I see this cult of small physique won't make it in a modern football started by BBZ and he made some followers here.
I have talked about players physique as a topic even before BBZ registered for this forum , but thanks for entertaining theory.
And for the record, Puig is the only player I remember that I've doubted his physique
This is not contact sports such as Rugby, American football or even basketball so physique is not what makes a footballer better in most positions.
Football is a contact sport, that is a fact. Way more than basketball btw where you can't even touch someone this days.
When Barcelona was dominating Europe between 2008-2014, we had one of the shortest team in whole Europe.
We dominated football between 2008 & 2011 and that was 7 years ago which is quit sometime actually, and we had plenty of physical players in that team. Abidal,Puyol,Pique & Yaya/Busquets,Henry,Eto, all of them were neither short (actually tall in some cases) and very strong and overall athletic in most cases. Same for many bench players like Gudjohnsen and keita
Also looking at the best players in the history, Messi is 5'7, Maradona 5'5 and Pele 5'8, it's a physics reason why a shorter player is better in the midfield and even some forward positions.
Actually, there is more players who have won ballon who were above 175cm than those who were below 170cm , Beckenbauer, Zidane,Crujif, Cr7 for example were all above 180 actually. And just for the record, average male height is 170cm so Messi isn't actually a short person. Though he is short in Europe and US for sure.
And again,if you dig deeper you will always see that those players were exceptions actually, many positions in football are dominated by taller players, and most shorter guys usually are wingers, fullbacks or midfielders.
it's a physics reason why a shorter player is better in the midfield and even some forward positions. The short players can change directions much faster than tall ones, and they have better control over their limbs. Lower center of gravity allows quick rotation that makes shorter best and fastest dribblers. The myth of ubermensch has to end really in this forum. We should look for tall players for Goalkeeper position because he must cover as much physical area as possible, and it can help if defenders tower over their opponents too.
And here where you are wrong, I didn't actually pointed to his height, his listed height is fine (though plenty listed height of La Masia kids was wrong and corrected later, but will trust them in this one) , almost same height as Messi,Xavi,Iniesta and taller than Verratti.
But he has small frame and very lean body with very little muscle mass, he is benefiting from lower point of gravity to keep his balance but without muscles he will struggle in higher level, with both playing and staying healthy.
Reaching Barca level is difficult for any player even talented one, and physique is actually challenge for many players too, it was challenge for Iniesta and Messi and both had to build a very strong body, Messi had to learn to deal with it after 3 years with consistent injuries early in his career, his superb talent, understanding and work ethic all helped him.
Again, it won't be easy for him, it will be actually extra difficult. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a chance
