AMSTERDAM – With Sacha Kljestan named as a surprise starter in Tuesday night's thrilling 3-3 rally draw away to Champions League hosts Arsenal, it seemed like a fine time to dust off the ol' stat nerd abacus.
After being a mainstay over his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Belgian threepeat artists, the former Chivas USA man has found starts hard to come by since an injury gave him a slow start under new boss Besnik Hasi. Nevertheless, here was Kljestan starting at the Emirates in place of nicked Belgium star Steven Defour and with Anderlecht clinging to slim hopes of reaching the knockout round. So we counted up several appropriate stat categories to present a look at his play in the game.
Kljestan often draws plenty of debate in our soccer bubble, from his club worth to his rightful place in (or out of) the US national team set-up. With that in mind, we'd like to file this Arsenal case as one evidence exhibit depicting what he's capable of against a big opponent with hopes of advancement melting away.
Pressure Valve Plays
The number counts the times Kljestan worked his unfavored team out of their own end to break Arsenal pressure, either on the dribble or with a completed pass. Obviously, in a game like the one Anderlecht faced on Tuesday night, it's a pretty important midfield stat.
The American rang up three of these in each half, a somewhat impressive total considering Anderlecht's usual first choice under pressure is to find Dennis Praet and let him scamper toward the other end, and the second seems to be having teen sensation Youri Tielemans attempt an unneccessarily tricky outlet pass. For the record, Kljestan twice acted as the pressure valve with a dribble, and the other four came on passes.
It's also worth noting that Anderlecht players twice badly underhit passes to open Kljestan as the outlet man; both breakdowns led to good Arsenal chances, with one helping to set up Mikel Arteta's opening goal from the spot.
Positive Passes
This category tabulates all of Kljestan's passes with a target in the attacking half that sent Anderlecht in the direction of the home side's goal. This does not include any final-third passes he simply sent from the middle of the park toward an already-covered winger (there were a handful of those on Tuesday night). It also does not include his lob pass into the area that led to the spot kick for the Mauves' second goal, or his rush-starting pass that ended in their last-minute equalizer. Hey, rules are rules.
Kljetsan totalled four passes of this nature, two in each half. It's not a bad sum for a holding midfielder in this match-up, but he did go without one from the 33rd minute until the 84th.
Area Entries
If the player successfully moves the ball into the opposing area via either pass or dribble, he gets a notch. The 73rd-minute feed that led to a converted penalty counts here as one of Kljestan's two area entries on the night, and its impact needs little explanation.
The other instance gave Anderlecht their first scoring chance in the 17th minute. With the ball tough to control throughout, Kljestan gathered a weak clearance after a restart at the top of the box, hopped past the first Arsenal defender into the 18, undressed Kieran Gibbs and forced a good save from home netminder Wojciech Szczęsny.
Some may be surprised that Kljestan managed two area entries of great impact while playing as a holding midfielder on such a big stage, but do remember he has four goals and an American Exports-record nine assists in 32 career UEFA cup competition games.
Tough Touches
It may seem odd that a central midfielder is only forced into receiving the ball under duress on two occasions during a full shift, but sure enough, Kljestan was put in just one such situation in each half. One was successful and one was not, but what this stat really demonstrated on Tuesday is that the US midfielder almost always makes himself an open target when his team are trying to move out of the back and forward.
Own-Half Possession Losses
Here, we are counting any type of turnover in the Anderlecht end, including missed passes, strips and fouls committed in possession. Kljestan had none of the last kind, but two stray passes in the first half and a pair of cough-ups shortly after intermission.
The first such second-half flub was nothing more than a slip on the wet turf as he went to dribble out of trouble in the visitors' box. Anderlecht escaped unscathed from that mistake, but were hit for Arsenal's third a moment later.
In all fairness, Kljestan looked to have a fair foul shout after being stripped from behind by Alexis Sánchez in the 58th minute. But there would be no whistle, only a third Arsenal goal by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after a quick feed from the Chile star.
Defensive Plays
In all, Kljestan rang up nine defensive plays of impact. He had five clearances, two tackles and two interceptions, with all but one coming in or around the Anderlecht area. Of those nine plays, two halted serious trouble being created by the buzzing Gunners. Not bad for a guy who openly admitted he needed to learn defense on a different level when he arrived at Anderlecht.
