In the course of doing their diligence on Waiver Draft selection Paolo DelPiccolo, the New England Revolution technical staff turned to a familiar face for context: starting right back Andrew Farrell.
DelPiccolo and Farrell played together at Louisville for three seasons and formed a close bond during their tenure with the Cardinals and their time with USL PDL side River City Rovers. The duo – better known as “Salt n' Peppa” during their college days – even returned to campus to visit former teammates in mid-November after their MLS duties concluded.
Farrell's information did not prompt the Revs to swoop for the former Eintracht Frankfurt and Montreal Impact midfielder, but his input did reinforce the positive information already gathered about the 22-year-old, according to Revolution general manager Michael Burns.
“Our coaches talked to Andrew, not necessarily about taking him, just about him in general,” Burns told MLSsoccer.com by phone on Monday. “All of the reports we've had said he's a great kid. I think he's very eager for a new start and a new challenge. We're hoping it works out for us and for him.”
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The decision to select DelPiccolo provides him with some stability after splitting his rookie year between Germany and Canada. He featured intermittently with Eintracht's reserve side and spent most of his time in Quebec on the training field. It is down to DelPiccolo – a talented, technical option in the middle third – to build upon his body of work at Louisville and state his case for playing time alongside Farrell next season.
“He is a player that our coaching staff has seen for a little bit in college and liked him,” Burns said. “Sometimes, a change of scenery or a fresh start is what a player needs. I did speak with him. He seems very excited. We'll get him in during January and see how he does.”
