FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Matt Polster spent the first three weeks of his New England Revolution tenure watching his teammates from afar, keeping tabs on the MLS is Back Tournament as it unfolded in Florida while keeping himself fit at the club’s training center in Massachusetts.
Earlier this week Polster finally had the chance to link up with the rest of the squad as the Revs resumed training in Foxborough, and although the 27-year-old has only completed a handful of sessions with the first team, first impressions have been nothing but positive.
“He’s been good. He’s been demanding. He’s worked very hard,” said Kelyn Rowe, who attended Polster’s wedding in January after the two formed a bond at a previous U.S. National Team camp. “He’s playing that defensive role as the number six right in front of the backline, He’s doing very well. He’s a very good ball winner. He works very hard and he’s very simple the way he plays, but he’ll find his feet and find the team very quickly.”
Polster, who has featured heavily at right back in five-plus seasons as a professional, has stated that his preferred position is in central midfield, and Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena has indicated that’s where they plan to use Polster in New England.
Early suggestions are that Polster will bring a physicality to the position, as well as a commanding presence, as the former Rangers and Chicago Fire midfielder hasn’t been shy about using his voice in his first few sessions in Foxborough.
“He’s been doing really well. I think early on, he’s a really good player,” said center back Andrew Farrell. “He’s very vocal. He likes to get stuck into tackles. Like I said, he’s very vocal about what he wants and that’s important. We need more voices on our team and he’s come in and worked hard. I think everybody appreciates that. I think the coaching staff does, as well.
“You can see the level that he has. He’s a good player. It will only get better and better as the days go on.”
The coming weeks will be critical for Polster as he assimilates to a new squad and the Revs prepare for their return to regular-season games. Not only is Polster working towards full fitness, he’s also learning the intricacies of a new system and understanding the tendencies of his new teammates.
That will take time, but Polster is already putting in the work to get there as quickly as possible.
“He wants to learn about our system and how guys are personality-wise,” said goalkeeper Matt Turner. “At the same time, he has some knowledge. He’s played at a pretty high level, so I think guys are receiving him pretty well, and we look forward to building with him more and more.”
Some of those relationships, of course, are further along than others, and Rowe was quick to playfully remind Polster that his eight seasons in New England make him the elder statesman as Polster continues to settle into his new surroundings.
“He never had very good banter to begin with so he needs to step it up a little bit,” Rowe said with a laugh when asked about his good-humored relationship with Polster. “He knows the seniority on my front. He knows that I’m in charge here, in case of him.”
