KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This isn't the Benny Feilhaber people are used to seeing. Then again, it's also not the Benny Feilhaber he's used to being.
After spending the first decade of his club and international careers as a playmaker and a threat to score from distance – roles in which he excelled to help the United States win the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and during Sporting Kansas City's run to the 2013 MLS Cup title – Sporting's No. 10 has found himself in more of a holding role this year.
And while he still hopes to be a factor in the attacking third, the veteran midfielder has embraced the broader duties given him by manager Peter Vermes going into this season.
“I thought it was the best thing for the team at the time,” Feilhaber told reporters on Thursday, during the club's weekly news conference. “I was thinking very similarly to Peter. I think the way we play, we need someone in that holding spot. We had Uri [Rosell] at one time, but since then we haven't had anyone like Uri. He really did a lot to start our attack. As soon as we got the ball back, we could rely on him to get out of a little bit of trouble, little bit of pressure and then open up space.”
So there's still a distributor's role in the job description – just one from farther back, where a mistake could be more costly – to go along with the job of breaking up opposing possessions, another strength of Rosell's game before he was sold in mid-2014 to Sporting Clube de Portugal.
“I feel pretty comfortable,” Feilhaber said. “Obviously, there are some things I have to learn, especially defensively: where I've got to position myself, how I've got to help the backline when balls fall in certain parts of the field. And that's a learning process for me.
“But I feel comfortable in the position that I'm playing, and look to improve in each and every practice and each and every game.”
Sporting opened the season in a 4-5-1 (that quickly became a 4-4-2) against the New York Red Bulls and then went back to their usual 4-3-3 for last weekend's 3-1 away loss to FC Dallas. In that first match, Feilhaber played as a defensive midfielder – and had to drop even deeper into defense when center back Matt Besler was sent off with his second yellow in the 70th minute.
Late in the Red Bulls match, Vermes shifted him forward, and Feilhaber created several solid chances that went for nought in a 1-1 draw. But with Vermes having said on several occasions that he hopes to move away from the 4-3-3 this year, Feilhaber is keeping himself prepared to play that holding spot.
Vermes has not said how he will set up for Saturday's home match against Portland (8:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE), and Sporting have others who can play the d-mid role, including new arrivals Servando Carrasco and Haitian international Soni Mustivar. But for now, Feilhaber is the most experienced option and the one most familiar with the rest of the squad.
“If you ask me, I'd love to – with a little more confidence and understanding of the position – to find those moments in the game where I can drift a little bit farther up and have Roger [Espinoza] and Naga [Paulo Nagamura] help me a little bit defensively,” Feilhaber said. “I think that's another thing that's going to take time and understanding and reading the game.
“I need to feel very comfortable with my position first, but it's something that if you look at players who play that position but are also considered creative players, they can do both,” he added. “I hope that I can kind of evolve in that sense, to have a say as well on the offensive side of things.”
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In the meantime, Feilhaber said, he has to keep his defensive duties as the top priority – even if his natural inclination is to drift forward.
“I've almost forced myself to not allow myself to do that,” he said. “I always have that not in the back of my head but right in the front where I'm telling myself, 'I can't get pushed up too far because I'm literally the last guy in that midfield line.'”
The opportunities to score will come no matter where Feilhaber is on the pitch, Vermes told reporters on Tuesday.
“I thought in both games so far, we've created quite a few chances,” Vermes said. “Quite a few. We've been in and around the other teams' box really, really well, around the goal. They've been real chances, not just serving the ball in the box.”
Still, Vermes acknowledged Feilhaber's ability to play multiple roles and how it has developed through his first two years with the club.
“He has qualities in the defensive midfield. When we have the ball, he has qualities as a No. 10,” Vermes said on Thursday. “I think one of the things that he's gained over time is that he's become a much better defensive player. That continues to push his versatility along.”
And, he said, defense has become a key part of a playmaker's duties as well.
“That's been over time,” he said. “The game has become much more athletic. It's faster. It's become much more of an explosive game. That means all the guys on the team have to be able to participate in a defensive role. If they're not, then that guy's a liability.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
