Does size matter ?

I meant to post this a while ago but forgot.

Inter recently won at Palermo with a team that had an average height of 186cm !!!

Francesco Guidolin pointed this out at the end of the game and said that it was difficult to compete with such a powerful team.

For me its not just an aerial advantage but also comes into play when two players are competing for a ball on the floor as the bigger player can ease the other out of the way with his shoulder and gain possesion for his team.

People always talk about Henry's pace but his size is usually disregarded because he doesn't head the ball much - but look at him when he knocks the ball past a player and they both sprint for it.

If its someone like Martins, he may be unbelievably quick but a big player can try and ease him aside - you can't do this with Henry - look at the Bernabeu goal, once he is alongside Meija the Spaniard has no chance !

I'm not saying you could just assemble a big team with no regards to ability but if you have a team of monsters who can play a bit they're going to be difficult to contain.

I don't think this is the end for the small player as some players wouldn't develope the skills they have if it wasn't for their physical limitations (there's no way Pirlo would have evolved into the player he is if he'd been 6ft 2 and could run the 100m in 11secs and they'll always be a demand for players who can pass) but you often hear about players being rejected by academies in this country for being too small.

Its something that you usually associate with the English game but we have no real monsters in our national side (Italy had Buffon, Materazzi, Grosso and Toni at the WC) and Inter seem to have a big side at the moment - imagine if they fielded this XI !!!

Toldo

Maicon
Andreolli
Materazzi
Grosso

Vieira
Cambiasso
Figo
Stankovic

Cruz
Ibrahimovic


I think Otto mentioned on the old 606 board once that Alex Ferguson was a pundit for EURO '96 and was asked about the size of the German team - he said that they liked them big (ooh er !) but that wouldn't be decisive.

Of course they won the tournament thanks to a brace from Bierhoff - an abolute monster !

I think they're will always be small players on the wing's, in the hole behind the forwards and at fullback (although I think this may change) but with the midfield battle being where most games are won or lost and set-pieces being decisive in deciding tight games I think big players will become much more common place.

How important do you think it is and could we see a time when Spanish teams struggle to compete in Europe ?

Or do you think skill and nous will win out ?

How important do you think it is in today's game ?

Speed/size/strength are everything in todays game.

For shame.

It would be interesting if we could list our respective teams' 1st choice XI (not the biggest possible from the squad) and see who has the biggest average height.

Unfortunately a lot of stats are unreliable - on the BBC they have Marlon King and Darius Henderson as the same height and anyone who's seen the 2 will know that's bollocks.

There is also no way that Alec Chambelain is 188 if Mackay and Henderson are 185 - he is clearly shorter than them.

i think on avg barca has the shortest team of any of the big teams in Europe

We have a very small team.. Of the starting XI I think either Motta or Edmílson is the tallest at about 1.85 metres.

And since we won the CL last year and managed to beat Werder 3 times out of 4, I think we can agree it only matters at set pieces.

At a guess

VDS - 6'5
Evra - 5'8
Vidic - 6'3
Rio - 6'3
Neville - 5'8
Giggs - 6'
Carrick - 6'1
Scholes - 5'8
Ronaldo - 6'1
Rooney - 5'10
Saha - 6

So an average of around 6 foot, 6 foot 1.

Parks lives wrote:At a guess

VDS - 6'5
Evra - 5'8
Vidic - 6'3
Rio - 6'3
Neville - 5'8
Giggs - 6'
Carrick - 6'1
Scholes - 5'8
Ronaldo - 6'1
Rooney - 5'10
Saha - 6

So an average of around 6 foot, 6 foot 1.

European thread!!! None of this medieval foot and inch nonsense please!!!

yeah milan is also a very short team. Just really Dida/kalac, maldini that are really tall. The rest are average, and then the likes of gatty, Pippo,Brocchi, Simic are really small! Will work it all out tomorrow. Too lat enow, I can't think!

I think height does matter in a way....

@ Peirre, doesn't your teams official website have their heights???

