KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt Besler had every reason to walk out of last season’s end-of-year meeting with manager Peter Vermes frustrated.
After a campaign in which Besler lost his starting job early on and spent most of the year on the bench, Vermes sat down with his young defender and delivered some very pointed advice.
“He said that I need to be a harder player,” Besler said. “That was the word that he used. That just means not taking any prisoners back there in the last line of defense, really setting the tone of the team with my tackles and fighting for every ball. That part of the game is a mentality more than anything else.”
And while some might have taken Vermes’ challenge as a personal affront, Besler latched onto it as motivation to add another gritty dimension to his game entering his third season in Major League Soccer.
Sure enough, before their meeting was finished, Besler promised Vermes that he would be back fitter than ever and with a new resolve in order to earn his place on the team.
Already a Kansas City native, he hit the gym and weight room hard in the offseason, driving himself to outwork his teammates and come into training camp “bigger, faster and stronger” and with a level of confidence to match his fitness.
That work has already turned plenty of heads.
“He’s definitely getting harder,” Vermes said. “He really is. He has a totally different mentality. He deserves a compliment for the way he approached this preseason. He’s really progressed, and I'm happy for him.”
But whether that progression manifests itself in a starting job remains to be seen. Besler started both of the team’s most recent games against MLS competition this preseason, but remains locked in competition with Shavar Thomas and the newly signed Júlio César to anchor the defense and help put last season’s struggles behind the unit.
“I realize there is a pretty big opportunity from the fact that Jimmy [Conrad] left a big hole,” Besler said. “Our center backs were scrutinized last season for being one of the main reasons that we didn’t do so well last year. That’s kind of fueled my fire a little bit. I want to prove some of those people wrong.”
And although he is still working on sharpening his mentality, Besler already has all the other ingredients to be a successful center back in MLS. It’s always been just a matter of putting it all together consistently over time.
He started 26 games as a rookie, making a positive impression after being drafted eighth overall in the SuperDraft, before last season's swoon in form led to Vermes picking a preferred partnership of Conrad and Thomas.
“He’s a guy that has got all the tools,” captain Davy Arnaud said. “Physically, he looks really strong and quick right now. He has the mental side of things. He’s a smart guy and reads the game well. He has the opportunity to really step up this year and be a real leader for us.”
It’s an opportunity Besler has been striving for since Vermes’ critique focused his resolve. Now it’s just up to him to seize it, starting Saturday against Conrad and Chivas USA.
“This is a huge year for me,” he said. “To be honest, I’m looking to have a breakout year.”
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