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SBI MLS Rookie of the Week: Andrew Farrell

Andrew Farrell, Devon Sandoval

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

New England Revolution right back Andrew Farrell has had a solid start to his professional career, and he continued it with a 90 minute effort against the Houston Dynamo last Saturday, in a 2-0 victory at BBVA Compass Stadium.

The performance earned the former first overall pick of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft SBI MLS Rookie of the Week honors for the first time this season.

Farrell beat out San Jose Earthquakes forward Adam Jahn, Seattle Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin, and Colorado Rapids forward Deshorn Brown.

What did you make of Farrell’s performance against Houston? Which rookie impressed you the most in MLS Week 12?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Personally I don’t think that is his position. I would much rather see him at CM. Good player.

    Yedlin tore up Kenny Cooper, and sparked quite a bit of life into Seattles offense on the right side.

    Yedlin for me is still leading in Rookie of the Year.

    Reply
    • People see how young Yedlin is, and just can’t quite grasp how good he is. The guy wasn’t expected to play much this season let alone start. But now he is Seattle’s leader in minutes played, and probably their most consistent player this season.

      Reply
    • I watched both Farrell and Yedlin play this week and Yedlin was clearly the better player and a bigger impact. He forced NINE turnovers in FC Dallas’ half, two of which led to goals, and absolutely shut down Kenny Cooper (and no, he was not at fault on Cooper’s set piece goal).

      Farrell is a really good player, but he was outclassed this week.

      Reply
  2. Didnt see the game only saw him play twice seemed solid. My question is he projected as a right back or is it just a shift hes doing with hopes of moving to center back later.

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  3. When does MLS plateau ? Meaning guys like Yedlin and Ferrell can’t win starting spots, because guys like Yedlin and Ferrell are all ready there and have years of experience.

    It would take me 10 minutes to type all the guys over the last three years making big impacts.

    Reply
      • Let me try to guess at what he’s saying:

        “MLS has a lot of rising young talent. Much of that talent is pushing aside older journeymen in order to win starting spots. But what will happen in a few years when new younger players come? Will they struggle to gain playing time over their talented elders and will the league thus stall?”

        I think it’s an overblown worry. The league continues to expand in size and I bet it will grow to 24 by the end of the decade. There will be plenty of slots for talented Americans to play. And if we have too many talented young players? Well that’s why MLS affiliated with USL-Pro. The second division will only improve if it is flooded with talented ex-academy guys.

        And let’s not forget that many of the best MLS players go to Europe. So in a few years, the next generation of Yedlins and Farrells probably won’t have to compete with the current Yedlin and Farrell for starting spots, since they will probably have departed the league.

      • I don’t speak gibberish. Not sure that’s actual language. Seems like just random words put in a random order. I have no idea what he is saying there, especially once he throws the last sentence in there. I’m sure it made sense in Charles’ head at some point, but it currently bears no resemblance to actual written communication (or I’ve been staring at a computer screen too long. Somebody translate for me.

  4. Somebody who has watched this guy play more then once give me the low down on this guy… What is his realistic ceiling?

    Reply
    • I’ve watched most Revs games this year, and at the moment I’d say the ceiling is pretty high. He’s playing smart but conservative soccer right now. I think as he gets more confident with an MLS-caliber game, he could develop into a very good attacking right back. He’s got a strong leg and has made some good efforts going forward so far. He still has a ways to go, and has gotten beat by some of the better attacking players in the league (particularly Henry in that 4-1 debacle).

      My early verdict: Serviceable now, but with a fairly high ceiling in the future

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      • Agreed. To add a couple of points insofar as the ceiling: (i) because of his apparent tendency to pass and dribble to the inside of the pitch, it’s difficult at this stage to assess his crossing ability, especially from the byline; (ii) his recovery speed (and sense of defensive responsibility) is such that at least on the MLS level he might be able to gamble and contribute offensively more than most fullbacks. All in all, I won’t be surprised to find him in a Klinsmann camp within the next 2-3 if years, but that’s far from assured.

    • Hey I’ve watched almost every New England game this year and I’m torn on him. I’ve been impressed and like his work ethic but I’m not sure if his future really lies at RB. I think he can play the position and play it well but not sure he stays there. I’d like to see him at CB or maybe even CDM. We have a lot of center backs and very few outside backs right now. I think only one natural outside back and that would be Tierney. I think Rob made some good points about some iffy defending against better attackers but hey he’s still a rookie and playing well. I have high hopes.

      Reply

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