Sacha Kljestan ... just about out of time

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Also file under: What a wild-ass difference a year makes

Just one year ago, Sacha Kljestan was on top of the world, kickin' butt and takin' names on a breathtaking climb up the U.S. Soccer personnel ranks.  He was coming off trial at Celtic, the Scottish giant and the mop-topped midfielder's would-be address. There, Kljestan could fulfill his destiny as the next great U.S. midfielder. Or so everyone assumed.

At the end of January Kljestan was all that and a bag of chips, recording all three U.S. goals in a cracking 3-2 win over Sweden. That was just days after the Chivas USA midfielder from nearby Huntington Beach had returned from Glasgow, with pep in his step over what looked like an impending move to the SPL. Sweden manager Lars Lagerback himself declared Kljestan a player who appeared locked and cocked for European success.

Major League Soccer had a reported offer dangling in the neighborhood of $3 million. (Don’t you think MLS would like a do-over on this one?) Meanwhile, U.S. manager Bob Bradley was looking at a slashing, swashbuckling attacker who was about to spend 18 months prior to South Africa 2010 steeling himself in a rugged league, where winning isn’t just requested, it’s absolutely essential.  What a sweet set-up.  The rest of us were lifting our pencils along a similar train of thought, about to write in Kljestan to the starting World Cup lineup.

By the way, Celtic wasn’t believed to be the only option. The Daily Mail in England reported that Holland’s FC Twente and Heerenveen, the French league’s Monaco and Germany’s Wolfsburg were all lurking nearby, considering a run at Kljestan if things went South at Celtic Park.

That was all just more than 12 months ago. So what happened?

MLS and Celtic couldn’t agree on a deal (in negotiations that were almost surely complicated by the notorious sell-on clauses, which frequently muck up these matters). From there, for whatever reason, Kljestan shrank noticeably in MLS matches.  Where he was large and in charge before, the Chivas USA man was suddenly “just another guy” around MLS parks. The bummer factor of a huge career move that almost was surely played a part.

So it went in national team matches, with Kljestan making little noise in matches for Bradley.

Kljestan did rise a bit toward the end of the MLS campaign, but the confidence and instincts that had soared previously now seemed badly dented, still in need of major repair.

So here we are, about one year later, and this is where Kljestan finds himself:

In need of a dominant performance in a relatively obscure February friendly just to get himself back into real consideration for the 23-man roster that will go to South Africa.

Robbie Rogers, Jose Francisco Torres and Stuart Holden have lapped Kljestan in the pecking order of reserve outside midfielders. Possibly Brad Davis, too.

The United States takes on El Salvador on Wednesday in Tampa Bay. This should be a camp and a match arranged, more or less, for MLS players to train at a higher level than they would with their clubs, which are just getting to full speed over the league’s long pre-season. Instead, it has turned into an important opportunity for a few players as Bradley continues to make 11th-hour roster assessments for that all-important South African roster.  Ideally, the selections would be 95 percent made in the manager’s mind by now – but they ain’t.

Injuries and significant reduction in form by players like Kljestan are the reason.

The Chivas USA midfielder still has a chance – but it’s a slim one.