Sean Dyche’s teams are often very physical.
Everton are no different in that and they’ve become very dominant in both boxes due to the height in the squad.
Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski are both towering centre-backs whilst Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto are amongst the most physically imposing strikers in the league.
Even the attackers in behind the forward, Dwight McNeil and Abdoulaye Doucoure, are at least 6ft tall.
So, quite clearly, height is a trait Dyche looks for when assembling his squads, though, interestingly, one of his key players almost packed in football as a teenager because he was too small.
Jesper Lindstrom of Everton walks off after being substituted during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Brentford FC at Goodison Park ...
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Speaking to the Everton website, Jesper Lindstrom admitted that he considered stopping football as a teenager because he was too small.
“In Denmark, growing up, I had some difficult years because everybody around me was growing and I was just staying the same height – I was the small one,” Lindstrom explains.
“So I had to focus a lot on my technique, of course, because if it wasn’t exactly right, someone could just take the ball off me or push me away.
“When I was under-15s, I started to think if this was even for me any more because I started to not play as much.
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“I was down because I was desperate to play more but I was encouraged by my family to keep going and the coaches at Brondby were saying by under-19s I would be hitting a high level.
“Then, when I was around 18, it happened. I started growing, I was playing every game and scoring goals and moved straight up to the first team to make my professional debut.”
Lindstrom grew to be 6ft tall
Lindstrom has now grown to around 6ft tall and is one of the tallest members of Everton’s squad.
The Denmark international is a rangey midfielder and uses his attributes well, though, by his own admission, he still has a lot to prove if Everton are to take up his £18m buy option.
“They have an option and I will do everything I can for them to buy me because I like it here,” Lindstrom told Click Liverpool.
“I like the training, I like the privacy, I like the life here, so hopefully they will buy me, but I have to show them that I’m good enough for them.
“It is a lot of money so I need to make some goals and I need to make some assists and this is what I’m fighting for.”
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