English football and short players

[Bruce Wayne]

Interesting piece here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/16/the-question-spain-football-dynasty

Is England, and Everton, still prejudice in favour of big lumps when it comes to young players? Do we still favour 'athletes' rather than ball players?

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

so thats why I was overlooked.

 

[VaguelyBrown]

Possibly, but I think that might be changing now - Wilshire is only 5' 6"ish, for example (1.72m) and he's "the next big thing" in the England senior squad at the mo. I imagine we'll find out over the next few years, as the current drop of first choice players from the squad start retiring/not getting picked any more (your Lampard's, G***ard's, etc. that will be getting on a bit for the next world cup).

I guess it would also depend on the manager at the time as well, and the style he wants to play. No good telling the lads to play a fluid pass-and-move game and then picking 10 Heskey-alikes. Also no good trying to play a traditional English hoof-and-hope game without a few battering rams in the side.

 

[RFUS]

Leighton Baines is only 4'2" and he's the best player in England so times are changing I think.

 

[VaguelyBrown]

Leighton Baines is only 3'2" and he's the best player in England so times are changing I think.

Fixed it for you mate

 

[VaguelyBrown]

Amusingly, I decided to just have a look at how tall Baines actually is and have found answers ranging from 5'6" to 5'9", so for all I know Wilshire might actually be 6'2".

Stupid bloody internet lying to me, what happened to you man? You used to be cool

 

[BlueTornado]

Fixed it for you mate

its ok though because his hair is boss.

 

[TheBlueGibbon]

Interesting piece here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/16/the-question-spain-football-dynasty

Is England, and Everton, still prejudice in favour of big lumps when it comes to young players? Do we still favour 'athletes' rather than ball players?

Isn't that why we let John Paul Kissock go in the end, Moyes(?) didn't think he was tall enough or strong to compete.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Maybe. Baxter springs to mind as well.

 

[The Equaliser]

Time was when we were comprised mostly of midgets...early 90s springs to mind.

 

[DualityNSNO]

Maybe. Baxter springs to mind as well.

He got buff though. Is that a good move - I have no clue, we shall see. He doesn't seem to be a Moyes favourite, and frankly that's very important with him... even if you're really the next big thing - if he doesn't like you, you get no chance. You know, just like that Hope kid, who everyone is hyping about, but will get nothing more than the bench in the next 4 years, then when he starts getting games get shipped out of here with a free transfer or something...

 

[BlueScorpio]

I know its a while back (a long while) but
all rough heights

Big Nev 6' 1"

Mountfield 6' 1" Ratcliffe 6' 1" Stevens 5' 11" Psycho Pat 5' 11"

Bracewell 5' 8" Reid 5' 8" Richardson 5' 7" Sheedy 5' 9" Steven 5' 10"

Heath 5' 6"

Sharp 6' 1" Gray 5' 10.5"

I would be happy to have a side as small as that if they got the same result.

 

[BlueScorpio]

And to stop being an old fart, I dont think we have as big a side as some; but the smaller guys in the Premier do seem to get knocked about a lot.

 

[Jamo Martinez]

The amount of time I read someone post 'too small' with reference to a player or possible transfer target. It's rediculous

 

[Bruce Wayne]

And to stop being an old fart, I dont think we have as big a side as some; but the smaller guys in the Premier do seem to get knocked about a lot.

It's interesting to read in the Guardian article that England had the tallest squad at the recent youth World Cup. Quite telling that just this week Sergio Aguero has been compared to Romario, someone who stood just 5'7". Be nice if any of our players could get 1,000 goals in their career. I think even with Nigerian ages, young Vic might struggle to get close to that.