Andrew Farrell Recovering From "Rough Preseason"
Andrew Farrell Recovering From "Rough Preseason"
"It was a rough preseason for me. I came in feeling pretty good, then I had a hamstring problem, then came back, hurt my hamstring again, and came back and hurt my hamstring again for a third time."
It can be hard to sit on the sidelines while your teammates prepare for the start of another season but Andrew Farrell found out that sometimes it can be better to take your time when recovering from an injury.
The center back returned to training on Tuesday and will be hoping to make his 2023 debut against Nashville SC on Saturday. Farrell revealed on Tuesday that hamstring problems have kept him from playing so far this season.
“Rehabbing has been great,” the veteran said. “It was a rough preseason for me. I came in feeling pretty good, then I had a hamstring problem, then came back, hurt my hamstring again, and came back and hurt my hamstring again for a third time. So, I think I was rushing myself back and I probably should have taken a little bit more time and taken a little bit more care of that instead of such a choppy preseason for myself. But I finally took time off and the medical staff did a good job getting me back. I’m happy to be able to finally get my first week of training this week and build up my fitness to see if I can contribute whatever I can to the team.”
How long has been Farrell been out for? According to head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena, Tuesday was the first time he was on the field in about a month.
“We’ll see as we get through the week,” Arena said about the possibility of Farrell playing on Saturday. “It was [Andrew Farrell’s] first time on the field today in, I’d say, about three or four weeks. So, we’ve got to see what he looks like during the week.”
Center back was a position of intrigue during the offseason. Along with Farrell, New England boasts starting caliber center backs in Henry Kessler and Dave Romney. Farrell mentioned that the Revs needed some competition at that position.
“There’s not too much competition since I’ve been out for a really long time, but those guys [Dave Romney and Henry Kessler] have played really well so far, which I think is a good thing,” Farrell said. “It’s a position where we needed to bring in competition and needed guys to push each other. Not necessarily a good thing, but if I don’t ever get to see the field this year it will be a good thing because I’ll be pushing these guys to try to get minutes. There’s going to be time where I might be feeling a knock and I have to step in or someone else has to step in. Bringing [Dave Romney] in has been a good addition. He’s played well so far, and we all get along pretty well. There’s competition to get on the field but we’re all pretty tight and close off the field as well.”
Farrell has been a staple of the Revolution back line for quite some time. Since entering the league in 2013 as the first overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft, the 30-year-old leads all MLS players in regular season minutes (26,792), appearances (304), and starts (301).
The center back is also the Revolution’s all-time leader in MLS appearances, starts, and minutes and is the only player in club history to appear in and start 300 MLS regular season matches for the Revolution. Farrell also has been voted New England’s Defender of the Year on five separate occasions with his most recent honor coming in 2022.
“I think [Andrew Farrell] brings a charisma to the group, a lot of energy that he brings to training and to games and he’s also a leader of this team, so when you can implement another guy like that, he’s going to feel like a new player for us in this season,” said midfielder Matt Polster.
New England will be looking to rebound after a 4-0 loss to LAFC. With Farrell nearing a return to the field, Revolution fans will be hoping that will be the only time New England allows such a scoring outburst this season.