Xavi Hernandez at Wembley
Stories are legendary of young players being told they are too small to make it as professional footballers and in the case of the Republic of Ireland recent examples include Matt Holland, who was rejected by Arsenal, and went on to join the West Ham Academy in 1992. In his time George Best was also told he was too small and lightweight to make the grade. Thankfully the records and footage show us that he more than proved those experts wrong over the years.
In the case of Lionel Messi the story is similar only to the point that it was a growth hormone deficiency that was the problem given his skill had been identified from the time he started playing for his Father at the age of 5. That fruition of that talent however has created a headache across the modern game with the natural order now clearly challenged leaving most managers scratching their heads in sun kissed paradisos this summer, wondering how three five foot seven players could prove such vital cogs in team currently considered as the best ever in the game.
Or at last one of them, in deference to the Dutch Clockwork Orange side of the 1970’s, the Brazilian team of 1970 and a few others.
Foremost on the minds of Arsene Wenger, Roberto Mancini, Kenny Dalglish, Jupp Heynckes, and Jose Mourinho, will be that up to last Saturday most clubs were signing taller players than five foot seven, who were strong and athletic in the air. This combined with speed was viewed as the modern type player with the six foot four centre forward, Andy Carroll, now the most expensive player in the Barclays Premier League at £35M, as a living example.
But at Wembley what proved the most striking, even before the teams had kicked a ball in the UEFA Champions League final was that alongside Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi – all no more than sixty seven inches tall – stood Brazilian fullback Dani Alves, at five foot eight, Pedro Rodríguez at five foot six and half; Javier Mascherano five eight and a half, with world cup winning striker David Villa towering them all, at five foot nine. The only others over six foot were defenders Eric Abidal; 6ft one; Sergio Busquets, 6ft 2, and Gerard Pique at 6ft three and a-half.
For Arsene Wenger, who does the best impression in the Premier League of the Barca passing game, also favouring the 4-3-3 formation, it seems his preferred players over the years have all been much taller. The names of Patrick Vieira, Thierry henry, Denis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Kolo Toure and Robert van Persie quickly spring to mind.
Even those in his squads that looked much shorter than the average Arsenal player at Highbury, were not so, as Marc Overmars was five eight. Or five nine as in the case of Freddie Ljunberg and Ces Fabregas. To add to the confusion former French international Emmanuel Petit, was nothing of the sort, striding around midfield at six foot one.
In Germany it is a similar trend with the German national side producing defenders reaching over six four, Per Mertesacker one example, matched by Christophe Metzelder, with midfielders Michael Ballack at 6ft 2 and Bastian Schweinsteiger at six foot. Or former Aston Villa player, Thomas Hitzelsperger, standing six two. The only height challenged member of the squad has been Philip Lahm who would easily make the Barcelona side if there was positive height discrimination.
At club level though Jose Mourinho over the years seems to have been less obsessed with the height formula given he won the 2010 Champions League with a midfield ably led by the diminutive Dutch man, Wesley Sneijder, at five seven. Or with Ricardo Carvalho, who has played for Mourinho through fourteen seasons at three different clubs, in as many different leagues, measuring a whole five foot nine. It did not stop him winning the 2004 Champions League title in Gelsenkirchen either, with a midfield that day of Deco, Pedro Mendes and Maniche – all only five eight tall.
Last summer Mourinho’s first major signing at Real Madrid was the German International Mezut Oezil, a new breed of player to emerge from the Bundesliga at the 2010 world cup, blessed with close skill, much industry and superb balance. During his time at Chelsea Jose's midfield was bolstered by the industrious Claude Makelele, who only just touched five foot seven.
Ironically at the last world cup in South Africa the Serbian squad were the tallest with an average height of 6ft 1 on average and ten centimetres above the shortest team, Chile, with players on average just over 5ft 9in. Of the four semi-finalists Germany were 5th in the list, with Spain and the Netherlands 17th tallest. Uruguay were 26th - along with the strongly fancied Argentina - with an average height of only five feet eight inches.
As we know it was the five foot seven Spanish brigade that won out, adding to the trophy won in Vienna at the EURO 2008, in a team that still struggles to find a regular role for the six feet of Fernando Torres.
If the Barcelona model is to be copied over the coming decade similar problems will arise perhaps for the likes of Peter Crouch, and any route one tactics for that matter, as the added complication of the Guardiola method is that it does not rely on a recognisable centre forward position in the 4-3-3 setup. With possession the dominating priority, it means that few passes extend beyond a handful of metres, no ball is released until it has safe passage, and few players make pointless energy sapping runs – such is the efficiency of the formula.
This indeed is the most enduring part of the Barcelona story, which is not really a height issue, but an underlying playing philosophy which has been much commented over the past fortnight. In that sense it is the case of Lionel Messi that is testament to that commitment, even if the discovery of Messi was somewhat dictated by happenstance, as it was Barca stalwart and former team-mate of John Cruyff, Carlos Rexach, who became aware of the young player while scouting in Buenos Aires.
For Rexach it was a mundane trip to Buenos Aires, 190 miles southeast of Rosario, that brought the news about Lionel Messi which was encouraging enough to fly him, along with his Father Jorge, to Cataluña for a trial. Without doubt Lionel’s size was of concern at the time, given he was 13 years old, and still small, despite nightly injections for almost four years. His prodigious talent, speed and touch became very clear to Barcelona after just 30 minutes and set plans in place to develop that potential.
In 2000 the chance came to move the Messi family to Catalunya following an offer from Carlos Rexach - with an apartment, a job for Jorge and school for Lionel – made all the more acceptable when Barcelona committed to paying the on-going hormone treatment. On his arrival to Barcelona Messi joined La Masia, their academy just like any other young player.
For Barcelona the sum of all the parts means more than any one individual and there are few talents in living memory that seek such little limelight, solicit no more attention that is not merited, nor seek to be above the squad, than Lionel Messi. The fruit of that work was enjoyed by millions watching the 2011 UEFA Champions League final where few focussed on the size of Messi, or the other Barcelona players.
Except perhaps when they held up the huge jug-eared European Cup above their heads.
The trophy is 74 centimetres tall – nearly half the size of Xavi.
