Does the size of a football player really matter?

The old saying goes, it isn’t the size of the man in the fight, but the fight in the man. Although that saying can be true to some extent, it isn’t always correct when applied to sports like football. Studies have gone into football player size over the years and most clubs and academies claim size does matter. While there are always those players who succeed that don’t fit the mould, the vast majority of top professionals seem to fit a certain size criteria.

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Football player size

Goalkeeper, centre-back and striker are the three positions that we typically see tall players at. Many of these footballers are large and pack on more muscle than wingers or full-backs – although today’s wingers and full-backs are powder kegs of fury.

In 2009, the Telegraph reported that professors had studied Premier League teams and after concluding their research, believed the most successful top-flight clubs had “bigger and leaner” players than unsuccessful teams. The team of researchers found that players have got taller and leaner in recent decades as football and players have evolved.

Is it true?

Their research may have shown players are getting taller and leaner, but looking at the shortest Premier League players in 2016-17 showed success does come to smaller footballers. Chelsea’s Pedro won a Premier League trophy at just 5ft 6in. West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini has succeeded in the league and become a top transfer target to clubs at the height of 5ft 6in.

While Pedro is the most successful, it can’t be denied that shorter players like Aaron Lennon, Nathan Dyer and Ryan Fraser – who is 5ft 4in – play for clubs that aren’t competing for European qualification.

Across the pond in the United States, 5ft 3in Joao Plata plays for Real Salt Lake. The diminutive forward has played in Major League Soccer since 2011 and scored 40 goals in his time there. Plata got off to a rough start in the league before finding his niche as a speedy winger. His size and ability has played to RSL’s strengths, and the Ecuadorian has carved out a promising career. Compared to European leagues, Plata has a home in MLS, and in Central and South America, where shorter, smaller players are the norm, similarly sized footballers are succeeding. However, clubs in the Premier League and across Europe are far more concerned with height and muscle mass than in Latin America.

In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Manchester United player Jesse Lingard expressed his size held him back as a professional. Lingard is a giant compared to Pedro and Plata at 5ft 9in. Yet, the forward has had to fight critics who said he was too small and short to play top-flight football.

Players who don’t meet those preconceived desires of a coach or scout must find other ways to impress. You can’t change your physical makeup and size, but you can outplay those bigger players on the pitch. If you have the desire to succeed, then there is a way to achieve your dreams.

www.PremierFootballUK.com