interview taken from recent Red Matchday Magazine issue. 

A year is a very long time in football.

Cast your mind back 12 months and we had just started playing again after the hiatus for the World Cup in Qatar. At that stage, Dante Polvara was still very much on the fringes of things at Pittodrie, so much so that he was about to go out on loan to get some much needed game time.

Fast forward to today and you find the American midfielder very much at the heart of things for the Dons, 23 games behind him already this season, his first goals for the club in the bag and a very promising future laid out in front of him. It all goes to show that if you’ve got the talent and you put in the work to go with it, eventually things will turn your way.

“2023 has been a good year for me,” he agrees. “If you’d told me a year ago what was going to happen, I might have laughed at you. The odds of playing and scoring over in Frankfurt would have been pretty high! Had you told me back in July that this would happen, I’d have given you my entire salary!

“Looking back on it now I just want more, what’s next? How can I get to the next level? How can I help even more? How can I be more consistent? How can I be better at the little things? I’m very happy with the progress. I feel a lot more comfortable now than I did in July. I want to do as much as I can to help on and off the field, I’m up for the challenge.

“When I went on loan last season, I think it was good for me. I always felt I could come back from there and start to make an impact. The manager gave me a lot of confidence as I left, he made it clear I was going on a loan spell so that I could come back and play a part in things.

“From there, I tried to get as much as I could from the loan experience and then I played on the Friday, got on the plane and came here to start pre-season on the Monday! Signing a new contract was great for my confidence and once you feel good like that, you can start to show what you can do in training and in games.

“When I came back in the summer, all I wanted to do was to play games and help the team. It’s been great being involved in the European fixtures and scoring some goals too, which are special moments. Hopefully that’s been a stepping stone to playing more games in all the competitions.”

We’ve spoken before in these pages about foreign players needing time to come to terms with the demands of Scottish football, while also dealing with a new culture too. Dante agrees that it has taken him a while to get to grips with the challenge the Premiership poses.

“When I came here, I struggled with the pace and the intensity of the games, every tackle matters. Here, it’s more hectic and you have to be able to handle that. Can you find calmness in the chaos? Physically, I’ve learned I have to use my frame to my advantage too, which I’d never had to do before. It takes time to adjust and settle into the Scottish game, but sometimes you need a bit of luck too. Maybe you get a run of games because of injuries or something, or you score a couple of goals early on. If that happens, you’re on your way, you’re confident.

“I was talking to Bojan about it the other day and he was saying how much better he is as a player now than when he first came. He said that he kept being selected through good and bad performances last season, and that really helped his confidence. It’s also about settling into a new country off the field and if that goes well from the start, that’s a huge help too.”

Being a top flight footballer is a pretty enviable occupation, but it comes with its darker moments too, be that a loss of form, injury, a lack of opportunities, or simply trying to fit in at a new workplace after a transfer. That’s on top of being in a fiercely competitive environment where your friends want to take your spot in the team and, even if you do get on the pitch, 11 blokes are kicking in the opposite direction and trying to make your life hell. You need to be strong in body and mind to handle all that, as Dante agrees.

“Mentality is such an important part of the game. Back home, in college sports, where you’re talking about players from 18 to 23 which are a rollercoaster few years anyway, you always have a psychologist who works with you. There are ways that you can train your mind, the same as you train your body. They say that the brain is the biggest muscle, right? It needs to be trained like any other muscle.

“I think it’s becoming more prevalent here than it was, and it has to be because if you’re not in the right headspace, you can’t play, you can’t show your quality. You even see it with great players sometimes, they come into the English Premier League for massive transfer fees and then they can’t put it together. They’re obviously great players, but they’re probably struggling with the pressure of the fee and all of that.

“The ones that do succeed on a very consistent basis are different. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance and the best players walk that line. They do things that look crazy, but it comes off and they look like a genius. They have this iron self belief that nobody can break.

“Guys I’ve played with who have made it to the highest levels, their confidence is ridiculous. No matter how poorly they’re playing, they’ll still keep trying to do the exact same thing until it clicks again. That’s something I want to learn from, because sometimes pressure does get to you. I’ve come a long way in being able to tune that out since I first came here, but there’s a lot still to do.”

