While neither player was nominated for Rookie of the Year, there’s no denying that Andrew Farrell and Scott Caldwell were influential for the New England Revolution. Farrell established himself as the first-choice right back from day one and registered 2813 minutes for the Boys in Blue. Caldwell ultimately contributed 2174 minutes after beating out Kalifa Cisse, Clyde Simms and Andy Dorman to become the team’s preferred defensive midfielder. Although both players made significant impacts, Farrell and Caldwell are planning to have active off seasons to ensure they don’t endure the dreaded sophomore slump.
Farrell and Caldwell successfully made the jump to MLS, which is no easy task since the competition is better, the play is faster and the season is longer. Both rookies recognized the difficulties of going from college to the professional ranks when they talked to the media.
“It’s a lot different,” Farrell said. “Going from college season, to the draft, to this season is kind of like a full year of soccer. It kind of wears on your body a little bit. I think the rookies on our team, me and Scottie, did a pretty good job at not hitting the wall.”
“I was a little surprised [to play so many minutes],” Caldwell commented. “A little surprised but once the season got going I couldn’t be surprised anymore. I had to get involved and into the team and really put my best foot forward.”
A contributing factor to avoiding the rookie collapse was the guidance of head coach Jay Heaps. Although the former player relied heavily on young players, he tried to ensure that they were comfortable.
“I’ve always said that it’s not just getting [young players] games,” Heaps explained. “It’s getting them in a position to succeed. I felt that there was really good relationships on the field to make them succeed.”
Both Farrell and Caldwell created positive relationships with their teammates. The process was slightly easier for Caldwell, however, because he already knew the facilities, the coaching staff and several of the players. The Massachusetts native played one season with the Revolution Academy U-18 team and trained with the senior squad every summer while with Akron.
“Having previous experience with the team from summers past definitely helped me,” Caldwell enlightened. “I was able to learn a lot from the veteran guys. It definitely helped having such good teammates to help me into a role on the team and be able to play.”
Both greenhorns were happy with their first MLS campaigns and for good reason. The Revs haven’t had two rookies log over 2,000 minutes since Kevin Alston and Darrius Barnes did so in 2009, which consequently was the last time that the Revs made the playoffs.
“It was, I guess you could say, a successful rookie season,” Farrell reflected. “When I came in, I wanted to have an impact on the team and help the team make their first playoffs in a while. We did that.”
Farrell and Caldwell know that they can’t be complacent after one good year. Both players view the offseason as a time to work on their game and prepare for the upcoming season.
“Every day I come in I always try to get better,” Caldwell stated. “Right now I just have to review this season, see what I did well, what I didn’t on an overall basis and really focus in on my strengths – get those better – and then slowly improve my weaknesses.”
“I’m going to try to work on my outside back attack,” Farrell revealed. “As a center back, I didn’t really do that much in college and so that’s something I really need to improve my game on if I want to be one of the better outside backs in this league.”
Farrell finished the 2013 season in a unique situation as he stepped in goal after Matt Reis sustained an injury. Despite this, it’s unlikely that the Louisville product will be working on his goalkeeping skills.
“I always try to jump in goal when I can but Jay doesn’t usually let me,” Farrell said.
(image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
