The Athletic FC: Tall vs technical debate, MLS salaries revealed, Mourinho vs United fallout

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Hello! We’re here to shatter your excuses. Today we’re looking at why height doesn’t matter as much as you think in football.

Coming up:

⬆️ Tall vs technical players

🧤 Mourinho, United, superb Onana

💰 MLS’ top earners

🏆 Our Ballon d’Or votes are in

Tall tales: How relevant is height in football?

Let’s start with a simple fact. Players in the Premier League are getting taller. According to researchers in 2019, who have studied heights in England’s top division since 1973, there has been a 1.23cm rise every decade.

However, Liam Tharme (around 5ft 8in, including frosted tips) argues this oversimplifies matters. Football is not like basketball, rowing and volleyball, in which height directly correlates with success — those researchers found there was no link with team performance.

When data provider StatsBomb created a metric for measuring aerial performance relative to height — excellently named ‘HOPS’ — it found that each extra centimetre of height only improved aerial ability by 0.7 per cent. Buying big guys doesn’t guarantee aerial success.

Another drawback for taller players is the impact their build has on refereeing decisions. Academics have discovered a ‘Napoleon complex’ — that referees are more likely to whistle when players are bigger than them. The likelihood of a foul being called rises by almost 10 per cent.

Short story

Now, let’s take a look at some individual awards. The first 59 winners of the men’s Ballon d’Or had an average height of 5ft 10in (178cm), about the average height of a U.S. male. Lionel Messi, 5ft 7in, who was given treatment for a growth hormone deficiency as a child, has won the trophy eight times, more than anyone else.

Generally, there has been an individual award bias towards attackers, who are more likely to be smaller technicians, where being close to the ground aids close control and agility. In recent years, the rise of possession and positional play, emphasising high man-to-man pressing, means these players are even more useful.

This is one reason recent title-winning teams are also some of the shortest in their respective divisions. All five champions in Europe’s top five leagues were under their league’s average height — Manchester City, for example, ranked 19th in the Premier League (above).

No middle ground?

Fine, Liam, fine. But if shorter players are supposedly so brilliant, why is the average height growing?

His explanation is that better teams are becoming more balanced in all areas — and that includes height. They both hoover up bigger players to give them advantages in duels in each box — but can also sign some of the best technicians. Think of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who line up with Erling Haaland (6ft 4in) alongside Phil Foden (5ft 7in) and Bernardo Silva (5ft 8in).

Effectively, football is becoming more extreme. Across Europe’s top four leagues (we’re not including France now), minutes for players in the middle ground, measuring between 5ft 8in and 6ft, have trended down.

Football is finding its ideal body type — and it appears to have diverged in two directions.

News round-up

Euro Zone: Onana saving face

It was Jose Mourinho, in Turkey, against his former employers, Manchester United, who were in a slump. This was always going to lead to some shenanigans. It started before kick-off, with Erik ten Hag  selecting a right-back at No 10 as the sense of limbo at the club continues.

The game ended 1-1, but will possibly be best remembered for Andre Onana’s double save (above) — stopping two close-range headers with each hand. That was, at least, until Mourinho was sent off for his reaction to a non-penalty award — he ended the night by insisting he is “ready to go” for a Premier League return. Never change, Jose.

‘We thought we had Neymar on the wing’

James Maddison’s review of Spurs’ latest starlet seemed hyperbolic, but initial impressions of 17-year-old winger Mikey Moore — seen above beating four players last night to create a chance (which came to nothing) — suggest at least some excitement is justifiable.

“From minute 45 to 65, we thought we had Neymar on the left wing,” Maddison told TNT Sports, like a proud uncle. Moore helped his side to a 1-0 win over 10-man AZ Alkmaar, with Richarlison scoring the winner.

Chelsea’s charge to a cup?

Among their Conference League competitors, Chelsea stand alone. Their squad value is almost four times higher than second place Fiorentina, while their wage bill dwarfs many of the other teams combined. They cruised to a 4-1 away win over Greek side Panathinaikos — so is the only thing that can stop them complacency?

Show viz

Speaking of Messi — unsurprisingly, he remains the highest-paid player in MLS, with $20.4million of guaranteed money, ahead of Lorenzo Insigne and Sergio Busquets.

The MLS Players Association has released its latest batch of 2024 salary information and some of the data is fascinating.

For example, Messi’s Inter Miami are spending roughly four times the guaranteed compensation of the lowest spending team — $41,708,280 to CF Montreal’s $11,438,409.

My favourite stat? Money doesn’t pay — of the 10 lowest salary spenders, seven made the postseason.

Quiz question

Here we go with Friday’s teaser:

Excluding games involving any of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, which are the five most-played Premier League fixtures?

As ever, the answer will be revealed here later today and in Monday’s TAFC.

Around The Athletic FC

• Feedback loop: We asked thousands of subscribers who should win the Ballon d’Or and despite Vinicius Junior’s big night on Tuesday, 62 per cent voted for Manchester City midfielder Rodri. Shout out for whoever suggested Iain Dowie in the ‘other options’ though.
• Another City-related fact doing the rounds is their assertion that they are 26 games ‘unbeaten’ in the Champions League — ignoring a penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid last season. Surely, City have enough existing clout without claiming this — Steve Madeley rails against the injustice. And speaking of City, should you triple captain Haaland in FPL this week?
• Tim Spiers’ Row Z column looks at the quirkier side of football and today, he analyses Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil’s belief that referees favour bigger clubs. “If I had to upset someone in a street and there was a little guy and a big guy, I’m upsetting a little guy,” he said. “Nothing against little guys.” Well, sorry Gary, but if you’d read today’s The Athletic FC, you’d know bigger guys don’t always get the benefits.
• Most clicked from yesterday: Sam Lee’s explanation on why City’s defenders were walking back towards their goal with the ball against Sparta Prague.

Catch a match

(Selected matches)

Friday — Premier League: Leicester City vs Nottingham Forest, 3pm/8pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports; MLS: Inter Miami vs Atlanta United, 8.30pm/1.30am — Apple TV.

Saturday — Premier League: Everton vs Fulham, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Fubo/Peacock Premium; La Liga: Las Palmas vs Girona, 12.30pm/5.30pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Player; Real Madrid vs Barcelona, 3pm/8pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports. MLS Cup: LA Galaxy vs Colorado Rapids, 11pm/3am — Apple TV.

Sunday — Premier League: Chelsea vs Newcastle United, 10am/2pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports; Arsenal vs Liverpool, 12.30pm/4.30pm — Peacock Premium/Sky Sports; Serie A: Inter Milan vs Juventus, 1pm/5pm — Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; MLS Cup: Orlando City vs Charlotte, 7.30pm/11.30pm — Apple TV; LAFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps, 9.45pm/1.45am — Apple TV.

(Top Photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)