Strength is not the most important attribute in modern football, that much is true. But, on a cold wet Wednesday night against a Tony Pulis-inspired Stoke side at the Britannia, would you rather have Adebayo Akinfenwa or Lionel Messi by your side as you fight for Premier League survival?
You’d still take Messi? Well, that’s your prerogative, but the simple fact is the former would almost certainly win you the game with a monstrous demonstration of physicality. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true.
While that may be said in jest, strength should never be under-appreciated as an asset in football and in recent years we have seen some truly giant players excel due to a combination of extreme power and impressive technique.
10. Christian Benteke
Chris Smalling is by no means small or weak, but was famously sent tumbling to the turf by a Christian Benteke shoulder charge during one of the most commonly shared gifs of the 2012-13 Premier League season.
The Belgian is a physical phenomenon and seems to relish any opportunity to throw his weight around in attacking areas.
While his form has dropped off this year, he remains a much feared attacking threat for the simple reason there is little way to stop him when he builds a head of steam.
9. Micah Richards
Micah Richards burst onto the scene as a teenager who could seemingly play any position to great effect thanks to his all-round skill set and well-developed physical form.
While his career has not developed quite as had been expected, he remains one of the strongest and most powerful players in the Premier League.
He is in danger of not fulfilling his early potential, but certainly cannot be accused of failing to step up to the physicality of top-level English football.
8. Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba, when at his peak, resembled a cannonball at the point of the Chelsea attack, using every ounce of his sizeable mass to his advantage from set-piece situations. The Ivorian was one of the first of a new breed of No. 9 that combined immense physicality with no small amount of technique, paving the way for those who have followed.
To put into context how strong Drogba can be, he famously risked physical harm to slap Nemanja Vidic in a Champions League final. He is both brave and aware of his own power.
7. Romelu Lukaku
Since the age of 16, when he first broke through at Anderlecht, Romelu Lukaku has been roughly the size of a small country house and uses that bulk to his advantage at every opportunity. His idol is the aforementioned Drogba, and Lukaku bares many similarities with the Ivorian, including his ability to unsettle any defender in world football when at the peak of his form.
Only recently out of his teens, Lukaku lacks the experience of his illustrious predecessor and is still learning to use his incredible mass. If anything, though, he is a step-up in size.
6. Yaya Toure
In the picture above, Yaya Toure is telling Joe Allen with the gentle wave of his arm that he should avoid venturing any closer. Should he foolishly ignore the gesture, he will be swatted to the ground without the Ivorian so much as batting an eyelid.
Toure has spent recent seasons rampaging through Premier League midfielders like a raging bull, but only when in possession and only when he deems a match worthy of him breaking a sweat. A giant of a man with wonderful technique, he has become the prototype for powerful midfielders the world over.
5. Chris Samba
Throughout his time at Blackburn, Chris Samba represented somewhat of a wall at the heart of the defence. While that wall may have appeared to be crumbling at Queens Park Rangers on his last spell in the Premier League, he remains a significant obstacle.
Samba, when fully fit, remains a man mountain that dominates the landscape of the penalty area. While he may not be the most comfortable on the ball, he certainly excels at knocking others off it.
4. Victor Wanyama
Kenyan Victor Wanyama is the highest-ranking top-level player in our list and also, interestingly, the highest-ranking non-Nigerian. Well over six-feet tall and the width of your average two-door fridge-freezer combo, he is one of a new breed of mobile but immensely powerful midfield players in the Premier League.
Southampton have missed his presence immensely during a recent injury spell and, let’s face it, he leaves a considerable hole in his absence.
3. George Elokobi
Left-back is the traditional home of the small, weedy kid who is not really good enough to play elsewhere but has plenty of pace. Supposedly weighing in at 90 kilograms of pure muscle, despite being just 5’9″ tall, George Elokobi is the antithesis of that assumption.
The Wolves full-back is almost as broad as he is tall and is not shy in exposing his remarkable physique. Any opponent will certainly know they have “been in a game” to quote the common footballing cliche.
2. Danny Shittu
That man in the photo is no NFL linebacker, that would be one-time QPR and Bolton centre-back Danny Shittu. At his prime, the Nigerian was an excellent Championship defender and swatted off opposing strikers like flies on a weekly basis.
His biggest issue, exposed at Premier League level, was that he has the turning circle of a small oil tanker.
1. Adebayo Akinfenwa
The phrase “built like a tank” was first invented for this man, or it should have been. Adebayo Akinfenwa, a veteran of the English lower leagues, puts the mass in massive and has humiliated countless opponents over the years. Just look at the size of those arms!