First-year Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch admits he has a hard time figuring out how U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann picks his players. But he said midfielder Sacha Kljestan is driven to play his way back onto the national team, and he expects the Seton Hall grad to do exactly that.
"It's hard for me to figure out how Jurgen evaluates who he brings in, so it's hard for me to answer (questions about Kljestan's status) fully,'' Marsch said of Kljestan, who has 46 caps with the U.S. but just once since 2013. "But I expect Sacha to have the type of year that opens eyes and shows people he's a damn good player.
"That's motivation for him. He thinks he deserves to be part of that group, and he's going to show every day that not calling him into that group is going to be tough to do.''
Clearly, Marsch is biased. He has a pre-existing relationship with Kljestan, taking the then-rookie under his wing when he was a veteran midfielder at Chivas and helping to mentor the promising young player. Years later, Marsch was a U.S. National Team assistant when Kljestan broke into the national team.
"We had discussions that if he makes it to Europe, great. And if he came back and I could find a pace to call myself a head coach, we'd always enjoy him coming back and playing for me,'' said Marsch.
"When he went to Anderlecht, we (stayed in touch) with an eye towards the possibility of reuniting down the line. (When I got hired by Red Bull) he was immediately one of the guys I thought would be a great fit. And with the timing in his life…it just all came together in ways we always hoped it would.''
According to Marsch, the 29-year-old veteran is a better, more complete well-rounded player than the inconsistent attacker that left for Belgium years ago. The Red Bulls are getting a mature leader who'll track back, do the dirty work when needed, play passing lanes – all which sparking the offense.
"He's so much more sophisticated. He was an attacking player, with an eye for attacking. He lacked the awareness on the other side ball, the toughness do what he had to do,'' said Marsch. "They demanded more on that tactical side of things, helped him develop a keener eye on the way game is supposed to be played.
"(Playing in the Champions League), you can't help buy grow, learn and adjust. He comes back to MLS – I think of him more as an attacking player – but he's got so many more things built on. We're getting a more sophisticated, smarter player in Sacha Kljestan than six years ago.''
He'd better hope so. With Thierry Henry retired, and Tim Cahill allowed to walk away on a free, Kljestan is the only big-name addition the Red Bulls have made this offseason, and – considering Marsch's one-year contract – he understands how their fates are inextricably linked and they're viewed as tied at the hip.
"The short answer is yes,'' said Marsch. "The long answer is we're trying to establish something here that'll last for years. What comes with that is the ability of the sporting director, the head coach and staff to create trust and belief in the player pool. It's certainly helpful when you have past relationships with players when you can trust each other, push each other.''
*** Marsch said Bradley Wright-Phillips (calf) will be back for Saturday's preseason tilt vs. USL side Oklahoma City Energy FC, and there was no update on the contract status Armando. But he praised several trialists, adding that the recently-signed Mike Grella "jumped out at us immediately" and added that Anthony Wallace, Kemar Lawrence and Marius Obekop have played well.
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