“Center forward.”
That was the immediate response Frank Yallop jokingly offered when asked about Matt Polster’s best position earlier this week.
The rookie’s versatility has seen him play in three positions and start all but two of the Chicago Fire’s 22 regular season games, logging 1777 minutes to lead MLS rookies in time on the field. The only game he hasn’t featured in was the 1-0 home defeat to D.C. United in June, which he missed through yellow-card accumulation.
But while he has played at center back and right back with admirable results, it is at center midfield that both Polster and Yallop see his long-term future. “Long term, definitely center mid, but I feel comfortable in all three positions. But if there was an order, I would want to play center mid, center back and then right back,” Polster told MLSsoccer.com this week.
“Right back’s not my preferred position, but center back and center mid have the same attributes, same style of play. Obviously you have a little more time as a center back but those two are more related than the right back role.”
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And while Yallop initially replied with “center forward,” he agreed wholeheartedly that the 22-year-old’s future lies in midfield, where he has excelled in his debut MLS season. However, he foresees a time when Polster will transition from the more defensive role he currently plays, into a more creative, attack-minded threat, more akin to a No. 8.
“I think he’s a central midfielder, to be honest,” Yallop said. “The reason I’m moving him is because of a little lack of depth in those spots. He is a central midfielder and I think he’s more of an 8 than a 6. I think he can push on and run and get beyond people, like Razvan [Cocis], who can play that role as well. He’s a good young player and he’s done very well.”
Polster recently earned a spot on the MLS Team of the Week following an energetic performance in the Fire’s 2-0 win over FC Dallas earlier this month, where he was tasked with keeping playmaker Mauro Diaz in check.
“It’s definitely nice to get that Team of the Week accolade, but I definitely think it was more of a team effort. Jeff [Larentowicz] and Eric [Gehrig] played really well, telling me left, right, where to be to find Diaz as much as possible,” he said.
“I covered the ground, I thought we played well as a team and you can only get so many guys on the Team of the Week, so it was nice to be on it. But as a group I thought we played really well.”
A graduate of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, located a few hours' south of Chicago in the St. Louis suburbs, Polster has impressed in his rookie year and has been touted as a top Rookie of the Year contender alongside Orlando City SC’s Cyle Larin. However, the modest Polster believes the Canadian forward is in pole position, having scored an impressive 11 goals in 18 games for the league newcomers, logging 1227 minutes.
“I notice it, I think he’s been great,” Polster said of Larin’s exploits. “It’s obviously tough to get that [award] when a guy’s got 11 goals, but I think he’s done really well for himself and right now he’s definitely the frontrunner. I’m just going to keep playing well.”
Shane Murray covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com.
