Matt Besler ‘grows into role’ as Sporting KC captain as team opens postseason

Matt Besler uses a notebook to chronicle some of the most significant moments during Sporting Kansas City’s season. The good, the bad, the everything.

As the club captain, he documents his role in the team’s response to adverse situations. What worked? What didn’t work? Is there a relationship between his captaincy and the club’s results?

“The way I view being a captain is that you should always be trying to get better, and you’re always learning,” said Besler, in his second season as the Sporting KC captain. “I looked through the notebook at the end of last season and saw some things I needed to get better at. I’ve tried to be better than I was last year. That’s my job.”

In one of his best seasons as a professional on the field — which has oddly been mostly under the radar for the former MLS defender of the year — Besler has simultaneously better developed his standing in the locker room. Or at least his coach says so.

Peter Vermes chose Besler, an Overland Park native, to replace the retired Jimmy Nielsen as the captain after the 2013 season. Besler spent time serving in that role in college at Notre Dame, when he was selected as a captain during his junior and senior seasons. The professional level offered a different challenge.

“As a coach, you have to spend time mentoring, and I didn’t do enough of that with Matt last year,” Vermes said. “I don’t think you can necessarily teach someone to be a leader. It has to be inside them. But there are some things you can share with leaders to best draw that out of them. I think Matt has really grown into that role.”

Asked for specifics, Vermes said he’s noticed Besler adopt a more vocal presence during practice, during games and in the locker room prior to matches.

Sporting KC spiraled toward a forgettable finish to the 2014 season, and when the club endured a similar stretch in 2015, Besler called for a handful of players-only meetings.

“There’s a time when a captain has to not wait for someone to tell him it’s time to have a chat with the team or maybe an individual. Sometimes you have to do that on your own and sense when it’s time to do that,” Vermes said. “I think Matt has shown a great understanding lately that that’s a big responsibility with being a captain — the timing of when to do it, when not to do it, when to do it publicly and when to do it privately.”

That can be the unpopular part of the job, of course — constructive criticism toward a teammate. But Besler says that’s not the typical purpose of his meetings with teammates. He spends a large chunk of time outlining seasonlong goals — such as winning another MLS Cup.

Sporting KC travels to face Portland on Thursday in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. It’s the same round that spelled the end of the 2014 season, but Besler says the team has a different feel this time, and Vermes credits his captain with helping to facilitate that. Unlike last season, Sporting KC believes it has momentum heading into the playoffs after a 2-1 win against the defending-champion LA Galaxy on Sunday.

“I think player meetings are important because I think it’s important for all of the players to be on the same page. I think it’s important for everyone to understand what it is you’re going after,” Besler said. “It has to be clear to everyone. I think it’s a good way to refocus and talk about exactly what it is you want out of the season. If you don’t (state) it, you don’t give yourselves much of a chance.”　

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Matt Besler ‘grows into role’ as Sporting KC captain as team opens postseason."