Arsenal’s Ismeal Kabia found himself in a new position for Shrewsbury Town at the weekend, despite never having played it in his previous 33 games for the club.
Arsenal loanee Ismeal Kabia has been a regular starter for Shrewsbury Town all season, and before last weekend he’d played a number of different positions over his first 33 games for the club.
Joining Shrewsbury as a winger, Kabia had unsurprisingly made plenty of appearances in forward areas, either as a right-winger, an attacking midfielder, or even sometimes as a centre-forward.
But the 20-year-old had primarily been used as a right-midfielder or right-wing-back, with Shrewsbury often utilising a three-at-the-back system and Kabia covering the right flank.
Even so, Kabia had never played as a fully-fledged right-back until Saturday, with Shrewsbury opting for a proper five-at-the-back away to Chesterfield. The Arsenal loanee found himself on the right-hand side of that defensive lineup.
It’s not a position Kabia ever played for the Arsenal academy, at least not in the older age groups. The Gunners’ u18s, u19s, and u21s exclusively used the youngster as a left or right-midfielder or winger. They never used him centrally, and never in defence.
But there are some reasons why you might want to use Kabia in that role. His pace is the main positive, as he’s more than capable of catching any opposition winger, or of making an effective overlapping run. His experience on the wings means he’ll always be a threat going forward.
The game mostly went pretty well, with Kabia making eight defensive contributions including three interceptions and a blocked shot, as well as creating a couple of chances at the other end.
Shrewsbury did concede twice, but the first goal came from the opposite flank, and the second was a direct free-kick. There wasn’t much Kabia could do in either case.
Kabia’s team scored three goals of their own to secure the three points, netting the winner in the 93rd minute. It’s not impossible head coach Gavin Cowan might now choose to continue utilising the same system in Shrewsbury’s upcoming games.