Sporting KC is putting a lot on Matt Besler this year. Here’s how and why
Matt Besler would leave Kansas City late in the evening, a suitcase packed for United States men’s national team camp. Practice started the following morning, and just a week later, he was on the field, wearing red, white and blue and playing on an international stage.
In just a few days’ time, there were game plans to implement, opponents to study, teammates with which to bond. It’s a rushed period of adaptation that follows all national team players.
It’s followed Besler back to Kansas City.
Again.
Sporting Kansas City’s most significant move of the winter sent Ike Opara to Minnesota less than a month before the 2019 season. Opara and Besler played nearly 60 games alongside each other on the back line over the past two years. Which means much of the success of the 2019 season will hinge on the change within Sporting KC’s defense — and Besler’s ability to convert to it.
“That’s always the challenge — figuring out as quickly as possible how a new guy likes to play and communicate,” Besler said. “It’s basically just trying to figure out this person’s strengths and weaknesses, how you can help cover the weaknesses and how you can play to each other’s strengths. And that just takes time. It takes time in training, in meetings and in game experiences. The fastest and best ways to learn are in games.”
Andreu Fontas is the preferred option alongside Besler now. The duo stabilized the center of a defense that produced back-to-back shutouts to open the year. But Fontas was injured in Sunday’s subsequent loss to Los Angeles FC, and he will miss Wednesday’s trip to Panama to face CA Independiente in the CONCACAF Champions League quarters.
Alas, if Besler is the lineup, he will need to grow accustomed to yet another new partner in the center back pairing.
“He’s actually always been excellent at that,” Sporting coach Peter Vermes said. “It’s his attitude that makes him able to do it. I’ve always said that he’s a true professional. His life is centered around being the very best he can be at his professional. It’s one of the reasons why he’s able to do what he does for as long as he has.”
Nobody in Sporting KC history has worn the uniform more often than Besler, who made his 300th career start with the club over the weekend. Naturally, there’s sure to be plenty of change during a tenure that has spanned more than a decade.
Opara, Kevin Ellis, Aurelien Collin, Lawrence Olum, Nuno Coelho. They all took extended turns alongside Besler in the defense’s spine.
They all played quite differently. And Fontas, Botond Barath, Graham Smith, Abdul Rwatubyaye or any other Sporting center back won’t be asked to replace Ike Opara.
Instead, Besler will be asked to make the most adjustments, catering to his new teammate’s strengths. In a career defined by its consistency in production, Besler has become proficient in making such transitions appear seamless. With Opara over the previous two years, Besler said the two had to communicate less than most partnerships, simply because they were acutely aware of the tendencies. Over time, they had developed strategies on specific plays within the game.
It will get there again, he says. With time. And if history is any indication, with his ability to reshape his game.
“You want it to become second nature with whoever you’re playing with,” Besler said. “The more experience you have with a player, the more comfortable you become and the more confident you become. But I also think you get to a point where you don’t have to worry about some of the smaller details of the game, which allows you to focus on other parts of the game.
“Whereas, if you’re playing with a new guy, you have to figure it out on the fly. But whoever it is, we’ll get there. I’m confident. It’s a challenge, but it’s something I’m looking forward to this year.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Sporting KC is putting a lot on Matt Besler this year. Here’s how and why."