Beyer in CM

[willsclarets]

Hear me out. Yes, he's our best defender. But I think a double pivot of Beyer and Cullen with Berge ahead gives us much more of a chance without the ball.

Beyer obviously would slot in defensively set pieces, and would help protect the back four when the opposition are countering. He's also the most comfortable defender on the ball by a country mile.

Ekdal coming back will help AD in defence so we could keep the three of them in the 11. Additionally in January, a solid cb with experience is likely easier cheaper to find than a DM.

So,

Muric/Trafford

Roberts
Ekdal
Al Dahkil
Taylor

Beyer
Cullen
Berge

Then two wingers from the many, with Foster up top.

Awful idea?

[ClaretFelix]

Yes. Awful.

Enough square pegs in round holes as it is

[CoolClaret]

ablueclaret is that you?!

[whiffa]

Don't mind it, I'd rather give Massengo a go first though - see what he's made of. Could be the next Kante

[willsclarets]

Haha, no. And to be fair I'm not usually one for suggesting things like that. But i) I think Beyer has ball playing qualities that are good enough to play in front of the back 4 and ii) I don't think we have any other central midfielders that can actually play in a 3 and give us more protection without the ball.

[willsclarets]

Don't mind it, I'd rather give Massengo a go first though - see what he's made of. Could be the next Kante

Yeah I'd agree tbh and said as much on a few threads. He's a little pest and great winning second balls. But I kinda dismissed it based on the fact Kompany doesn't think he's ready for whatever reason

[willsclarets]

Yes. Awful.

Enough square pegs in round holes as it is

Don't know about that. Just looks like we have holes with no pegs to me!

[Burnley1989]

No, this isn't championship manager 2002

We have very good players struggling, there's no way Beyer is anywhere near good enough to play the hardest role in the Prem (IMO)

[bumba]

If anything I'd play him right back like he did in Germany with Ekdal and Delcroix centre half to give us more height

[Pickles]

Beyer centre midfield.
Trippier right wing.
Tarkowski centre midfield.
Branch centre half... oh wait.

[Florian]

What goes thru peoples heads

[willsclarets]

We disagree on that I guess. To me he's got far more qualities as a holding midfielder than either Brownhill or Berge. Also was 2002 a particularly productive year for moving defenders into midfield on champ manager, I don't remember that!

[willsclarets]

You guys are so angry it's hilarious

[willsclarets]

Beyer centre midfield.
Trippier right wing.
Tarkowski centre midfield.
Branch centre half... oh wait.

Trippier could have easily played RM in his younger days at a high level. Beyer is a better footballer on the deck than Tarkowski. Branch is completely irrelevant at this level no?

[Burnley1989]

Beyer centre midfield.
Trippier right wing.
Tarkowski centre midfield.
Branch centre half... oh wait.

Edgar in CM was a big favourite of mine or Bikey

[spt_claret]

I suggested this in the summer when I thought Al Dakhil could instantly step up and we hadn't signed Berge or Massengo yet.
Right now, no. I agree that he has all the attributes plus his bombing runs would expose us less if they go wrong, but we don't have a CB good enough to take his place alongside Ekdal, and quite frankly there's no point in signing Massengo for that position if we'd convert a CB ahead of playing him.

[CoolClaret]

Edgar in CM was a big favourite of mine or Bikey

Bikey goal at home against Birmingham was absolutely magical.

‘Liquid football’ - as Partridge would say…

Here it is infact:

https://youtu.be/JOXRZ9HLSKI?si=FNT4842BuPZmKzXw

[Carwin261]

Hear me out. Yes, he's our best defender. But I think a double pivot of Beyer and Cullen with Berge ahead gives us much more of a chance without the ball.

Beyer obviously would slot in defensively set pieces, and would help protect the back four when the opposition are countering. He's also the most comfortable defender on the ball by a country mile.

Ekdal coming back will help AD in defence so we could keep the three of them in the 11. Additionally in January, a solid cb with experience is likely easier cheaper to find than a DM.

So,

Muric/Trafford
A good idea as we’re running out of option of how to get some steel in the side,desperate times needs desperate measures,anyone who is above 5’10” and weighs more than 10 stone is worth a punt.
Roberts
Ekdal
Al Dahkil
Taylor

Beyer
Cullen
Berge

Then two wingers from the many, with Foster up top.

Awful idea?

[CrosspoolClarets]

Our system badly needs 2 right footed defenders and 2 left footed defenders or they end up cutting back inside. So whilst CDM isn’t the answer I’m not sure Beyer is in the right position now either.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

I think we should try Muric up front as well.

