Hakeem Olajuwon grew up playing soccer!

No. That's what a winky emoticon means. A facetious statement.

Yeah I figured you were kidding which is why I didn't respond initially to you. And maybe Mr. Hat is also being facetious and I'm just not picking up on it, but it seems to me that he thinks you're making a great point.

And this does seem to come up every time there's a "can you imagine if soccer was the only big sport in America" conversation and there's always someone who thinks all our power forwards would make good soccer players because of heading prowess.

deadbq03 said:

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Yeah I figured you were kidding which is why I didn't respond initially to you. And maybe Mr. Hat is also being facetious and I'm just not picking up on it, but it seems to me that he thinks you're making a great point.

And this does seem to come up every time there's a "can you imagine if soccer was the only big sport in America" conversation and there's always someone who thinks all our power forwards would make good soccer players because of heading prowess.

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no, if soccer were our number one sport and more of our athletes gravitated to the sport we'd have some amazing American soccer players.

No doubt. But they wouldn't be 6'7"+

ETA… I shouldn't speak in absolutes. There would likely be a few exceptions. But unquestionably most of our taller athletes would be sidelined in pro soccer.

And it's not about pure speed, but rather endurance, where weight is a huge detriment.

Basketball players are elite, but they also get a lot of rest, and bigger ones get more than smaller ones.

deadbq03 said:

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No doubt. But they wouldn't be 6'7"+

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Maybe not for field players, but wouldn't count out goalie at that size.

akm91 said:

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deadbq03 said:

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No doubt. But they wouldn't be 6'7"+

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Maybe not for field players, but wouldn't count out goalie at that size.

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Maybe. Current trends with keepers is to have them as good with their feet for receiving and passing as field players.

Oh for sure.

But it does make me wonder why even in Europe there aren't more that size. The US doesn't have a monopoly on tall people.

deadbq03 said:

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Oh for sure.

But it does make me wonder why even in Europe there aren't more that size. The US doesn't have a monopoly on tall people.

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because they play basketball at that size.

Rudyjax said:

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deadbq03 said:

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Oh for sure.

But it does make me wonder why even in Europe there aren't more that size. The US doesn't have a monopoly on tall people.

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because they play basketball at that size.

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Yes but I'd like to think there's more opportunities for money in soccer so if height was an advantage, we'd see more of it. You're probably onto something about footwork, though I'd like to think that very elite NBA players would likely have it.

Actually… I guess you're right on both counts, but I'll tie it together for you. Elite tall guys (who would have the coordination/balance to play GK) are getting paid to play basketball. Others don't have the footwork for GK… even at lower levels.

And I'll add that that fact speaks to how hard it is to change sports later in life… I'm sure there's a lot of basketball washouts in Europe that wish they'd been training as keepers all along because they at least might get paid in a lower league even if they aren't an elite athlete.

This is the premier league list from 23/24.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/who-are-tallest-shortest-players-premier-league/pwkyhjjgbb5eis44qsbgtkq1

Tallest player was 6'5" and 7 of the top 10 were keepers. 2 def, 1 forward.

Rare indeed. So to close it out - all that Mr. Oh no and I are trying to say is that there's potential that this kid will be limited by his height. It is a legitimate concern. My bet is that Bayern see him as a potential situational depth guy. But I'd love to be wrong… and the fact that he's still there is a good sign. I suspect most academies send kids away if they have a big growth spurt that takes them out of optimal height ranges.

I hope he does well because we need CBs. That old interview was a good read, thanks for posting.

Sorry we're taking people away from all the other discussion.

Aston94 said:

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You're still always good for an old man yelling at clouds post!

Correlation is not causation.

Are there fewer tall footballers because they're not fast enough, or are bigger athletes directed more towards sports like basketball and American football where size is more important?

On topic (and Hoppe is 6' 3")…

🇺🇸 American forward Matthew Hoppe has departed Middlesbrough, with contract termination by mutual consent.

Hoppe, 23, made six total appearances for Boro, spanning a total of 64 minutes.

Now he's a free agent and can sign elsewhere pic.twitter.com/n7wv1KU99d

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 9, 2025

Damn. I really thought we had something with him.

fig96 said:

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On topic (and Hoppe is 6' 3")…

🇺🇸 American forward Matthew Hoppe has departed Middlesbrough, with contract termination by mutual consent.

Hoppe, 23, made six total appearances for Boro, spanning a total of 64 minutes.

Now he's a free agent and can sign elsewhere pic.twitter.com/n7wv1KU99d

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 9, 2025

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Man, we need him for these concacaf games. Dude sure knows how to Concacaf.

Fortunately for Hoppe, the MLS season starts in about 2 months.

Gio subbed on in the 79th minute.
Cole Campbell subbed on down 2-3 in the 88th minute versus Leverkusen.

It's not a lot of minutes, but better than nothing!

tysker said:

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Quote:

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It's not a lot of minutes, but better than nothing!

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That's what I try and tell my wife

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Sargent played today! First game in half a century it seems.

Christian Pulisic nearly slides it in but Alvaro Morata is there to clean it up for Milan 💪 pic.twitter.com/D4RkzfoGYb

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 11, 2025