Well, getting back to the topic of this thread, I actually like the idea of moving DMB into a more central midfield role. I don't understand why people think he is so great out on the wing. I think he lacks one of the most essential skills for a winger, and that is the ability to cross the ball. It's great that he has speed and all, but when he gets by his defender, out there, he is almost never able to finish it by putting in a dangerous cross. For that reason, I would even prefer Convey out wide left instead of DMB, because although he isn't as good as DMB, he is much better in that essential task, and there is not a significant dropoff in speed between the two. I think that the ability to run at defenders in the middle of the field would help him and he'd probably end up being quite the poacher as well.
And some people need to, when they see a post that overrates a US player, take a step back, realize that everybody in the world has these kinds of prejudices, and calm themselves down a little bit. No, Beasley is not as good as Henry; however, I think Henry's reputation will be just fine without people jumping to his defense whenever an American mentions him, or any other 'world-class' player in the same breath as some inferior American.
DMB actually plays a lot like Ryan Giggs did at his age. Giggs eventually improved his crossing ability. So will Beasley, probably.
I think Beasley's crossing has improved a lot this season. He's hit some very nice crosses. I think he's played quite well for the Fire this year and is a key reason why they're contending for the Supporter's Shield. He's recently gotten a couple of bum offside calls go against him because he's so freakin' fast, that the AR can't possibly believe he could get that far behind the defense and still have been onside. Had a magnificent assist a week back when he dribbled through 3 guys before dishing to Marsch for the goal. See MLSnet for the clip.
The USMNT has not played with an "A Mid" under Arena. Reyna and JOB both play deeper and do a lot of work harassing the other side when they have the ball. Their passing is usually of the table-setting variety, though occasional through passes are made. Neither really is often in a position to run at defenses on the dribble much and have too many defensive responsibilities to be in a position where they can stretch the defense with speed. Sound like DMB? The answer is NO. Unless the USMNT goes to a 3-5-2, there is very little chance of this. Even then, DMB is better on the wing where he can be extremely dangerous --either going to the byeline or cutting into the middle. Both the importance of crossing and DMB's alleged deficiencies in this this area are exagerated.
like someone said, we don't play with an A-Mid in the national team. But I think DaMarcus would be an interesting player as a central midfielder. IMHO he our best man-marker out of the midfield outside of Chris Armas. And he can obviously attack. Plus he can use the strength of his game, most notable his ability to posses the ball under pressure, to the teams best advantage. His technical skills aren't very good (as in below Reyna, JOB, Convey, Donovan, and Martino), but his instinctive skills are off the charts. He knows how to combine with other players very well and I think that also could be an advantage playing in the middle. Another positive is that this is where he can best use his accelaration. Beating people 1v1 in the middle of the field, where it REALLY hurts. The downside to this is that he might not be rugged enough to play there. At least at an international level where defenders are allowed to maul opposing midfielders to their hearts delight
I would not say that Beasley has bad technical skills. If anything they are inconsistent. One game he plays with a good first touch and beats people of the dribble effortlessly while other games he has a heavy first touch and can't beat anyone off the dribble. He will improve them more when he goes to Europe and plays in the right system (Ajax would be a perfect fit).
If we are going to compare DMB with Giggs, I would say that if DMB works really hard at it, his left foot would be as potent as Gigg's right foot.
If your going to say something like that at least give a reason. Otherwise its pretty easy to assume your saying this just because DMB is an American and Giggs is European
I would make the same statement had DMB be Brazilian and Giggs be American Samoan. If you want a reason, please watch crosses/passes delivered by DMB's left foot vs. those delivered by Gigg's right foot.