Would Beasley work as a striker?

[yellowbismark]

Forgive me if this topic has been previously discussed...

Given that the US has been having a little trouble forming a solid strike partnership over the last few games and also with Bruce trying to get Convey on the field, maybe it would be an idea worth experimenting to put Beasley up top and slide Convey or Lewis into the left midfielder position (and with guys like Gaven knocking on the door...he also a left mid).

I know some people mentioned the idea of a 3-4-3 with Beasley on the left forward, but what about the usual 4-4-2 with Beasley the sole partner of the target forward (McBride or Ching)? How well would something like that work out? Is Beasley's defense more valuable than the defense of a Lewis or Convey?

For one thing, Beasley has a solid scoring instinct. He has put away some big ones for the US (vs Turkey in the Confed, at Poland, vs Grenada, etc), and he has been effective in the offense of PSV so far as a left forward. I think he has the scorer's instinct that some of our other US players have been lacking. His speed would be a handful, I don't know if his size would hurt his chances in the international game.

Right now I just don't see our strikers putting fear into anybody's hearts. Beasley is one of the best things the US team has got going right now, maybe it's worth a shot.

Plus, if you put Lewis in there, there is the benefit of better crossing which would help the target forward. I think it would be cool to see Beasley line up at forward against ES.

-------------------------Keller---------------------

---Sanneh-------Gibbs------Pope----Bocanegra--

--------------------Zavagnin------------------------

------Cherundolo---------- ---Lewis/Convey/Gaven--

----------------------Donovan-----------------------

----------McBride/Ching----------Beasley----------

[Beakmon FC]

How can anyone 'work' if they are a 'striker'?

That is right up there with the recent NY Times headline "Fake, but Accurate".

[crusio]

Nah, he's not that great of a goal scorer..

[Kevin in Louisiana]

I think his finishing would need to be better. There are a lot of good aspects to the plan, such as the fact that then we could have Lewis or Convey on the left wing, but ultimately I think it wouldn't work.

That said he's pretty good up top on CM4 ;)

[smith07]

He would but it his defense will probably be seen as too valuable to put in a two striker role

[Sanguine]

I love Beasley as a 4-3-3/4-5-1 winger, but I'm not sure his skill set really fits into a forward pairing too well. If we're going to put one of our midfielders up to, I'd rather it was Donovan.

[9 Rush]

Leave him on the wing, or perhaps in the hole - if he turns it on, he's a class act.

[mschofield]

He would but it his defense will probably be seen as too valuable to put in a two striker role
Winner. From what we've seen at PSV, I think he could handle the role. the goal he scored this weekend was a striker's goal. But, much as I'd love to see convey get a run on the wing, DMB is probably too valuable defensively.

[uniteo]

4-3-3, 4-3-3

Convey behind Beasely, Sanneh behind Donovan

Wind it up, baby.

[Fuller10]

The US Team has too many good strikers Mcbride, Ching, O'connor and donovon so it is going to be very difficult for hom to get that position.

[FireTrucker]

Hearing the story of how Henry used to be a winger, I have personally pondered myself if Beasley could make the change. He certainly shares Henry's pace. I am by no means claiming that Beasley is/will be of the same caliber of a player, Henry is truly amazing. I do think there would be a possibility of success if given a chance. However, at this point in his career I don't know if it would be worth experimenting with. It also seems that since Henry's club success has not translated to intl success that it also takes a team playing a certain style of game to take advantage of an "Henry type" striker.

[lmorin]

The US Team has too many good strikers Mcbride, Ching, O'connor and donovon so it is going to be very difficult for hom to get that position.
If you classify those guys as "good strikers", you are operating in an alternative dimension. They may suffice and get us by, but they are scarcely good. And, who is O'connor, by the way?

The US is in need of a truly good striker. Perhaps it could be Ching, but perhaps you also haven't noticed that he was not even invited to camp this time.

I'm for the Beasely experiment with Gaven on the left midfield. It can't be worse than some of the combos we seen during the last year.

[afgrijselijkheid]

politely... no

[Achtung]

Beasley hasn't shown the pure finishing skills or prowess in front of goal that would convince me he could be a striker. You've got to have a certain toughness in the box, and Beasley comes off as purely a finesse player. He's great at using his speed and making defenders look silly that way, but not so much at burying the ball and having that view to score.

As for Henry, while he may play in a more forward position for Arsenal than he did for Monaco or Juventus, but I still don't think of him as a pure striker. In Arsenal's layout, they really don't have one guy up top like that, with Henry, Bergkamp, and recently Reyes all taking turns at getting behind the defense. His "position change" was more of an adaptation to use his winger skills in a different set of tactics. Beasley could potentially find himself at such a club, but for now the combination of his skills and the US tactics means he is fine where he is.

[Adam Zebrowski]

I suspect Eddie Johnson will become the guy you want Beasely to become!!

[warmblooded]

Why would you want to take a player who's main strength is his ability to run at / past players end to end and strand him up front, where he would be battling for headers, poaching and playing with his back to the goal?

(Donovan as well.)

[Nimbus2000]

Also, it seems that the best way to stop Beasley is to make him receive the ball with his back to goal. If he were put up top, you'd want to be pretty sure that he's not going to be playing with his back to goal any closer than 40 yds out or he'd get crushed from behind. My achilles hurt just thinking about it.

If there were some way of assuring that he'd be going wing to wing and running on to to balls, there might be a situation where it would work.

In addition, he ain't much of a target in the box so it would seem to be heading in the wrong direction to move him in place of Lewis.

[GenXer]

I also suspect that EJ might be the better option here.

But, I think experimenting with Beasley up top isn't a horrible idea. I'm not sure if others realize it, but he is another guy who understands how and when to make penetrating runs behind the defense.

I also think DMB's tenacious D would also better allow the US to effectively play high pressure against a team like El Salvador that might allow the US to generate more chances. Remember the days when da Bruce first took over for the US and he played high pressure for periods of a match against teams like Mex and Germany and the US was relatively effective? I think that putting Bease up front would be a good way to 'take it to' an inferior side. It would require equally quick players behind him who would be able to help him in creating such pressure.

[EL MONO MARIO]

DMB could play up top if Lewis plays left, he has a good scoring touch DMB and we need goals so we should try him up top maybe for like the last 20 min. of a game..