[jrgbfc]

We're bad enough at the back without moving our best centre back to play somewhere else.

[warksclaret]

Hear me out. Yes, he's our best defender. But I think a double pivot of Beyer and Cullen with Berge ahead gives us much more of a chance without the ball.

Beyer obviously would slot in defensively set pieces, and would help protect the back four when the opposition are countering. He's also the most comfortable defender on the ball by a country mile.

Ekdal coming back will help AD in defence so we could keep the three of them in the 11. Additionally in January, a solid cb with experience is likely easier cheaper to find than a DM.

So,

Muric/Trafford

Roberts
Ekdal
Al Dahkil
Taylor

Beyer
Cullen
Berge

Then two wingers from the many, with Foster up top.

Awful idea?

Wills -its not the worst idea on here.Sometimes managers need to think "outside the box". Dont know if it would work but
Martin Dobson-started as a striker.Possibly the best midfielder I have seen in a Burnley shirt
Peter Noble-signed as a striker-one of the best attacking fullbacks I have seen at Burnley
Geoff Nulty-joined as a striker and became a brilliant midfielder and also central defender
Stephen Ward-once a striker , but became one of our best left backs
Graham Alexander-signed as a full back-became a brilliant holding midfielder under Cotterll and Coyle
Sammy Todd-joined as a CH-became a good midfielder for club and country
Gareth Taylor a great striker and leader of the line played CH for Forest

Thats just a few Burnley players. Theres numerous more in football

[Goobs]

I would only be open to Beyer playing in CDM with Cullen if it was in front of a back 3 of O'Shea, Ekdal and Taylor. Al Dak needs a break he is getting pummeled at the moment.

something like this:

Muric
O'Shea Ekdal Taylor
Beyer Cullen
Wilson Berge Tresor
Amdouni
Foster

Obviously any of Those 4 behind Foster could easily be interchanged with others and Beyer could drop into the back 3 to make a traditional back 4 when needed.

[Carwin261]

Wills -its not the worst idea on here.Sometimes managers need to think "outside the box". Dont know if it would work but
Martin Dobson-started as a striker.Possibly the best midfielder I have seen in a Burnley shirt
Peter Noble-signed as a striker-one of the best attacking fullbacks I have seen at Burnley
Geoff Nulty-joined as a striker and became a brilliant midfielder and also central defender
Stephen Ward-once a striker , but became one of our best left backs
Graham Alexander-signed as a full back-became a brilliant holding midfielder under Cotterll and Coyle
Sammy Todd-joined as a CH-became a good midfielder for club and country
Gareth Taylor a great striker and leader of the line played CH for Forest

Thats just a few Burnley players. Theres numerous more in football

Not sure if your right about Sammy when playing for us ,not sure about NI though ,he was a CH for us but I think it was his debut against Spurs and he played LB ( we won 7-2 ) Jennings was in goal ,and I thought he then continued playing FB for us.

[dougcollins]

We're bad enough at the back without moving our best centre back to play somewhere else.

Yep, that's it.

[ElectroClaret]

Actually, I'd love to have him playing anywhere at the moment, cos we're so awful.

In almost every position.

[helmclaret]

No!

You play your best players in their best position.

[dandeclaret]

Technically capable? Maybe, although no vote of him taking the ball on the half turn in tight areas.

Pace capable? Uncertain

Fitness capable? Cramps up in most games when playing centre half…. Must be a concern

Positionally capable? Unsure, appears to like seeing the game in front of him and to move into it. Unsure he’d fit all of the movements needed in midfield.

Team balance impact…. Moving one of your best players in the spine to fill another hole in the spine of your team doesn’t feel optimal.

[willsclarets]

Technically capable? Maybe, although no vote of him taking the ball on the half turn in tight areas.

Pace capable? Uncertain

Fitness capable? Cramps up in most games when playing centre half…. Must be a concern

Positionally capable? Unsure, appears to like seeing the game in front of him and to move into it. Unsure he’d fit all of the movements needed in midfield.

Team balance impact…. Moving one of your best players in the spine to fill another hole in the spine of your team doesn’t feel optimal.

