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Revolution Player of the Month, July 2013: Scott Caldwell

Ups and downs were the order of the day for the Revolution in July, despite a winning record. However, through all the inconsistency, one player shone through as a constant in the middle: Scott Caldwell.

By Steve Stoehr
USA TODAY Sports

July was a month highlighting inconsistency for the New England Revolution, and it was the month where we all first started to fear that the Revs' propensity for mid-summer collapses would ruin yet another season. They opened with a dominant win over San Jose, but then lost two straight, including a vital playoff-race clash with Houston.

Despite that, they managed to recover by earning two more victories despite poor performances over Columbus and D.C., finishing the month at a 3-2-0 record. The Crew and United victories were significant in that the Revs overcame themselves to win, something they hadn't shown an ability to do up to that point. Neither match was particularly pretty, but points are points, and that's the theme in which July's best player went about his business: Scott Caldwell.

Caldwell's rise to first-choice defensive midfielder has been explosive. With the incumbent Clyde Simms and the addition of Kalifa Cisse in the offseason, it was expected that Caldwell would be brought along slowly, and the homegrown midfielder would get his chances to strut his stuff in the coming seasons, or in garbage time. Instead, he's made 20 league appearances, 15 of them starts, including four starts and five appearances in July. While his lack of size can occasionally be detrimental against more physical teams, Caldwell has demonstrated tenacity, intelligence, and vision both on and off the ball to help keep the Revolution offensive machine going. It was his consistent, efficient midfield performances that earned him the July Player of the Month award.

Corey: He's due for a Player Of The Month Award. He's been improving every game and has really taken to the defensive midfield role fabulously. His shortcoming will continue to be his size, but he's sharp as a tack on the pitch and often 2 moves ahead of his opponents. Creative yet conservative, Caldwell is the engine of the Revolution midfield these days and there's reason to believe that he'll hold down the spot for years to come.

Abram: Farrell and Caldwell, that's two for the future, folks. The guy may just be the best kept secret currently in MLS. The only problem with Scotty is that he is not the physical specimen that we are accustomed to seeing get called in for national team duty, so we will take that as a loss for them but a win for the Revs.

Scott's Line: 5 appearances, 4 starts, 405 minutes, 0 yellow cards, 0 red cards, 87.2% passing rate, 15 points in TBM Player of the Month voting

Honorable Mention

Saer Sene, 5 points: I'm really bummed that we might not get to see him play more games with Juan Agudelo, because Sene is starting to look like the player he was last season. He's scoring goals, becoming a fairly decent two-way player out on the wing and was probably the Revs best offensive player in July. - Jake

Chris Tierney, 5 points: Quietly having his greatest season in MLS in 2013. His defensive positioning is better, his service is always improving, and I almost feel like he's reading the game better as well. With Alston still struggling on his return, it's been Tierney once again doing everything that's asked of him. - Matty

The Player of the Month is compiled by members of The Bent Musket's staff. Each writer selects his top three Revolution players for the month, who are assigned point values - three points for the #1, two for the #2, and one for the #3. Then, points are totaled and the player who received the most points in the voting is named Player of the Month. Honorable mentions go to the next two players in the voting.

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