Oleguerisntthatbad wrote:

Parks lives wrote:At a guess

VDS - 6'5
Evra - 5'8
Vidic - 6'3
Rio - 6'3
Neville - 5'8
Giggs - 6'
Carrick - 6'1
Scholes - 5'8
Ronaldo - 6'1
Rooney - 5'10
Saha - 6

So an average of around 6 foot, 6 foot 1.

European thread!!! None of this medieval foot and inch nonsense please!!!

6 foot is 180 metres, and every inch is 2.5 cms, so work it out from there.

Our team is one of(if not the) the shortest going in the premiership, and that is a major weakness for us. When the ball spends alot of time in the air we can't handle it, and we often concede from set pieces because we only have Taylor, Moore, and Ramage who can win a header. It doesn't matter so much when you play against a team like Arsenal who also play it on the ground, unfortunately it comes down to skill.

Given - 6'1
Solano - 5'8
Taylor - 6'2
Moore - 6'1
Ramage - 6'1
Milner - 5'9
Parker - 5'9
Emre - 5'7
N'Zogbia - 5'7
Dyer - 5'8
Martins - 5'7

Other possible first teamers -Owen 5'8, Duff 5'9, Sibierski 6'2, Butt 5'10.

We could certainly do with a couple of good big strong players, one in CM and one upfront. It's vital in the premiership.

Kimbo wrote:Our team is one of(if not the) the shortest going in the premiership, and that is a major weakness for us. When the ball spends alot of time in the air we can't handle it, and we often concede from set pieces because we only have Taylor, Moore, and Ramage who can win a header. It doesn't matter so much when you play against a team like Arsenal who also play it on the ground, unfortunately it comes down to skill.

Given - 6'1
Solano - 5'8
Taylor - 6'2
Moore - 6'1
Ramage - 6'1
Milner - 5'9
Parker - 5'9
Emre - 5'7
N'Zogbia - 5'7
Dyer - 5'8
Martins - 5'7

Other possible first teamers -Owen 5'8, Duff 5'9, Sibierski 6'2, Butt 5'10.

We could certainly do with a couple of good big strong players, one in CM and one upfront. It's vital in the premiership.

Kimbo - that's interesting.

One of the reasons I thought we could stay up this season is that we have a very good set piece taker in Young but to my suprise we haven't made that much of set pieces.

We did however score 3 in our 2 games against you so maybe its something Newcastle have to address.

I don't think that you necessarily need a high average height but 2 or 3 monsters could make the difference.

Sibierski scored a great header from a set piece in the cup game.


* Milanista - its hard because the heights given on websites are rubbish.

If you could see Adrian Mariappa and Tamas Priskin you would see that the difference between those 2 is a hell of a lot more than the 2 inches that ESPN would have you believe!

Yeah but he official website... they weigh, measure and sudy every inch of the players body, surely they must at least get round about a very close height

Kimbo, are your players really that short?

I think it's an obvious point but it is much harder to intimidate a team full of strong, tall, physical players. Teams like Bolton find it much easier to intimidate an Arsenal side with the likes of Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky at the heart of it than a team with Vieira, Petit etc. It's not just a matter of being dominating in the air but also not getting bullied and overawed by the physical side of the game.

My bet on the tallest starting XI of the big clubs would be Werder Bremen.

I think I remember that they had an average height of 1,88m one of the times we played them.

i think Chelsea and Liverpool have a more powerful team than Man Utd.

José Mourinho did say as a joke that he would not sign A. Cole because he was too short. but i think some mangers do want to sign strong players so they can over power teams.

If everyone is fit?

Reina - 6'2

Finnan - 6'0
Carragher - 5'10
Hyypia - 6'4 / Agger - 6'3
Riise - 6'1

Gerrard - 6'0
Alonso - 6'0
Sissoko - 6'2
Kewell - 5'10

Crouch - 6'7
Kuyt - 6'0


Doesn't seem right though. I'm sure Gerrard and Alonso are taller than Kuyt.

Sheffield gunner wrote:Kimbo, are your players really that short?

