As his head coach and endorser Jesse Marsch received a multi-year extension Friday, Sacha Kljestan enters the second half of the season as the New York Red Bullsā lynchpin and a possible MVP candidate.
Kljestan has two goals and an MLS-leading 10 assists in 14 appearances this season. Heās been on the scoresheet in six of the Red Bullsā seven wins and averages a league-best 0.79 assists per 90 minutes going into New York's home match against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday (7:30 pm ET; FS1 in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada).
While his stats are wildly impressive, Kljestanās teammates say they actually undersell just how important heās been this year.
āItās not always the stats that make the MVP,ā said defender Connor Lade. āIf you look at how big of a part he is on our team, itās one of the things that you canāt put on paper that make him the player that he is. Whether heās in that conversation or not, heās in that category.ā
During the Red Bullsā first seven games, Kljestan recorded two assists. In the subsequent seven, heās recorded eight to help New York improve from 1-6-0 to 6-7-1. Kljestan attributed part of the turnaround to constantly growing chemistry in the Red Bullsā attack.
āThe longer we play together, the better weāre going to get,ā Kljestan said. āYou can see after a year-and-a-half that Bradley [Wright-Phillips] and I have a very good relationship. I think that has shown in ending up with a lot of goals and assists. We were the highest scoring team in the league last year, I donāt think that happened by mistake.ā
Through the ups and downs of the first part of the 2016 season, the Red Bullsā lineup has been consistent. Kljestan has lined up at the center with Wright-Phillips in front, and Mike Grella and Lloyd Sam on the wings. Theyāve played together in more than 40 league games since Kljestan joined the Red Bulls last offseason, and are looking to continue to grow to push New York forward in the second half.
āWeāre still not in first place so weāre not taking anything for granted,ā Kljestan said. āWe had a bad start, we know that, but weāve gotten past it. Weāve gotten four shutouts in a row, weāre moving on in the Open Cup but weāre still not where we want to be standings wise or as a club. Weāre going to keep going.ā