghani: 5/79 (6.3%) of games won by away team Alex king: 36/133 games he has refereed ,away team has won (27%) Shaun Evans, 41/164 (25%) away team has won. Chris Beath, 65/231 (28.1%) away team has won.
He definitely favours home teams and has a natural bias towards the ‘bigger’ teams. I can already see us making finals, we play away and he is the ref and lets us get fouled and walked over and all that because he ‘lets games flow’
On the back of Alireza Faghani ref drama in the Asian cup: Excluding sydney and Melbourne derbies: Alireza Faghani: 5/79 (6.3%) of games won by away team Alex king: 36/133 games he has refereed ,away team has won (27%) Shaun Evans, 41/164 (25%) away team has won. Chris Beath, 65/231 (28.1%) away team has won.
He definitely favours home teams and has a natural bias towards the ‘bigger’ teams. I can already see us making finals, we play away and he is the ref and lets us get fouled and walked over and all that because he ‘lets games flow’
Well Faghani is more unpopular in Iraq right now then anywhere in the A league. See General Discussion thread.
Great signing...clearly has some pedigree, experience and has won some silverware which can't be underestimated in my opinion. I also like that we many players who can play different positions and I have a sneaky feeling that Pennington will find himself on the wing more and more since he did so well vs Jets. That would free up some space for Salas to slot right in..I hope we give him a good ole fashioned Wellington welcome on Waitaing day...and he scores a banger à la Ljujic!
Great signing...clearly has some pedigree, experience and has won some silverware which can't be underestimated in my opinion. I also like that we many players who can play different positions and I have a sneaky feeling that Pennington will find himself on the wing more and more since he did so well vs Jets. That would free up some space for Salad to slot right in..I hope we give him a good ole fashioned Wellington welcome on Waitaing day...and he scores a banger à la Ljujic!
Good to see the club getting an import but How on earth do Brisbane get Rojas. That's the type of signing that nix could do with.
If he is in the team for this Friday, we might see him on the park as a late sub. I for one would be keen to see for myself if a soufflé can rise twice. Until then there is little point to cry over spilt milk - we know Wellington was always too small for him.
He's a DM/RB - at least that's where he played in the World Cup in 22. So backup for Rufer/Pennington maybe considered ahead of Al-taay. Given his visa doesnt come through till after the Bribane game he may be considered a bench option for Feb 6 to cover DM/RB. he's only here on loan till the end of the season, unless there is a buyout clause tucked away if he's successful. With Rufer and Pennington very likely to get suspended within the next few games he'll be needed.
Not just that but both are tracking towards 2 games bans for 8 yellow cards at some point in the season.
He's a DM/RB - at least that's where he played in the World Cup in 22. So backup for Rufer/Pennington maybe considered ahead of Al-taay. Given his visa doesnt come through till after the Bribane game he may be considered a bench option for Feb 6 to cover DM/RB. he's only here on loan till the end of the season, unless there is a buyout clause tucked away if he's successful. With Rufer and Pennington very likely to get suspended within the next few games he'll be needed.
Not just that but both are tracking towards 2 games bans for 8 yellow cards at some point in the season.
Pretty sure it's still a 1 match ban after 8 yellows. Only ban that increases with accumulation is Red cards iirc.
Interesting press confeence with Zawada on the phoenix YouTube channel, said he loves the club and the city and these have been the best years of his life, he's waiting for an offer to stay.
From the Rollo write up it doesn't sound that promising. He'd be a fool to rule it out and take away a little bit of leverage he might have while negotiating with other teams. Also wouldn't endear him to fans while he is here. Even if he rejected other exotic countries for lifestyle reasons he could very easily go to a higher paying Australian side. The Nix have made no signal they want to try their hardest to keep him, they've already publicly given up. He's gone.
From the Rollo write up it doesn't sound that promising. He'd be a fool to rule it out and take away a little bit of leverage he might have while negotiating with other teams. Also wouldn't endear him to fans while he is here. Even if he rejected other exotic countries for lifestyle reasons he could very easily go to a higher paying Australian side. The Nix have made no signal they want to try their hardest to keep him, they've already publicly given up. He's gone.
maybe I've missed something, but is that last sentence true?
Coach Giancarlo Italiano said recently that it was unlikely that the Phoenix would be able to afford to keep both Zawada and Kosta Barbarouses.
Instead, he expected his star import to return to Asia or Europe and said he would have no shortage of options given his prolific form in the A-League Men.
...
“But I feel he’s wanting to move overseas and play in a league that will test him, and good strikers are always in demand.”
Yep, and he also said in the interview that all he will do is play well and hope the Phoenix come to him with a good offer, so he's definitely expecting more money.
What the comments indicate though is if there's a choice between two teams, the other team will need to outbid the Phoenix to get him as he's happy here.
It sounds like the Phoenix won't even attempt to keep him though and if that's the case then that's obviously not great. But, if the team keep up the form and the crowds continue to grow perhaps that will change.
Could also be that after Davilla and Hamed and the attention he got from overseas in the last offseason, that they didn't really expect him to want to stay and this press conference will give them motivation to break open the piggy back. Who knows, still a positive interview with Zawada, even if not one from Chief.
If we clearly aren’t in the running he can’t leverage us for more money from them, the way Roy did for a couple of years there…
I mean the reason he’s here was that he wasn’t scoring. If a striker with his pedigree and skills is scoring regularly then they should be out of our price bracket! And in theory out of the price bracket of the league, outside of City possibly.
Salas is such an interesting signing. Normally we get players down on their luck for whatever reason and haven't played much.
Last year though he player 45 league games for the champions. 40 starts. Basically he was a stalwart for them.
