Revealed: Everton have the Premier League's smallest defenceTrinity Mirror data unit study shows Blues squad is among the league's shortestFrom towering goalkeepers to diminutive midfielders, the tallest and shortest Premier League players have been revealed.
The division’s clubs announced their 25-man squads last week, so the ECHO have been through the records to find the heights of each player in those squads.
And it turns out that Everton have, on average, one of the shortest squads in the league – and the shortest defence of all.
The Blues’ tallest player is summer signing Maarten Stekelenburg at 197 cm in height (6’6”).
The Toffees have the shortest defence in the league though. Might explain the Blues’ woes with set-pieces, eh?
The average Everton defender stands at just 180 cm (5’11”) tall. Blame Leighton Baines and Bryan Oviedo for that figure.
Generally, the Blues have the second shortest squad in the league, with an average height of 181cm. Only Manchester City (180cm) are shorter.
Four clubs – including champions Leicester City - have a shorter forward line, though Everton’s figures are skewed somewhat by the presence of Aaron Lennon, the joint second shortest player in the division.
Watford goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon casts the longest shadow of any Premier League player, towering a mighty 203 cm from the ground, or six foot eight if you like.
He’s followed jointly by Southampton’s Fraser Forster and Stoke’s Peter Crouch who both stand 201 cm (6’7”) tall. Crouch is in fact one of just two outfield players amongst the 10 tallest Premier League players. The other is Per Mertesacker who, at 198 cm (6’ 6”), is in joint sixth place.
Arsenal’s young goalkeeper, Matt Macey made the Gunners’ 25-man squad and at 200 cm (6’7”) in height he is the fourth tallest player to be named in a side’s squad.
Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois completes the top five at 199 cm (6’6”) tall.
The shortest player in a Premier League side’s 25-man squad is Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser. The Scottish midfielder is just 5’4” (163cm) tall.
Lennon and Nathan Dyer are the division’s next shortest players at 165 cm tall, or 5’5”.
Name: Height (cm)
Maarten Stekelenburg: 197
Joel Robles: 195
Romelu Lukaku: 190
Ross Barkley: 189
Yannick Bolasie: 188
Ramiro Funes Mori: 185
Matthew Pennington: 185
Gareth Barry: 183
Darron Gibson: 183
Phil Jagielka: 183
Ashley Williams: 183
Arouna Koné: 182
Oumar Niasse: 182
Baines is one of Everton's smallest players
Tyias Browning: 181
Muhamed Besic: 180
James McCarthy: 180
Kevin Mirallas: 179
Seamus Coleman: 178
Tom Cleverley: 175
Idrissa Gueye: 174
Enner Valencia: 174
Bryan Oviedo: 172
Gerard Deulofeu: 171
Leighton Baines: 170
Aaron Lennon: 165
Liv Echo
