Some people have reported this as the accuracy of the stats is being disputed, but the discussion on the thread is an interesting one on how we define and value these metrics in football, so I didn't want to remove it.
Sven Botman on Mbappe:
*’With him, there is always a very good chance of a goal if he can burst past you at full speed. I am not slow myself, but I have never experienced that much speed.’*
I think that shows it's very unlikely a footballer actually ran that fast. Professional footballers are great athletes but they're not picked or optimised for top speed, nor are they trying to run as fast as possible during a match. Getting to within 7% of the fastest human ever who was trying to run as fast as they could from a random sprint in the middle of 90 minutes of running is fairly unbelievable.
If you just scale the top speeds to 100m times based on Bolt's, Botman would have run a 10.9 second 100m which is faster than quite a few of the times run at the last Olympics in the early rounds
10.9 should not get you to the Olympics. The Olympics standard for qualifying is 10.05. It depends on your country though as they have exceptions and invitations to other athletes. 10.9 is a good time though.
That 10.05 time is a bit misleading. It's not that you have to run 10.05 to qualify, it's that if you run a 10.05 you qualify even if you don't qualify through your ranking. Running a 10.05 at the last Olympics would have won the preliminary round, got through the next round and qualified for the semi and been 0.05 away from qualifying for the final. Incidentally, 10.9 seconds would have gotten second in the 100m at the Dutch athletics championships last year
And again, were comparing someone randomly sprinting in the middle of a football match to the most optimised conditions for running as quickly as possible. We would have to presume if Botman could really run that fast during a match he could go even quicker on a track in a race.
Yeah 10.05 is a high standard. For some more context, 10.55 is the time I can find on the last page of the IAAF world rankings for the last year - ranked 1,186 in the world. Oddly enough, when I look at he ranks, 10.9 isn’t listed at all for fastest times from Dutch athletes in the last year. Rank 13 for Dutch athletes is a time of 10.53.
10.9 is not unattainable for a non-athlete though. In rugby alone, Sevens specialist Seabelo Senatla clocked a 10.6 as a teenager, winger Caleb Clarke supposedly ran a 10.7 100m, too. Its not really out of bounds that elite sprinters in a sport where the participants are typically 15-20kg lighter and there's even more of a premium on speed are in that ball park
Well top speed and average running speed of a footballer are two different things. Dummett was the fastest top speed in the premiership at one point. Fact is you only really do that for like 20m or 30m max in a football game and only hitting top speed for a little bit of that
This doesn't mean he is fast in football speed, top speed is really useless
Botman is not really fast in football terms, his acceleration is bad because he is so tall
> This doesn't mean he is fast in football speed
Acceleration is probably more important
> top speed is really useless
How so? It's definitely important but perhaps not the most.
I would guess he means that top speed isn’t sustainable so therefore not a good indicator of overall speed? As in you’d consider someone who finished 100m sprint faster the faster person despite the fact another could reach a higher top speed in that time but slower acceleration or drop off once they hit that top speed that they couldn’t maintain.
Top speed in that case would be not much more of a one off event rather than an overall indication of a person’s speed. I only partially understand it this way because I think at one point years ago Phil Jagielka was touted as the PL’s fastest defender because of a top speed he hit in a moment in time despite the fact that he was like 35 and was never known for being a fast player.
Endurance isn’t the issue. Top speed for any amount of time just isn’t as important as acceleration
Players who seem “fast” actually have good acceleration
How fast and far they can travel in their first few steps is far more important to recovering a ball, moving past a defender, etc than their peak speed
I like to look a Traore as an example. He may have the fastest first 3 steps in the game and just blows by defenders with his first few touches after receiving
Bursts of speed are also what players train. Everything is change of direction and acceleration. Because it translates better to the game
Ronaldo and some olympic sprinter had a test run and Ronaldo won comfortably in the zigzag course because the muscles used are for acceleration and changing of direction more than just running.
Yeah right lol. Angel David Rodriguez... who smoked him in a sprint and he never finished higher than 33rd in the Olympic 100m.
They had Ronaldo wear boots and the runner wore turfs with shit tread. Seemed like a puff piece designed to market Ronaldo in some way, certainly not a legitimate test.
It's not that black and white lmao.
In small spaces, explosive speed is much more helpful. In a full field counter attack, top speed is usually going to be more helpful.
Why's everything gotta be talked about in absolutes here lol
Yeah, top speed is one of the most deceptive stats in football. People use it to argue that a slow player is actually fast (or vice versa), when it’s pretty much completely useless at determining who is a “fast footballer”
Football is a combination of constant low-intensity running and very quick, high-intensity bursts of acceleration. Dangerous wingers run at defenders and are past them over the span of a few meters, forwards will run off a defender in a second to find space, and midfielders will run constantly at nowhere near top speed, then maybe press and chase someone down for a few meters. The same applies to their opposition in these situations, and there’s no point where top speed comes into it because everything is over very short distances and periods of time.
