FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A small shift made a big difference for Andrew Farrell last Saturday night.
Farrell, who started the first 13 games of the season in central defense, moved to right back for the New England Revolution’s 2-1 win over Seattle Sounders FC. He put together a solid 90 minutes, registering a game-high six tackles while helping set up the Revolution’s opening goal.
“I thought he was excellent,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “I thought he did a really good job.”
It wasn’t a new spot for Farrell, but rather a return to his roots. The 24-year-old spent the first two years of his professional career playing right back, including throughout the Revolution’s run to MLS Cup in 2014. It wasn’t until last year that Farrell shifted into central defense following the departure of A.J. Soares.
But the Revolution’s coaching staff bounced around the idea of moving Farrell back to the right for weeks, finally making the move against Seattle. London Woodberry – who has been a right back in New England but has a history at center back – partnered Jose Goncalves in the middle.
“Farrell, he’s such a good right back, and we thought we want to get him in his most comfortable spot,” Heaps said. “And London played a lot of center back in college, as well, and he’s athletic.
“We were happy that we were able to work on that all week. It was an idea that we had been talking about for a little while and finally it came the right time to do it.”
Although diplomatic in his postgame comments, Farrell clearly enjoyed his return to right back, where he had more freedom to get forward and where he can rely more on one-v-one defending than positioning.
“Whatever coach needs, I’ll play wherever he tells me. It felt fun to play out there,” Farrell said. “Through the week I had to work on it. A little more fitness than playing center back, but it was fun.”
According to Heaps, it’s the freedom Farrell enjoys on the right side that brings out his best. He had a game-high 81 touches against Seattle, and the majority of his passes were in the attacking half of the field.
“I think what happens is sometimes at center back, he’s matched up (with a) man and he can’t read the game in terms of playing as freely as he’d like,” Heaps said. “[Against Seattle] you saw it was a little different energy from him.
“He was freer, able to step in and win balls, able to play balls without having immediate pressure on him, getting in good angles. It’s something we’ve talked about and tonight I thought he bought into it and had a great game.”
The question now, of course, is was Farrell’s return to right back a one-time switch designed specifically for last weekend’s meeting with Seattle, or could it mark a more long-term move?
Heaps’ answer to that question was pretty clear.
“I think it’s something you’re going to see more of,” he said.
