Polster can be key man after learning from Rangers idol
STEVEN GERRARD didn’t extract a great deal from his exposure to American sports during 18 months living in California. He watched the LA Lakers regularly and caught soccer fan Kobe Bryant’s last game of basketball. But baseball and football?
‘Baseball is a bit too long and too quiet for me and, while I admire the NFL players, I just hate the stop-start,’ he explains. ‘So I couldn’t really take to those sports.’
With those national pastimes a turn-off, Gerrard was free to obsess on the only game that has ever truly mattered to him and the Major League Soccer action right in front of him.
Matt Polster left a lasting impression from Gerrard’s studies, ultimately leading to the Chicago Fire midfielder’s trial and subsequent signing for Rangers last week.
To know that Gerrard banked memories of seeing him play and from facing him just once in competitive action provide head-spinning boosts to Polster’s confidence and career.
For the 25-year-old just so happens to be a Liverpool fan who counted Gerrard as an idol during constant viewing of English Premier League games through his youth and his No1 goal in the game was engineering a move to Britain.
‘Playing in Europe was always the first big step I really wanted to take so, going through the college system then to MLS, I felt I was progressing well,’ he explained.
‘Then, when I got the interest from Rangers, I was like: Wow. This is a big opportunity for me, it was something I always wanted to do.
‘I wanted to challenge myself, to play at a high standard, somewhere with high expectations — and that’s what this club is all about.
‘Steven Gerrard brings a lot as a manager, his knowledge of the game is quite impressive.
‘I think everyone here can learn a lot from him and soak in as much information as they can.
‘I had admired him very much, he was someone you look up to when you’re young and someone you want to strive to be one day.
‘But now things have changed. Now I’m player and he’s my manager, so my goal is to come here and fight for a spot and work hard for him and this club.’
Polster has hit the jackpot in his chosen sport after growing up in Las Vegas.
For a promising young athlete, distractions were dangerously close by.
‘It’s not a hotbed for soccer, that’s for sure,’ he grinned. ‘But we do have pretty good facilities and the club I played for, Downtown Las Vegas, host the biggest international tournament in America with teams from 80 countries and it’s quite impressive.
‘But, yeah, my parents had to shelter me quite a bit growing up. They didn’t let me go down to the strip, they didn’t let me leave the house after a certain time. It was pretty strict — my mum was pretty terrified.
‘My mum always said I would play soccer, but my dad said absolutely not. I was playing dual sports, baseball and soccer, but apparently one day I came into the car crying and said I didn’t want to play baseball anymore. I just wanted to play soccer.
‘From there, they saw I had a passion and a love for it.’
Polster boasts a versatility to play right-back as well as defensive midfield. The signings of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Dax McCarty and Juninho in 2017 pushed him out of the centre of the park at Chicago Fire but could well be the making of him at international level and, now, in Scotland.
‘I think Matt might surprise a few people,’ said Gerrard. ‘I like his build, profile. I like him in one-v-ones and he can handle the ball in any area of the pitch.
‘If he is playing right-back he has some fantastic deliveries but he has the mentality and qualities I like.
‘I think his versatility gives him the chance to get more games but he has to grab his opportunity and show people he is capable at this level. ‘I’ve been monitoring him for a while and to get him on a free and him to accept the package we put in front of him showed money isn’t his motivation. It’s more the opportunity to come to Europe and show he can handle playing at a big club. There have been a few Americans who have come to the club and been successful and I am sure they are role
models for him.’