Aberdeen’s European campaign ended last month of course, and though the Dons didn’t make it through to the knock-out stages, it was still a run of games that brought with it a lot of plusses. That was certainly true for Dante himself, who really used those games to emerge as a key figure in the squad, signing off in Europe with an outstanding display against Frankfurt, including producing that pass that set Ester Sokler up for the all-important second goal. No wonder he looks back on those games with fondness.

“Playing in Europe has been really enjoyable because it’s a different kind of challenge to the league and domestic cups. I think all of the boys have enjoyed it. We’ve been to three very different grounds, all quite unique and cool in their own way. That’s been enjoyable, having that experience and ticking off different countries off the list!

“All three opponents have had their own challenges that we’ve had to try and overcome. It’s been an enjoyable campaign and it was nice to finish off with a win at home. We feel like there was more on the table for us than the six points we ended up taking, but that’s something we can use as a building block moving forward.”

As well as Dante pushing his claims in Europe, other Aberdeen youngsters relished the chance to show what they can do, including Jack Milne, much to Polvara’s delight.

“Jack made his first start in Helsinki, and he is one of my best friends on the team. When I joined, he was one of the young boys training with us. To see him come as far as he has is great. To be fair to him as well, it wasn’t his natural position that he played in, but I was impressed. At the same time, I expected it, because I know the type of quality he brings every day in training. He works so hard. He’s just like anybody else, he has his battles, but he’s got a long, long career ahead of him, and I think he showed that he’s got a lot of quality to bring to the table, even right now.

“I was very happy for him and then he made his first start in the league against Hearts too, which he really deserved. It’s something I know he’ll be very proud of because he’s been at the club for a while and he deserves every bit of praise that he gets. He deserves to feel good, because he’s worked hard for it. He is a talented boy and I am buzzing for him, like everybody else is.

“The dressing room is a great group of boys I think that is evident to people on the outside. We had something like seven out of eight away games, so you spend a lot of time on the bus together, a lot of time around the hotel, card games, you name it. You hear bits and pieces of everybody’s story, and it’s always interesting getting to know your teammates on a better level. That’s the sort of thing you’re afforded with away games, it brings you closer.

“I’d say the squad morale is in a good place, especially after the game in Finland where some of the boys who haven’t probably played as much as they would have liked got to play. It helps create a good vibe in the squad moving forward.

“I think a lot of the boys have showed that they’re capable of contributing right now. That’s something they would have been chomping at the bit to be able to show and I’m very happy for all of them. They were able to show what they can bring to the table.

“It is important for the squad. I think the boys that have had the bulk of the minutes enjoyed seeing it just as much as the boys that were playing. It’s a good-hearted group. Everyone has the best interests of each other and the people next to them in mind and so that’s going to be really important when the going gets tough this season. Your tough situations, I think that’s what will bring you out the other side is 26 men in the changing room. That’s something we have to hold on to and it’s a strength of ours. Credit to the leaders of the team that create that sort of culture.

“We have played against a lot of tough opposition on the road and for the most part, we’ve handled it quite well. That’s credit to the boys for their mentality and being up for the challenge all the time. Credit as well to the fans that come on the road with us. You can’t take that for granted. They show up every time without fail and we appreciate it more than they probably know, because it plays a big part. Coming towards the end of games where you need to hold on for a result or whatever it may be, it definitely makes those moments that much more special.”

Of course, the heavy demands of Scottish football mean that Dante won’t get the chance to spend Christmas with his family back home, but there are plans afoot to make up for that at the start of 2024.

“We get some time off in January, so some of the boys are coming to New York, I’m trying to set up a whole itinerary! Christmas in New York makes you feel like you’re a kid again, you get this weird excitement. Even as I got older, you’d see the massive tree and you get snow, it’s so cool.

“It’s the best time to go to New York because in the summer, it’s too hot, too humid, it’s a concrete jungle, you don’t want to be in that heat. But in the winter, it’s really cold, but there’s so much to do indoors, it’s great. It’s going to be great to have a few days back there, then come back raring to go. There’s a lot to achieve in the second half of the season.”