KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jalil Anibaba came to Sporting Kansas City to provide depth at center back. Now, he's in the first-choice picture at right back while Chance Myers continues to recover from an injury.
Anibaba, plucked by Orlando City SC from Seattle in the MLS Expansion Draft and then swapped to Sporting to complete the trade of Aurelien Collin to the Lions, made his first start for SKC last weekend. He helped secure a scoreless draw against Portland – Sporting's first clean sheet of the season – and proved a pleasant surprise for manager Peter Vermes.
“He's a good defender. He's a very athletic guy. His service is much better than I thought it was, to be honest with you,” Vermes said on Thursday during the club's weekly news conference. “His service from the outside is tremendous. Tremendous. He picks players out on the dot. So from that point of view, it's great.”
And as Sporting prepared for Saturday's away match with expansion side New York City FC, Anibaba said he was ready to go again – wherever he might be needed.
“I can play anywhere on the backline,” he said. “Center back is probably where I feel the most natural, but I like playing out on the right as well. I don't think it's a matter of abilities that I can't showcase in the middle that I can showcase on the outside. I think it's just a matter of putting my best foot forward and doing what the team needs.”
Vermes prizes that sort of versatility in the players he brings in, and he's glad to see it in Anibaba as the 26-year-old continues to integrate himself into the club and Vermes' system.
“There are players sometimes that are guys who can play anywhere on the field – and when I say 'play anywhere,' I mean they can play next to the line or they can play in the middle of the park,” Vermes said. “There are some guys who are only on-the-line guys or only in-the-middle guys. What I'm noticing about [Anibaba] is that he has a lot of comfortability playing against the line.”
Rookie Amadou Dia started Sporting's first two games at right back and earned good reviews from Vermes, but the manager said the first-round MLS SuperDraft pick is not part of the current mix at that position.
“It was a temporary thing -- it was always going to be, because he's really a left back," Vermes said. "I put him into not an easy situation, and he knew that going in. I thought he handled it very, very well, and I'm impressed with the way that he's come out of it.”
Sporting, who expect Myers to come back in early June from the torn Achilles tendon that ended his 2014 season early, already have another experienced right back in Kevin Ellis. But Ellis also has experience in central defense, and with Erik Palmer-Brown on international duty with the United States U-20 team, Ellis provides a proven option in case of injury to either Matt Besler or Ike Opara.
“Kevin can play on the outside,” Vermes said. “He's done a really good job of playing in the middle. To find success in any position, you've got to play it pretty regularly and get a repetition of situations so that you get a routine in the position. Kevin's done well in the middle. He's done well on the outside. Again, that versatility is important, and Jalil has that same versatility. It just seems that he's pretty comfortable at right back.”
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Anibaba, Ellis, and everyone else know they will have to be both comfortable and consistent on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. NYCFC star David Villa, though listed as a center forward, likes to drift to their left wing and attack the opponents' right back.
“He's got a very high IQ on the field of his movement off the ball,” Vermes said of Villa, a key player in Spain's run to the 2010 World Cup title. “It's fantastic. He reads the game really well, where he needs to be. Extremely technical player, and then a fantastic finisher. You take your eyes off a guy like that for a few seconds, and he kills you.”
Sporting know all of this, Anibaba said, and he realizes that containing the Spanish DP will be key to SKC's chances of getting a result in the Bronx.
“Obviously, we all know what he can do,” he said. “We all know that he likes to sit out there on their left-hand side – our right-hand side – so I think it's just a matter of being cognizant of that and helping Ike out as much as possible. More than that, it's just a matter of being focused on the task at hand and going in and helping the team get three points.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