All fair points. I'm not convinced myself but we desperately need some defensive know how in front of the back four, and putting him there allows ekdal and AD to slot in a cb. As noted above Massengo hopefully gets a go, he's the only one with the right profile. I just don't see regardless of who is in defence, how we stop leaking goals in transition with Cullen and Berge (even + brownhill in there) with 2 or 3 out and out attacking players ahead of them. A prime kante would have a tough job in Cullens role just now

[jlup1980]

I thought about this over the summer and actually wondered whether it was VK's long term plan after signing so many CB's. The problem is he's clearly our best CB so we can't afford to move him. I think he has the ability though - similar to John Stones at City. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury to experiment with things like this.

[claretspice]

I think we just play our best centre back at centre half and make a virtue out of that strength, personally.

We've missed him at centre half whilst he's been injured.

[claretonthecoast1882]

I am amazed we haven't had the suggestion of Muric in midfield so far

[DCWat]

I am amazed we haven't had the suggestion of Muric in midfield so far

Must be someone on that whopper of a thread!

[Anonymous Claret]

It is not impossible that Beyer may be able to play centre mid and be very effective, when you think of Kompany coming to City as a midfielder or Mee moving from left back to centre back or Alexander from right back to DCM.
But as already mentioned by other posters he is our best central defender IMO and that is where he needs to play when fit.

[ecc]

Sorry but the chap is putting forward suggestions at a time when clearly our manager and his staff must be spending most of their time thinking about these issues.

Not sure it's willsclarets' idea but I recall SD bringing Tarky on very regularly in 2016/17 to play in front of the defence and it worked pretty well.

However, Beyer for me has to play CB because he's the one player capable of being a leader (apart from Jack).

[claretcarrot93]

I am amazed we haven't had the suggestion of Muric in midfield so far

I am actually game for that.

[Fretters]

Wills -its not the worst idea on here.Sometimes managers need to think "outside the box". Dont know if it would work but
Martin Dobson-started as a striker.Possibly the best midfielder I have seen in a Burnley shirt
Peter Noble-signed as a striker-one of the best attacking fullbacks I have seen at Burnley
Geoff Nulty-joined as a striker and became a brilliant midfielder and also central defender
Stephen Ward-once a striker , but became one of our best left backs
Graham Alexander-signed as a full back-became a brilliant holding midfielder under Cotterll and Coyle
Sammy Todd-joined as a CH-became a good midfielder for club and country
Gareth Taylor a great striker and leader of the line played CH for Forest

Thats just a few Burnley players. Theres numerous more in football

Good list. Andy Gray too, used to be a CM but was our top striker for a while.

[Rileybobs]

How can we simultaneously weaken our defence and midfield in the most efficient way possible…

[ClaretTony]

Beyer into midfield seems as daft as when Coyle moved Bikey there.

It seems we all think he’s our best central defender but he’s concerned me more than once this season and he looks another to me who has struggled to date to step up. I do like Ekdal, other than his lack of pace, but he wasn’t in Kompany’s team before the injury.

[Clive 1960]

It's obvious that Beyer had fitness issues before he came to Burnley but we spent good money on him and we rushed him back last week and he came of near the end and didn't look happy, just hope we can get him fit , but maybe we are going to have to wrap him in cotton wool.

[FeedTheArf]

Talk of moving Beyer into midfield always reminds me of Tarky. How desperate we are for a player like him right now!

[dougcollins]

I often wonder if it's just Burnley fans who are intent on moving players out of their specialised positions, or if it happens on other teams' messageboards also?

[Westleigh]

Good list. Andy Gray too, used to be a CM but was our top striker for a while.

Don’t forget Colin Blant who turned from being CH to CF and Les Latcham being a left winger ,and turned into a LB after marking George Best.

[Vincent'sCap]

Beyer needs to brush up on his defending duties before you try him in midfield.

[boatshed bill]

Talk of moving Beyer into midfield always reminds me of Tarky. How desperate we are for a player like him right now!

What, in centre midfield?

[willsclarets]

For one, I've literally never suggested moving a player out of position before on this board.
2. It's naff all like moving Andre Bikey into midfield, or Edgar who are both about half the player on the ball Jordan Beyer is. Same to a lesser extent with Tarky.
3. I personally don't think it particularly weakens our defence and our midfield, IF Ekdal and AD are playing CB as a pair as I mentioned. Without Ekdal I wouldn't try it.
4. Our midfield is far too attacking in its outlook, and Cullen is completely isolated.
5. I would prefer Massengo to get a go but he's clearly not getting a look in.

Some "hilarious" snide comments and some fair criticisms of the idea, which I was never completely convinced of myself but thought warranted a discussion. But some posters just get a semi thinking "ooooh a chance to just berate someone without actually engaging.