This year, he's play 19 of 27 games and started 11 of them. So seems to be a squad player, but given thats at the best team in the country, you'd think he'd be able to find more game time in another Costa Rican team.
He's been quoted about opportunity for his family, and having a dream to play overseas. So at 27 I guess it's almost now or never for him. NZ ain't Europe, or even the MLS that many Latinos dream of, but maybe Chiefy has sold him on plenty of eyes watch the ALM, and who knows what could happen from here.
And maybe the coin is just that much higher than he could get back home, on a loan deal. Domey has said Welnix have opened their wallets, so presumably Salas/Saprissa were made a nice offer.
I reckon he's going to be a hungry, motivated guy. A different sort of hunger to fellow Tico, Carlos Hernandez hopefully.
Coach Giancarlo Italiano said recently that it was unlikely that the Phoenix would be able to afford to keep both Zawada and Kosta Barbarouses.
Instead, he expected his star import to return to Asia or Europe and said he would have no shortage of options given his prolific form in the A-League Men.
...
“But I feel he’s wanting to move overseas and play in a league that will test him, and good strikers are always in demand.”
All that says is the club is aware of Zawada's own desire to play in Europe again, not that we aren't gonna make an effor tto keep him. Sounds to me like both parties want to extend a year it's just about whether they can make it all work - clearly we are keen on keeping Kosta and ideally both of these two would stay at least one more year.
The Nix might be more willing to shell out some more money if they can negotiate a higher sell clause in the belief they will make money out of him eventually?
I agree with comments about Salas. For whatever reason he does not want to move clubs domestically (loyalty, fandom etc) and also he may not be able to get a great contract in MLS that easily. Going to New Zealand for him and his family is almost like going to the moon, but he has prior players like Carlos Hernandez and Kenny Cunningham to ping for intel. If he wants better opportunities for his family then the short loan deal for this season may easily translate into a contract offer for another season from another A-League club, once he helps us win the championship in 2024. He is in his prime. I do not see us being able to afford giving him a contract next year if we also want to make an offer to Zawada and keep Kosta. But at least this season we are looking at a good run in the finals, injuries and suspensions permitting.
Could also just be an OE for him. Whatever the reason I hope he's awesome.
Especially now potential to go deep in finals and with some of our defence on the wrong side of yellows, it's worth the coin to build more depth.
Not sure if it is just an OE if the interviews hinted at him wanting better opportunities elsewhere for his family. Especially that he is actually coming with his family for what on paper is a half a season loan. Looks like a scouting mission where his family will have a lot to say about what happens next.
Is the sueño of many Latinos (especially obviously if you come from a poorer background) to get yourself to a richer Western country, and see what doors open. They don't really do OEs. Salas will be motivated to make an impression.
Coach Giancarlo Italiano said recently that it was unlikely that the Phoenix would be able to afford to keep both Zawada and Kosta Barbarouses.
Instead, he expected his star import to return to Asia or Europe and said he would have no shortage of options given his prolific form in the A-League Men.
...
“But I feel he’s wanting to move overseas and play in a league that will test him, and good strikers are always in demand.”
All that says is the club is aware of Zawada's own desire to play in Europe again, not that we aren't gonna make an effor tto keep him. Sounds to me like both parties want to extend a year it's just about whether they can make it all work - clearly we are keen on keeping Kosta and ideally both of these two would stay at least one more year.
Mate, I advise you to watch Chiefy's press conference from today on YouTube and adjust your expectations accordingly
Coach Giancarlo Italiano said recently that it was unlikely that the Phoenix would be able to afford to keep both Zawada and Kosta Barbarouses.
Instead, he expected his star import to return to Asia or Europe and said he would have no shortage of options given his prolific form in the A-League Men.
...
“But I feel he’s wanting to move overseas and play in a league that will test him, and good strikers are always in demand.”
All that says is the club is aware of Zawada's own desire to play in Europe again, not that we aren't gonna make an effor tto keep him. Sounds to me like both parties want to extend a year it's just about whether they can make it all work - clearly we are keen on keeping Kosta and ideally both of these two would stay at least one more year.
Mate, I advise you to watch Chiefy's press conference from today on YouTube and adjust your expectations accordingly
I must admit, it seems odd at face value. I totally get the reasoning and really respect Chiefy's refreshing honesty, and the context of that is important. But here we have one of our best ever strikers, who would be keen to re-sign, we're top of the league - a scenario we would all have dreamed of at the start of the season - and it almost comes across as if Chief is trying to dissuade Oskar to want to come come back. Wish we had the budget to run it back next year with additional reinforcements like Salas
My take is that everyone at the club and in Zawada's camp knows Zawada is leaving.
Zawada said what every player in his situation would say to those generic contract questions.. "not sure, I've enjoyed my time here, up to agent etc".
His answers were possibly a bit more positive sounding as he was conversing in English not Polish, and the journos have picked up those sound bites and ran with it.
Chiefy will know the situation much more than the journos
My take is that everyone at the club and in Zawada's camp knows Zawada is leaving.
Zawada said what every player in his situation would say to those generic contract questions.. "not sure, I've enjoyed my time here, up to agent etc".
His answers were possibly a bit more positive sounding as he was conversing in English not Polish, and the journos have picked up those sound bites and ran with it.
Chiefy will know the situation much more than the journos
Also possible he wants to keep fans on side. If Nix drop a massive offer he's probably happy to stay.
Nix also building his ego to essentially say he's to big for the league.
If offers don't come hot and fast puts the Nix in a good spot to hold him. And if Nix do have a crack at keeping him then he's in a good position to ask for heaps of money.
Seems like a great working relationship for both parties for the rest of the season at least.
