BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Matt Polster has been bracketed with just about every superlative a 22-year-old could ask for in his rookie MLS campaign.
From consideration for a place on Andreas Herzog’s US U-23 Olympic squad to being likened to US national team luminary John Harkes, the Milwaukee-born, Las Vegas-raised Polster has put his stake firmly in the ground since being plucked by Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop as the seventh pick in the 2015 SuperDraft.
“First of all, when we saw him, we liked him,” Yallop said. “He had a good combine. We got him in the draft, which I was so happy about; I was worried he’d be gone. He was the only one we really wanted to take in that pick. We get him and then you start working with him, and we realized quickly that we have a good player on our hands.”
Amid the collective struggles that have seen the Men in Red descend to last place in the Eastern Conference, Polster has emerged as a bright spot and the bulwark of Yallop’s midfield. With 13 starts in 14 appearances to his name, switching the field of play, wriggling his way out of tight spaces and embracing a box-to-box mentality – pillars of his game – have warranted Rookie of the Year plaudits to boot.
Due to yellow card accumulation, Polster was confined to the stands Wednesday night for the first time this season, looking on from high above as Chris Ritter deputized alongside Razvan Cocis in the Fire’s 1-0 loss to league-leading D.C. United Wednesday night. As any student of the game would, the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville alumnus kept his eyes peeled, scrutinized the proceedings and took careful note of his colleagues’ performances.
“When you’re not playing and you’re in that situation, I visualize what I would do in certain situations,” he told MLSSoccer.com. “I’d watch what certain players in my positions were doing as well.”
Between himself, Ritter, Cocis, Matt Watson and Michael Stephens, a copious supply of central midfielders breeds a wealth of competition for starting places within Yallop’s delegation. But Polster, corroborating his seamless transition from Edwardsville to the Windy City, commended the blossoming relationships forged with his teammates – young and old – during his freshman season.
“I think it’s going well,” he added. “Obviously, it’s really competitive, which is what you want. It makes you just grind that much harder during training and games to keep your position. The relationships are pretty good. We always chat. There’s no real tension, other than all of us wanting to play.
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“[Shaun] Maloney, [Mike] Magee, Jeff [Larentowicz] have given me little pointers along the way, telling me what to do in certain situations. Their level of knowledge has helped me understand the game much better since I got here.”
Polster, who played 79 games in a four-year standout career with the Cougars, isn’t quick to forget his roots either. For now, aside from the Fire’s technical staff, he takes advantage of periodic dialogue with former SIUE head coach Scott Donnelly, a handy tool as Polster continues his steady rise in MLS.
“I chat, now and again, with Scott, mostly,” Polster said. “We chat every two weeks or so and talk about how I can do better. He watches as many games as he can. We talk through them and see what I’ve done right, what I’ve done wrong. It’s helpful coming from somebody that’s higher up.”
