Farrell keeps fit with home ‘conditioning’
Former No. 1 pick has been key cog in defense since ‘13
New England Revolution defender Andrew Farrell practices “soccer conditioning” on a limited scale waiting for Major League Soccer to reboot the 2020 season.
MLS shut down its silver anniversary campaign on March 12 in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and optimistically hopes to resume play on May 10.
In the meantime, Farrell trains in his Louisville, Kentucky, home adhering to the Revolution’s designed workout plan with a few wrinkles of his own while social distancing.
Farrell knows it is an imperfect regimen, but he is intent on making the best of the ways and means available during a nationwide crisis.
“I go on long runs, I do core and I do yoga and I do gym workouts, all of that,” said Farrell. “I have an (exercise) bike in the garage, I have free weights and a bench and I do a lot of jump rope.
“I have a lot of stuff doing my workouts there in the garage and with runs outside.”
Farrell is equally concerned about sustaining his formidable soccer skills, which are better developed and fine-tuned in a structured practice with a full complement of players running about.
“I’m working on my skills, I’m working on my ball skills and touching that up and doing certain things,” said Farrell. “It’s hard to replicate what we do in practice every week.
“You can do some things every day that can keep you active to keep that fitness. But you can’t get back that fitness that we just had two or three weeks ago. “
The 7-ups
Farrell arrived in Foxboro in 90minute game shape and anxious to begin his eighth season in red, white and blue. In his first full year in charge, sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena made significant personnel alterations in the offseason resulting in early chemistry concerns.
The Revs were 0-1-1 when MLS pulled the plug. Farrell maintained a full-time presence in every game and believed the Revolution was on the verge of an upswing when the country literally went viral.
“I think we got a lot in in the first five (preseason) games and we had a lot of things to work on and we had a lot of new players that we signed,” said Farrell.
“I think in those first seven games we were adding to what we built last season and we were kind of getting going. I think it was sad we had to stop but we all know we have to take this thing very seriously.”
Revs ironman
Before the season was suspended, Farrell was enhancing his reputation as the league’s Ironman. Farrell leads all active MLS outfield players with 19,511 minutes played and 219 starts.
Since joining the club as the first overall pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, Farrell has appeared in 221 of 240 regular seasons games. Farrell — who turned 28 on Thursday — is fourth on the Revs’ list for career minutes played behind defender Jay Heaps, keeper Matt Reis and dynamic midfielder Shalrie Joseph.
“The best thing you can do for your career is staying fit and it’s something that I take pride in that I’ve always been healthy and able to compete and do what I love,” said Farrell.
“I find different ways to stay healthy and stretching and yoga. You have to invest in your body and how well you do that effects how you perform and stuff like that.”
Bilingual educator
Farrell was born in Louisville, but as the son of foreign missionaries, he was educated from kindergarten to early high school in Peru.
His fluency in Spanish has been a tremendous asset to the Revolution, which fills its roster with players from Spain and Central and South America.
Farrell not only keeps the lines of communication flowing in two tongues, he helps the newbies get acclimated to their new surroundings.
“It definitely helps them integrate,” said Farrell. “We had a couple of guys come in with limited
English, had a couple of guys that came in two years ago that didn’t speak any English.
“But translating in the game and in practice I can communicate with those guys and have them get accustomed to it. The big thing is when you come to a new country, it is hard to live your life when you don’t speak the language.”
In the middle
The 2019 season was a transitional period for Farrell on a number of fronts. He played center back for three collegiate seasons at
Louisville before making the jump to MLS.
Farrell was converted to right back his rookie season and remained there for six campaigns, that included a trip to the MLS AllStar Game in 2016.
Farrell was part of Arena’s restructuring when he was shifted to center back alongside Antonio Delamea and remained there for the rest of the season.
“I’ve always played both but when Bruce Arena came in last year he likes me playing there,” said Farrell.