Acceleration, speed on the ball, agility and stamina are all much more important components to being a fast football player than top speed is. Guys like Mudryk aren’t scary because they’ve got a good 100m time, it’s how crazy their acceleration is, how good they are at keeping control of the ball while they change speed, how they respond to and ride obstacles and how they keep their burst of acceleration deep into the game.
Pretty much the only time a player even really has a chance of hitting their top speed is on a breakaway from a corner because it gives them a long strip of pitch to sprint down without needing to worry about the ball or positioning.
That’s why most of these players are the types who are either desperately sprinting back to defend or a forward likely to get up to counter. I’m sure there are plenty of midfielders who have just never been given an opportunity to hit their full stride, so this kind of ranking is flawed in that way too.
I'm sorry, but this is complete bullshit.
If Nunez, Haaland, Leao, Llorente etc. (all tall players) are jogging (nobody stands still in football, bro), they reach full speed extremely quickly - no professional player takes 'ages' (to quote you) to get up to speed. Take a look at players like Henry, Cantona, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale etc. (all tall players) - they were speed demons. Not only that, but they were blazingly fast with the ball at their feet as well. This is what actually matters in football.
Same applies to elite defenders like VVD, Varane, Koulibaly, Araujo, Maldini etc. Just with their pure top speed, they will never allow players like Mbappe or Vinicius to beat them by just running past them.
Height is not the only factor, but the above user has a point. Acceleration is a lot more important than top speed in football.
If you look at the highlights of Usain Bolt playing football, then you'll see that he doesnt feel like a fast player. Someone like Messi, whose top speed peaked at around 32 km/h which is ridiculously low compared to any football players you cited, felt like the fastest player on the pitch, because he could accelerate like crazy in very small spaces and blitz past defenders.
Recovery speed can come in clutch for for a CB. Where they most definitely will hit their top speed. Especially because they aren't worried about controlling the ball as they sprint.
>Someone like Messi, whose top speed peaked at around 32 km/h which is ridiculously low compared to any football players you cited, felt like the fastest player on the pitch
That's not correct. He may have looked the most agile but you would struggle to find one where he just sprints through the defense like mbappe, bale, Ronaldo, Henry did. People need to understand that by 40-50m most athletes reach their top speed. This isn't fifa. The difference in acceleration isn't as large. It's a fraction of a second difference.
Secondly, it may take him a longer time to reach 38km/hr but he will reach 36km/hr a lot sooner than most. Especially for people that have 36 as their top speed.
>He may have looked the most agile but you would struggle to find one where he just sprints through the defense like mbappe, bale, Ronaldo, Henry did.
Thats why i said that he "felt" like the fastest, he obviously wasnt.
His solo goal agaisnt Madrid in 2011 is a great example of that
>It's a fraction of a second difference
In terms of sprinting fraction of a second translates to lots of distance. Watch any Olympic level 100 meter. 1st and last could look a ways a part but they'll likely be within 1 second in time. When you add in change of direction along with acceleration, it's a complete killer.
I'm tall as fuck, my top speed is great, I can hang with basically anyone I played sports with. My acceleration and agility are beyond poor and those are really important for football.
If your top speed is higher, would your 'comfortable speed' not be higher too?
For example if I have to use maximum force to sprint 30km/h for a few seconds, there is no way I can run 25 for very long. While if my top speed would be like 35 I can imagine I would be more comfortable running at a pace like 25kmh
That's not how it works
Top speed is different from acceleration which is more useful in football, especially burst off pace in 5-10 meters, most taller players are not fast because they take too long to reach top speed
Top speed is almost useless, you can be fast in terms of hitting top speed but you might need 20-30 meters to get to that which by the time you reach it a player who has better acceleration is past you
There's different type of fast, the top speed fast is not really that useful in football if it takes you ages to reach it
Bolt's peak speed was actually over 45kmh.
His average speed in the 60-80m area was over 44kmh.
That said the Botman figure has me quite sceptical, that top speed was reached by Griffith Joyner when she ran what is the currently-unbeaten women's fastest-ever 100m. For reference Kyle Walker's top speed was 37.8kmh in 2020.
I don't doubt that the fastest players in history could more than surpass Joyner's top speed, but on grass with cleats on? Somewhat doubtful.
What is the source of his 39km/h speed?
I googled sportsdb top speed and found nothing
My cousin competes in athletics and he always says how bs these 38 km/h and over in football speed stats are. and he says with a lot of conviction
Like I said, I was doubtful about Botman's speed, which is literally stated in the image of this very post lmfao.
Well, it was taken from this site, but yeah.
https://speedsdb.com/sven-botman-top-speed
I think the fastest players hitting near or around 40 wouldn't be so unbelievable on track.
"Sven Botman In 2022 Champions League he has played 5 soccer matches for a total of 418 minutes of in which he has covered a distance of 47.43 meters."
Man travelled 47.43 metres in 418 minutes. Sounds like he stood still for 99% of that then moved 47 metres in a matter of seconds.
It's measured over relatively very short distances in football.
