Sacha Kljestan admits season with Orlando "most frustrating of my career"

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Two things run parallel for both Orlando City and Sacha Kljestan as the 2018 MLS regular season comes to an end on Decision Day presented by AT&T.

For the Lions, it’s the end of the club’s worst season in their short MLS history, that saw them off to a promising start that soon nosedived to a point of no return.

For Kljestan, playing in his first season with Orlando and after leading the league in assists the last two years as a player for the New York Red Bulls, it was the most difficult season of his career.

“Personally, I’d say it’s been the hardest, most difficult, most frustrating season of my career,” Kljestan told reporters before Wednesday’s training session. “Thirteenth year now, I think, of my career and this is the first losing season I’ve had, so it’s been very difficult to deal with."

Orlando will miss out on the playoffs again, sitting last on the Eastern Conference table while setting a league record of 73 goals allowed entering Sunday’s match against the Red Bulls (4:30 pm ET | TV & Streaming Info).

Kljestan, who finished 2017 with a league-high 17 assists for the Red Bulls, admitted this wasn’t his best individual year after managing to record six assists for the Lions – far from his own expectations.

“I’d say on a personal level, not up to the expectations that I expect to be part of,” said Kljestan. “I think my performances were up and down this season, definitely not as consistent as they have been throughout the rest of my career.”