FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For the most part it has been a fairly quiet offseason for the reigning Eastern Conference champion New England Revolution.
Yet as they prepared for their first training session of the preseason on Friday, they did so without the club’s Defender of the Year, center back A.J. Soares (pictured above), who is reportedly on the verge of signing a contract with Hellas Verona of Italy’s Serie A despite a bona fide contract offer from the Revs during the offseason.
On Friday, Revs head coach Jay Heaps alluded to the fact that the team is currently seeking to bring someone in at that position, but that the ultimate choice may come from within.
“A.J. Soares is obviously a difficult one to replace,” Heaps told the media. “I don’t think it’s an easy one, but that said, we feel really strongly with Andrew Farrell as a center back partnered with Jose [Goncalves]. I think the two of them could really be a strong partnership. At the same time, we’ve also opened up an active search for center backs that can also come in and help us.”
Replacing a player who started all but two regular season games at the center back position is a very tall task, especially when you’re talking about someone with the clearing ability that Soares was renowned for.
But in Farrell the club has a highly reliable option, one who played 10 matches at the position a year ago, and several more while at the University of Louisville prior to becoming the top pick in the 2013 SuperDraft.
Experience aside, Farrell has the skill and more importantly the confidence to slide over from right back and help the Revs maintain a defensive intensity that has defined much of their success in the Jay Heaps era.
“That’s a position that I played a little bit last year, and a lot in college and I feel comfortable,” Farrell said. “We’ve got to get that chemistry down if I am in the middle with Jose. When I played in the middle [last year] I played with AJ because Jose was out with injury. I think I’ll slide in and complement him well. AJ was huge in there for us last year and the past couple of years. It’s going to be a hard role to fill. I’m up for it.”
On the outside the Revs can easily fill the right back slot with both Kevin Alston and Darrius Barnes, so there is not a lot of concern there.
“This has been a process,” Heaps said. “A.J. [leaving], that one did catch us off guard, so the center back search is definitely a little bit delayed.”
Craig Forde covers the New England Revolution for MLSsoccer.com.
