The Bielsa Report is named for Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa, and the comprehensive if legally suspect research he conducts on opposing teams.
Three Santos starters won’t play
The most timely piece of information ahead of out New York City FC’s 2022 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League game tomorrow against Costa Rica’s Santos de Guápiles: Three key starters for Santos will be out of the lineup because of work visa issues. According to the website Jugador Franquicia, striker and Jamaica international Javon East, attacking midfielder and Cuba international Luis Paradela, and central defender Everardo Rubio will not allowed be to play in Costa Rica until late March.
Those three absences might help explain the recent form of Santos. The club currently sit in 10th place in the 12-team Liga FBD, with just four points after four games and only two goals scored. Most recently, Santos lost at home on Saturday to Pérez Zeledón 0-1.
Intriguingly, the paperwork problem for those three players might not apply when Santos travel to Los Angeles to play NYCFC on Wednesday, February 23 at Banc of California Stadium—they’re not allowed to play on Costa Rican soil, but they could still play for their club in the United States. We may yet see East, Paradela, and Everardo take the field.
