FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution midfielder Matt Polster’s appearance against the New York Red Bulls this past Saturday marked his 100th regular season start for the club. As he approaches four years in New England, he reflected on his time with the team, and looked ahead to fighting for more silverware for the trophy cabinet at Gillette Stadium.
“For me, I love it here,” Polster said after training on Tuesday. “The coaching staff knows that. The front office knows that. It's good to be here in Boston playing for New England. I've enjoyed it so far. I think the fans have been very favorable towards me and I feel the same towards them. I just want to keep helping this team in the right way and progress this team to get back to where we want to go, which is to compete for trophies. Yeah, I love it here.”
Polster signed from Rangers FC in July 2020 after a packed depth chart made it hard for the defensive midfielder to win minutes in his two years with the Scottish powerhouse. Glasgow’s loss has been Foxborough’s gain, though, and since Polster’s arrival the Revs have made it to an Eastern Conference final and hoisted the Supporters’ Shield. Prior to joining Rangers, Polster was drafted by and played four seasons for Chicago Fire FC.
In the last four years, Polster has not only progressed on the field, but has also grown off it, and he took a moment on Tuesday to reflect on how he’s become one of the team’s key leaders since joining the Revs.
“I think as you become more of a veteran, I think it comes,” Polster said. “But I think I've always been that kind of person. I’ve definitely wanted to lead this team from when I first got here, and I think I've done that in a majority of it. I think it's always frustrating through the stretch we're going through, but I think that's even more important now for us as leaders. You can see who is leading us on the field at all times. It’s us having to push the group and still bringing that level of play that we need to, to get back to where we want to go and win more consistently.”
Head coach Caleb Porter agreed that Polster was one of the team’s crucial assets, for what he brings as both a player and a person.
“He is a great leader,” Porter said. “I've said it, he is one of our key guys. He does a lot of the dirty work that doesn't always show up on the scoresheet, but he's very influential to how we play on both sides of the ball. In the locker room, he is one of our best leaders.”
Of course, Polster would have preferred for the result on Saturday to have been different, but the centurion still came away from the game generally happy with how he and the team played, and already focused on the next challenge, coming in the form of the Philadelphia Union this weekend at home.
“I thought we were the better team for a majority of the game,” he said. “It's just disappointing to give up the goals we did. I think it was just, really, individual mistakes. They were not anything [where] Red Bull made a nice buildup or anything like that. I thought we were the better team, but again, another intense week ahead for Philly. I think you'll see the same performance but without the mistakes in the game against Philly.”
That game will start a run of four home games in five for New England, a golden opportunity for the team to turn around what has thus far been a difficult season. If the Revolution do string together positive results, it will be because team leaders like Matt Polster took charge, brought the energy and played their game the way they and Revs fans everywhere know they can.
