Ten years ago, being accused of kicking it to the big man up top was a grave insult. Just ask Louis van Gaal.
After a 1-1 draw between his Manchester United and Sam Allardyce’s West Ham, Big Sam picked the perfect words to get under the Dutchman’s skin, calling them ‘long-ball United’ and getting Van Gaal so rattled that he brought printed diagrams to his next press conference.
That day, 6ft Robin Van Persie was United’s tallest attacker with the 5ft 9″ Wayne Rooney and the 5ft 10″ Falcao beside him. A decade on and Van Persie, who was not a player you would describe as diminutive, would not even break the top 300 of the tallest players in the league.
For a while, short strikers were all the rage with Sergio Aguero being the gold standard amongst them. but in recent years, the 5ft 10″ No.9 has been traded for a man mountain, a trend reinforced this summer.
The top five most expensive Premier League signings this summer show evidence of the pattern emerging. Remove the 5ft 10″ Florian Wirtz and four of the top five most expensive players this summer are at least 6ft 3″.
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Hugo Ekitike is the ‘smallest’ at that height with new Liverpool strike partner Alexander Isak next at 6ft 4″. Manchester United spent £66.26m to bring all 6ft 5″ of Benjamin Sesko to Old Trafford while Newcastle swapped Isak for the 6ft 6″ Nick Woltemade.
But does this mean the return of hoofball? Probably not. While we have seen teams not afraid to get it launched, the trend would instead suggest that footballers, particularly in the usually physical Premier League, are changing.
Pep Guardiola was seen as the man who ushered in the era of the small and technically gifted player but what he utilised was a generation of Spanish, but in particular Barcelona-trained players who had been nurtured to work on their technical ability. Now, we are seeing that same technical ability being demanded across the world but not just of the smaller players.
If in the past it was accepted that for what you lose in technical ability, tall players make up for it with their aerial supremacy; now we have players like Isak who can challenge in the air but also be great with the ball on the deck. Erling Haaland is another example and perhaps one of the most representative given that he plays for the man who popularised the short passing game.
The role of a striker has also changed significantly. If in the past they were the main focal point of attack, they are now there to contribute and free up space for others as much as they are to score. The rise of goalscoring inside forwards like Mo Salah and Bukayo Saka demonstrates this.
The fact that this has happened in the Premier League should not be a surprise either as it has always been one of the most physically demanding leagues.
Football tactics and styles are cyclical, meaning you can predict that one day the preference may well be to go back to the shorter centre-forward but for now, there can be no doubt about it: the big man up top is back.
Who are the tallest players in the Premier League?
It’s not just up front where we will see some giants either, here are the top 10 tallest outfield players in the league this season:
=8. Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) – 196cm (6ft 4″)
=8. Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool) – 196cm (6ft 4″)
=8. Jonah Kusi-Asare (Fulham) – 196cm (6ft 4″)
=6. Jake O’Brien (Everton) – 197cm (6ft 5″)
=6. Tosin Adarabioyo (Chelsea) – 197cm (6ft 5″)
=3. Jair Cunha (Nottingham Forest) – 198cm (6ft 6″)
=3. Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford) – 198cm (6ft 6″)
=3. Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United) – 198cm (6ft 6″)
2. Sasa Kalajdzic (Wolves) – 200cm (6ft 6″)
1. Dan Burn (Newcastle United) – 201cm (6ft 7″)
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