HANOVER, N.J. – Getting his first US national team call-up since 2014 is one thing – but Sacha Kljestan's club coach thinks the league's 2016 assists leader needs to be more than a roster-filler.
“You would hope that he gets an opportunity," New York Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch told MLSsoccer.com on Monday, after U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced the midfielder's call-up to replace defender John Brooks, who was scratched with back problems. "I think he earned a call-up and I think he earned an opportunity to get a chance to contribute.
‘If Jurgen really wants to evaluate him, I think it’d have to be in a game.”
Kljestan, who has 15 assists in league play this season, will be part of the roster for the United States' two World Cup qualifiers at St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday, followed by Trinidad & Tobago on Sept. 6.
Since last summer, Marsch has been publicly lobbying for Kljestan to be a part of the national team picture again. Marsch was an assistant under former national team head coach Bob Bradley when Kljestan received the bulk of his 46 international appearances.
Now in his second year back in MLS and with the Red Bulls, Kljestan – an MLS All-Star in 2016 – has turned into one of the best playmakers in the league and a player Marsch has lauded as the “perfect No. 10” for his high-press system.
Marsch also praised Kljestan's perseverance, even when the calls from Klinsmann weren't coming.
“More than anything, I have to give Sasha a lot of credit," Marsch said. "He didn’t moan in the press, he didn’t moan in his personal life. He kept his [head] down and kept getting better and better, kept making his case by how he played. In the end, it made Jurgen’s case quite easy.
“It’s a good lesson for young players.”
