• May 29, 2022
• Olaoluwa Nwobodo

Chelsea has been chasing Sevilla’s Jules Kounde for the past two transfer windows. There seems to be a consensus that he’s one of the more promising young centerbacks in Europe currently. Some numbers seem to back that up, however there is an attribute of his that is making many hesitate about his suitability for Premier League football.

First of all, there are two things that must be taken note of. One; the term “he’s not suited to the league” hardly ever refers to something that indeed has to do with the league in the actual sense of the word, except when it does. Two; aerial prowess goes beyond physical height. There are heading techniques, including the timing of jumps and many more.

However, height is undoubtedly a factor when considering aerial prowess. A taller player would win 80% of his duels against a substantially shorter player if he doesn’t have bad heading technique. This means that if you’re a shorter player going in for an aerial duel, your heading technique can only go so far to stop you from losing that duel.

Needless to say, heading as a skill works better with an objectively tall player. This way he can win headers against those he’s taller than, but also some who are taller than him. The number of headers he can and will win, will be substantially higher than that of a short centerback.

Now back to Kounde. According to Transfermarkt, WhoScored, and FBRef, Kounde is 1.78m (5 ft 10). Kounde wins 2.4 aerials per game at a 61% success rate in the league. The France international is therefore not a poor header of the ball, however, there are some important things to note considering his aerial numbers that should be factored into evaluating him for Premier League football. Here is one of the few times “he’s not suited to the league” may actually be valid.

League average height and set pieces

Of course Kounde would not just be competing with centerbacks in his aerial duels. He’d be competing with forwards a lot in open play. The average height of forwards in the Premier League is about 1.82m (5 ft 11). This is exactly the average height of forwards in La Liga as well. However, aerial duels against forwards are only one aspect of a 90-minute game for a centerback. Also, centerbacks tend to be favored in headers in open play, mainly because the ball is often coming towards them and the strikers are often moving to where the ball is. This means the forward has to backpedal to make a jump for the ball while the centerback runs forward to make the jump. Backpedaling reduces one’s vertical reach when you finally jump, running forward increases it.

Set-pieces are another, more significant aspect of a centerbacks job that may require aerial intervention. This is a more direct and more even match-up between players. Here, teams’ taller players are on display and are targets in the box. The centerbacks don’t have the advantage in this one as everyone would be standing before the ball is kicked. Often, both a defending and attacking player are running towards the ball. Most especially in those situations, it’s centerbacks directly against centerbacks as they’re usually the taller players in the team.

This is where the second point becomes important, the average height of a centerback in La Liga is 1.854m (slightly under 6 ft 1) and the average height of centerbacks in the Premier League is 1.886m (slightly over 6 ft 2). At first glance, this doesn’t seem like much, but considering that this is the average, it means Kounde would be battling a lot of centerbacks that are substantially taller than him. Set pieces are often decisive events in games and losing headers there has more consequences than losing them in open play. Especially in corners, matching up against much taller centerbacks and midfielders means Kounde would be disadvantaged in those situations most of the time. This is, however, not all.

Centerback partnership

One player Chelsea fans are sure will partner Kounde is Thiago Silva. Silva is 1.83m (6 ft). Objectively, 6 feet is tall for a non-athlete, but for a centerback, it isn’t. Chelsea has lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, which is two of Chelsea’s very few players that are 6 ft 2 and taller. If Tuchel decides to continue to play with three at the back, the third centerback would likely be Trevoh Chalobah, who is 1.9m (6 ft 3). It’s not impossible to successfully make a case that Kounde is objectively good in the air, or even aerially dominant. However, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have two starting centerbacks not taller than 6 ft. For context, none of Liverpool’s three main centerbacks is shorter than 1.94m (6 ft 4).

This would be Chelsea begging their opponents to find out just how aerially competent they are. It is not bad to own a centerback that is not tall. However, after losing two tall centerbacks, it would not be wise to go out of your way to recruit a centerback that is not all. It also doesn’t help that 23% of the goals Sevilla conceded were from set-pieces, minus direct freekicks. For Chelsea, that accounted for 13% of the goals they conceded.

The hope is that all the fears about Kounde’s height are exaggerated and he’d get along just fine, if not excellently. However, it is important to be fully aware of the potential risk of what one is purchasing in the market especially when one has the opportunity to check easily accessible data.