Sacha Kljestan loves New York, and he has a deep relationship with new Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch. The US international midfielder also says his new club is one of a few in MLS with a world-class stadium, training center and a drive to win year in and year out.
Yes, in many ways, Kljestan’s return to the league that gave him his professional start with the Red Bulls was a match made in heaven. But ultimately, Kljestan said, leaving Anderlecht, where he enjoyed success at the highest level over the past five years, had to do with one thing: challenging himself as a player.
“The most important thing for me was the challenge on the field and the challenge to lead this team, the challenge to try to win, to try to lead this organization to wins, to have a winning mentality,” Kljestan said Tuesday during his introductory press conference following his late-January signing. “… I think everybody that works for the club is as motivated as I am to win, so it seemed like it fit hand in hand in the end.”
Kljestan first joined the Red Bulls during their preseason camp in Bradenton, Fla., which concluded over weekend, so Tuesday was his first experience in front of New York media and fans. He said coming to the Red Bulls checked the boxes of what he was looking for in a team, despite the assurance from the Anderlecht front office that he could finish his career with the Belgium club.
“But the challenge arose to try to come to New York with the Red Bull organization and try to be a leader, a team that has never won an MLS Cup; it’s a huge challenge,” he said. “We want to make something that the fans are proud of, and the sporting challenge was the biggest draw.”
And for Marsch, Kljestan’s teammate at Chivas USA from 2006-09 who then was part of the US national team staff that coached him, the past relationship made the move a no-brainer. Marsch even revealed that the first time the two crossed paths was when he was playing for a Chicago Fire team that played Kljestan’s US U-20 national team during a preseason scrimmage.
“He wound up scoring a goal against us, and I even asked their staff after the game, ‘Who’s that wiry guy playing in the middle of the field. He’s not bad,’” said Marsch, who was appointed head coach at the start of the year in place of the fired Mike Petke. “They said that’s Sacha Kljestan. And I said, ‘Yeah I’m going to keep track of him.’”
Marsch said what Kljestan brings to the table on the field is only one aspect that made him the Red Bulls’ prime offseason target.
“He’s going to bring all of his qualities as a man to what we’re doing here now,” Marsch said. “And I think that’s what I’m most excited about, is already he’s made such an impact on our players off the field by showing how humble he is, how hard he works, how much he cares about the group. And we’re trying to shift this team and this club to being now more about each other and the commitment to what it takes every day to create a winner. And Sacha for me embodies that in so many ways.”
Both Marsch and sporting director Ali Curtis admitted that Kljestan’s signing represents a shift from what the Red Bulls have been known for over the past four years with the now-departed French star Thierry Henry as the face of the club.
“Thierry Henry defined a lot of this organization and defined the team and how the team operated,” Marsch said. “And that was a good thing in a lot of ways. But now that he’s left – a huge personality and a huge presence and a huge talent – now there has to be a new phase in how this thing moves forward. I think the emphasis is now that it’s a little bit more on the group and the unit and the mentality of what it takes to be successful every day.”
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As for on the field, Marsch said he envisions Kljestan being more involved in the attack as opposed to the holding midfielder role that he filled with Anderlecht.
“Even when he played at Anderlecht, when he’s around goal he’s clever and he’s sharp and he knows how to put attacking plays together,” Marsch said.
Kljestan also said that if not for the advances in quality that the league has undergone in recent years, the move would likely have not been on his radar, noting that there were only 12 teams in MLS when he left for Anderlecht. And to make the move back to New York – a city he grew to love during his college playing days at nearby Seton Hall and where he said he and his wife vacationed twice a year while living overseas – was an added bonus.
"You can only throw in a handful of teams in MLS that checks off all those boxes and a great place to live," he said. "And Red Bull checks all those boxes off. ... I’m very excited to be here."
