Overloaded Left moving Right?

[Fajkus Rules]

Without moving any of the following to left back, and assuming all are healthy, I say we are overloaded with world class players at left mid, and could use 1 of them on the right. Are any of them more two-footed than strongly left-footed? My impression is that Beasley may be more two-footed, but Lewis is strongly left-footed. What about the others?

Damarcus Beasley
John O'Brien
Eddie Lewis
Bobby Convey
Justin Mapp

[scaryice]

I don't think Justin Mapp qualifies as world class. Beasley should play on the right, he played there for PSV a lot.

[ayers]

Wouldn't the premise of the thread be that these LMs can be better on the right midfield than the current RMs the US has? If they cannot beat out the RMs, what's the point of moving them there?

But I'll bite anyway.....

IIRC, Lewis and Convey are both very left-footed. Convey seems to have developed his right foot over the past year. They are also good crossers of the ball and are more traditional wingers. (Convey can also play in the middle. But I don't see him displace Reyan/Donovan/JOB.)

Beasley's style would make him more suitable of a move to the right midfield since he likes to cut inside and doesn't rely as much on crossing. I like him on the left, though.

Havn't seen Mapp's play for Chicago much, but I remember he displaced a right-footed Quaranta in U-20 to play RM a couple of years ago. However, Q was coming back from a very bad injury. I am not sure if the Mapp today has an edge over the Quaranta today at right midfield. And I don't know if he's world class.

As a matter of fact, I don't know whether or not any of the guys is world class, 'cos, for me, world class is the Zidanes and Maradonas. Or at the very least a regular starter in a good league over an extended period of time (which is quite a few steps down from the Maradona level). Beasley is getting there. Lewis had the chance. Convey is working his way up to (hopefully) get there someday. And Mapp is wandering around.

[rgli13]

bah, just leave the right open. play beas on the left, reyna and job in the middle, landon in front of them and tell dolo to run up there every now and then.

hed get as many quality crosses in as ralston does in a whole game over there.

[macheath]

bah, just leave the right open. play beas on the left, reyna and job in the middle, landon in front of them and tell dolo to run up there every now and then.

hed get as many quality crosses in as ralston does in a whole game over there.

If Dolo stays healthy, this may be the best option, with Reyna and Donovan switching out to the right every now and then. Quaranta was totally out of it last night, zero service to the forwards.

[BigKris]

I doubt JOB is going to be a left-sided player for the US - he'll be used centrally.

Another possibility is to go to more of a 3-4-3, which allows us to get two of these guys on the field on the left flank: DFB top-left and Lewis or Convey behind him at left mid. DFB obviously is familar with the formation and his position in it, but I don't know how well Lewis or Convey could adapt.

[Fajkus Rules]

I don't think Justin Mapp qualifies as world class. Beasley should play on the right, he played there for PSV a lot.

Justin might be world class offensively (no puns), but the rest of his game is not yet there.

I'm glad to hear that DMB played on the right quite a bit. I like the idea of letting him roam to either side, and opening up a starting spot for Lewis or Convey over Quaranta or Ralston.

[Fajkus Rules]

Wouldn't the premise of the thread be that these LMs can be better on the right midfield than the current RMs the US has?

As a matter of fact, I don't know whether or not any of the guys is world class, 'cos, for me, world class is the Zidanes and Maradonas. Or at the very least a regular starter in a good league over an extended period of time (which is quite a few steps down from the Maradona level). Beasley is getting there. Lewis had the chance. Convey is working his way up to (hopefully) get there someday. And Mapp is wandering around.

Yes, your premise is correct, but I wrote the title quick at something A.M.

World class to me means that they are competitive and effective in one of the top international leagues. World All-Star is the Maradona or Zidane level to me.

[Stan Collins]

I use the term 'international caliber' for that. I'm not even sure Mapp would quite qualify there, but he's pretty good for our fourth best left wing. (I'm not counting O'Brien because I agree with BigKris. He's left-footed and can cross well enough, but he probably doesn't have the wheels for that spot anymore, and he has the decision-making ability to carry off playing centrally.)

I agree that Beasley would make the easiest convert to the right (and Lewis the hardest, because he's the most completely left-footed of the bunch, and his offensive bread and butter is crossing). That said, it remains to be seen if he's better than the RM choices. Also, as one of the other numberous "what do we do about a RM? threads pointed out, you're now playing one of your most dynamic attackers out of position, and that might hurt your offense even if he's still better than the natural righties.