FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It might be time to start calling Kelyn Rowe the new Mr. Versatile.
Through the first 10 games of the current campaign Rowe played every attacking and midfield position in the Revolution’s system – center forward, right wing, left wing, central attacking midfield and holding midfield.
Having hit all those spots, Rowe is now branching onto the backline. In the second half of the Revolution’s loss to LA two weeks ago he played as what he called “a false left back,” marauding up and down the left side of the field as the Revs pushed to erase a three-goal deficit.
In this past weekend’s win over the Chicago Fire, Rowe made his first professional start at right back, then switched to the left side of defense for the second half.
That leaves only center back and goalkeeper on Rowe’s Bingo card of “positions to play” in 2016, although it’s not a card he expects to complete.
“I think (Andrew) Farrell’s still got fourth-string goalkeeper,” Rowe said with a laugh, referencing his teammate’s brief stint between the pipes in the closing stages of a playoff game in 2013. “I don’t think I’ll be in there.”
Rowe’s inclusion on the backline Saturday was somewhat of a surprise, but head coach Jay Heaps explained the decision in his postgame comments, noting Chicago’s propensity to sit deep on the road, something Heaps felt would give Rowe the freedom to get forward down the right side.
“When you watch Chicago when they’re on the road, they drop into this five-back system and it really gives a lot of time for the outside backs to make plays,” Heaps said, adding that assistant coach Tom Soehn spent extra time working with Rowe on his positioning throughout the week. “We talked a lot about building him in, saying, ‘If we can get you a lot of touches here, this might be a good spot for you.’
“Kelyn defended well, but I liked his ideas to get forward. I thought he was aggressive. He can be even more aggressive going forward in that position.”
Heaps’ gamble paid off as Rowe had a team-high 75 touches and attempted a team-high 49 passes, while he was largely untroubled defensively as the Revs held the Fire without a shot on target and kept their third clean sheet of the season.
“It was a slightly different position, but I had Farrell in the first half next to me just chatting the whole time, making sure I was doing my thing,” Rowe said. “Then I had Je-Vaughn (Watson) in the second half and always had Bobby (Shuttleworth) in my ear. I got a lot of direction.”
While Revolution legend and ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman said on Twitter that he sees a potential U.S. National Team future for Rowe at right back, Heaps said postgame that it was a move made more out of necessity than anything else. In fact, Heaps said that had Darrius Barnes been fully healthy, he likely would’ve started at right back instead of Rowe.
With Barnes, Jose Goncalves and Chris Tierney all on the verge of returning to full health, it’s very likely that Rowe will return to the midfield this weekend against FC Dallas, but his 90-minute showing against the Fire proved that he’s more than capable of holding his own on the backline.
“I just want to play to be honest with you,” Rowe said. “If I’m on the field at right back, left back, right mid, left mid, whatever it may be, I’ll do it and I’ll do it to the best of my ability.”