I think it's an obvious point but it is much harder to intimidate a team full of strong, tall, physical players. Teams like Bolton find it much easier to intimidate an Arsenal side with the likes of Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky at the heart of it than a team with Vieira, Petit etc. It's not just a matter of being dominating in the air but also not getting bullied and overawed by the physical side of the game.

Yes, i got them off the official site. The physical side can be a problem, certainly for Emre who after a couple of kicks just loses it, his passing turns to shit and he aften ends up losing his temper. It's the same with N'Zogbia, only to a lesser extent. With Parker and Butt it's obviously less of a problem as they both like a tackle, but ofcourse neither are very good in the air. In the summer we need Emre replacing with a Diop type player to win those high balls in the middle of the park.

According to Football Manager Database:-

Arsenal
Average Size:- 1.82
Average Defence Size:- 1.81
Average Midfield Size:- 1.80
Average Front 6 Size:- 1.81

Lehmann 1.90
Eboué 1.78
Clichy 1.81
Gallas 1.81
Touré 1.83
Hleb 1.78
Rosicky 1.75
Gilberto 1.91
Fabregas 1.76
van Persie 1.79
Henry 1.88

Chelsea
Average Size:- 1.83
Average Defence Size:- 1.81
Average Midfield Size:- 1.81
Average Front 6 Size:- 1.83

Cech 1.97
Ferreira 1.82
A. Cole 1.73
Carvalho 1.83
Terry 1.86
Makélélé 1.74
Essien 1.80
Ballack 1.89
Lampard 1.83
Drogba 1.88
Shevchenko 1.83

Liverpool
Average Size:- 1.87
Average Defence Size:- 1.85
Average Midfield Size:- 1.85
Average Front 6 Size:- 1.87

Reina 1.90
Finnan 1.78
Riise 1.85
Carragher 1.86
Hyypia 1.91
Gerrard 1.86
Kewell 1.81
Alonso 1.83
Sissoko 1.89
Crouch 2.01
Kuty 1.84

Manchester United
Average Size:- 1.82
Average Defence Size:- 1.83
Average Midfield Size:- 1.80
Average Front 6 Size:- 1.80

van der Sar 1.97
Neville 1.78
Evra 1.75
Vidic 1.88
Ferrdinand 1.89
Ronaldo 1.87
Giggs 1.81
Carrick 1.83
Scholes 1.70
Rooney 1.77
Saha 1.81

Probably better to look at the poorer teams for useful data.

So if Liverpool are the tallest, surely its shows that size doesn't matter.

WTF??? sure Puyol is not 5'6" and DInho is taller then that

http://www.eurosport.com/football/personnews_prs3824.shtml

1.78 metres, so about 5'11".

forza_rossi wrote:WTF??? sure Puyol is not 5'6" and DInho is taller then that

got it from the Barca website

Strongest XI (IMO)

Robinson - 1.91
Chimbonda - 1.80
Dawson - 1.88
King - 1.88
Lee - 1.76
Huddlestone - 1.88
Zokora - 1.83
Jenas - 1.80
Lennon - 1.65
Keane - 1.75
Berbatov - 1.88...

Average Height = 1.82cm.

Other Notables:

Defoe - 1.70
Mido - 1.90
Assou Ekotto - 1.78
Malbranque - 1.72
Murphy - 1.75
Tainio a.k.a Waft - 1.75
Davids - 1.68

So the avg heights of the big teams in England dont differ too much(Liverpool has some advantage) , interesting.

i didn't realise Davids was so small

what about average weight?

physical strength can make up for lack of technique and skill, as Chelsea's recent showings against Barça have testified.
Nevertheless, I would not say that it is a dominating factor.

I think it was Bill Shankley that said a good big'un is better than a good littl'un. And i think he's right.
Btw, is Messi a dwarf?

Size isn't everything though. I remember Birmingham coming to the Bridge last year and they were huge (only remember Liverpool being anywhere near close on average) and ended up relegated.

I think they had Melchiot, Upson, Heskey, Marin Taylor, Tebily, Julian Gray, Cunningham, Pandiani.

(+Jarosik who couldn't play)

All 6ft +