Andrew Farrell was drafted No. 1 overall a couple of years back, and he's mostly lived up to that billing. You could make the argument that he was actually the best young right back in MLS last season, though a couple of high-profile glitches – including the egg he laid in MLS Cup – were fuel for the argument against that lofty spot.
Regardless, that is now in the past and New England Revolution coach Jay Heaps has Farrell playing the spot where he envisioned the kid all along: center back.
It started off bad, but following Saturday's scoreless draw with Columbus, it's now officially been "pretty good" for Farrell. The Revs have conceded just once in their last four, and Farrell's improvement in terms of spacing and speed of thought are noticeable. He's also much less prone to going walkabout, though stuff like this does still occur from time to time:
Oops. A right back can get away with that every now and again, but a central defender? That's murder, and it can't happen if Farrell's going to become elite at the position.
On the other side of the ball both his first touch and ability to distribute need to be refined. He completed only 64 percent of his passes on Saturday, and while passing accuracy isn't everything, it's also not nothing. That number has to be higher if the Revs are to turn into the back-to-front juggernaut so many folks seem to think is their destiny.
As far as early-season positional switches go, though, the Revs have to be pleased with what they've gotten from Farrell to this point – doubly so in the wake of that disastrous start at Seattle, when he looked totally overmatched. He's not even close to being a finished product, but nobody should expect him to be at this stage.
They just want "pretty good," with flashes of potential for "even better" down the road. So far, he's delivered.
