Does size matter?

[Jimbo]

Carrying on from my earlier post in relation to the County trials I would be very interested to see other's comments on whether the size of a player really matters in the modern game and if any players have suffered merely because you are small. Thanks

[Guest mariner]

BLESS

[Fatso]

Being small is the least of my problems! Ha

On a serious note, managers will always have their own opinions so you have to leave it up to them as it is their job. However, a good friend of mine is quite small, but I think he is good enough to be mixing it with the boys at Truro City. I know he has personal commitments too though.

His Name is Kev Lawrence and I would be very surprised if anyone replies to say he is not a top player.

[oldasitgets]

I do remember Cloughie saying that " if he's good enough, he's big enough." He was referring to Willie Carlin who was 5' 2" and weighed 10 stones, but with whom he won the League.

But, I think that it's an excellent axiom at all levels.

(Being stuck at 5' 6" and 9 stones 3 for the last 40 years.)

[george of the jungle]

in regards to "does size matter" personally no, i think players purely use there size as an excuse to rubish defending. people using their size as an excuse not winning a header is beyond me if your good your good do you know what im saying?

[Guest thebigfella]

It depends... on the game, the opposition, the conditions and the position that player plays in.

Simply, you wouldn't want a 5ft 3in centre back would you?

Two players immediately spring to mind for me. Chris Locke at Liskeard, in my opinion, struggles at centre back due to his stature, while his teammate in central midfield, Dan Parkes, can often dominate that area and not shirk the physical stuff.

Mike Roberts at Torpoint is not exactly a man mountain, but is very effective on his day.

Personally, I think size does not matter individually, but you need to balance out the smaller players in your side with ones with slightly more physical presence. Like everything, balance is important. For example, a side with Locke, Parkes and Roberts in the side, although technically very good would, without doubt, struggle to compete... in my humble opinion!

[derek martyn]

I agrre with big fella in that you wouldn't want too many small players in one team but if you are good enough your tall enough.

Diago Maradonna was one of the best players the world has ever seen and stood only 5ft 5".

[Michael Rabone]

The best two players that I played against in the Combo last season were probably the smallest players in the league - Josh at Illogan and Rod Stewart (sorry, no idea what he is called!) at Truro.

Granted both of them were playing in the centre of midfield, but they were the perfect ally for a strong ball winner. I find it quite funny that a lot of tall players are really poor in the air!

[Follower]

Two smaller centre-halves are Sean Flynn and Steve Simmonds of Bodmin Town and they won the SWP last year. For a "small" guy, Flynny probably jumps higher than anyone, never seen anything like it

[Guest jumpers 4 goalposts]

personally i dont think size is overly important, if you position your body well when defending and have good upper body strength then there shouldnt be any reason why a smaller player cant be as good or better than someone bigger and taller than them

[Jenksy007]

i think alot of the smaller players who make professional seem to be carrying slightly more weight and have that low centre of gravity.

not in every case, just what springs to mind

[Guest cloak and dagger]

Martin Day is tiny, He's done alright for himself!!

[Tommy Matthews]

I think you mean Jamie Day and he's not so tiny as you think!

[gillo10]

Tommy, Cloak and Dagger means Martin as they used to work together.

C&D, what Dayer lacks in height he makes up for in nose :yahoo:

[Fatso]

One other thing that I would consider is what I based my dissertation on while I was at uni. The title was "Does somatotype (body shape) affect playing positions in youth football?"

The conclusions that I found were that yes it does in many cases. This was partly due to the physical demands that certain players could meet more easily than others, but mainly because teachers and parents, when interviewed, stated that it is better to play larger players in defence and smaller, quicker players up front. This then has a knock-on effect as these players learn the positions from an early age and generally consider these to be their permanent playing positions.

The only trouble with this is that the players only learn a specific skill set rather than a range of skills. This is partly why Mini-soccer has become so big, to give these players more touches on the ball and a larger skilll set.

Essay over!

[Mark Jones]

Mike Roberts at Torpoint is tiny but a very skillful player. If your skillful and good enough you can play at any level, despite being short. Zola ex Chelsea is an example.

Do people think size matters as a goalkeeper? Kevin Toy Falmouth Athletic is short but good goalkeeper.