Gradient of their abilities also holds true the other way, no? A player can be both more aerially dominant, and faster, and better on the ball than the shorter player. In which case the shorter player has no advantages.
Is this guy significantly better on the ball than Liverpool's centre backs, such that their overall team would be stronger if he started for them? That they'd be willing to sacrifice the physical and aerial dominance of VVD, Konate and Matip in favour of having a player marginally better on the ball?
Is it not possible there's a very good reason that we're struggling to name 1 premier league team that consistently starts a 5'10 centre back? Are all the managers in the premier league complete footballing dinosaurs stuck in the 90s? Even Klopp?
That would depend on the team the manager wants to create. Timber could be more beneficial for another manager's tactics, assuming he reaches a similar level of performance as the others (in terms of their standing within the game). There is nothing that says there is only a certain level of ability the player needs to be at in terms of ball playing ability, and anything extra is just diminishing returns.
The question will always be as you stated if that is worth losing a couple of inches in height? He would be our best ball playing CB, and be at least top 2 in speed. I know I would take his profile of player over Maguire's in Ten Hag's system because he's faster and would help out more in regards to keeping the ball. Maguire's aerial ability wouldn't edge it out for me.
And I also think what I just said is an incomplete analysis. It would also depend on the rest of the team. If we have taller players in other positions so that on set pieces, we still retain the same amount of tall players, then the whole discussion is moot. Maybe other players have superior creativity from deep which further muddies the ball playing discussion?
I would need to watch him more, but just on a general discussion on the profile of the player, I have nothing against his type of CB. That others aren't his height could be due to many things. Do they shuffle players his height around to certain positions in the youth system? Similarly, do they do that with players who have his type of ball playing ability? It's not as simple as simply looking at the number of first team players' heights. The only task managers have is to pick the best CB available within their system, or from somewhere gettable (via transfer). That CB's are usually taller doesn't automatically mean it came out to be as an optimization of the CB position and managers picking them out for their starting 11 is an automatic extension of that. The game is always changing, and what was traditionally thought of as the best doesn't mean it's the best in the future.
just spouts nonsense and muppets lap it up everywhere.