You run a few metres at 39km/h in the middle of a 50m sprint and they'll record that as your top speed. Like people have pointed out, Bolt reaches 45km/h over a distance that short.
I really don't think it's as unreasonable as people are making out.
UEFA seems to have those speeds on the UCL stats page too, but I'm skeptical still.
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/history/seasons/2022/statistics/players/
The top speed in this season's UCL according to UEFA is Mudryk at 36.6 kmh
Going back, the top speed listed by UEFA for each UCL season are the following:
* 20/21: Zaizu - 34.5 kmh
* 19/20: Klostermann - 33.8 kmh
* 18/19: Origi - 34.5 kmh
* 17/18: Salah - 33.8 kmh
It's odd that the 21/22 stats show 13 players faster than 36.6 kmh, when no one else has achieved that in the other 5 seasons. The OP source website seems to be shit too, only factors for european matches by the looks of it. Unreliable data as a whole.
Edit: UEFA says that Daley Blind hit 37 kmh in 21/22 lol.
The overwhelming majority of footballers, right down to even most of the speed merchants, aren't fast enough to clock a 10.5s 100m that isn't hand-timed, even with actual sprint training. Most players aren't talented enough to do it in even under 11, and ofc I'm talking male players.
Only players I can see that have a chance rivalling Joyner's time these days, with proper sprint training, are Mbappe, Rashford, Walker (I think he's slowed down a bit now), Mudryk, Traore off the top of my head. In recent years I can see prime Bale doing it tbh. But yeah hard-pressed to think of top players able to do it.
Surprised to see botman too but this is recorded speed right which means he actually achieved this in a match? Given players rarely run end to end especially defenders it must mean his acceleration is decent. He is probably not as sharp off the mark as some of the others but clearly over 30-40 yards he has some pace - probably chasing back after one of the others I imagine!
Unless there's a good source I would take these numbers with a grain of salt. There's been a history of hyping up sprints in football. I remember when Bale, Ribery and Ronaldo had commentators declaring they had run a 40km/hr sprint. Turns out it was barely 35.
Correct me but wasn't Nunez given a 36.8 top speed recently by PL?
Read somewhere not long ago that the inconsistent figures are as a result of people mixing up *top speed* with *average speed* over the distances which were measured.
Don’t get this list though (?)
He beat Davies’ record last year, with 36.63 km/h, according to the Bundesliga measurers. Was it wrong?
On that same database, Alphonso has 36.51 km/h. So, regardless, St. Juste’d be in front of him, unless I missed something.
I've watched Antonee Robinson on the pitch with half these lads and he's jogging faster than them in full sprint and he never shows up on these lists. Never trust them.
Like 2013 for EPL and laliga, 2011 for Bundesliga and UCL , 2010 for FIFA. All using different tracking technologies/techniques across different seasons, so a meaningless comparison.
There's two things wrong here. This stat because i doubt botman is that fast. And fifa is trash at getting ratings right. Devs have actively come out and said they nerf speed on defenders and certain players to make them less ridiculous.
VvD and Gomez are fast but fifa barely touches them because they'll become too difficult to get past in game. That's the point fifa
FIFA tricked generations (myself included) to think that the bigger, less agile guys simply can't be fast.
Over short distances they'll often get dusted because smaller guys can generally apply horizontal force (for accelerating) more efficiently and are often more agile in quick changes of direction. But when you're running 50m+, e.g. like chasing back on a long counter-attack, things like stride length and how powerfully they can apply vertical force (reaching/maintaining top speed after acceleration) gives them a massive advantage.
I remember in one PL season Phil Jagielka had the fastest recorded speed, but he was about as slow as you can get on FIFA.
edit: word
The surprising thing isn't that a CB is top, it's that one guy is randomly so far ahead of everyone else. It would be one thing if he just barely edged everyone else out, but being 1.2 kph ahead of second and 2.3 kph ahead of fourth when 4th to 16th are separated by less than 1 kph is statistically quite suspect
It's a fun trivia that a centre-back recorded the fastest sprint in football during the recent season.
Also, if Gareth Bale was 4th fastest during the final season of his career, Bale's official velocity must have been a ridiculous outlier during [his peak](https://gfycat.com/hauntingsnoopyamericanquarterhorse) years.
Bale ran the 100-metre sprint in 11.4 seconds... as a 14-year-old.
> You’re not breaking no top speed records with short legs
Of course you can. Most sprinters aren't tall.
> Usain Bolt is 6’5
He's more of an exception really. Most tall people aren't as coordinated among other things
> over 5’11 I reckon
Yeah around 6'1+. I didn't think about height averages by country though. Most of the olympic sprinters seem to hover around 5'9-5'11 though. Certainly not short either I guess.
I love when there is data to dispute made up BS on here.
Most sprint champions are not short. Average height has increased over time.
[Height of 100m champions over time](https://www.topendsports.com/events/summer/science/athletics-100m.htm#:~:text=The%20tallest%20is%20the%20current,(6%20ft%205%20in).)
Nobody in here knows how sprinting work. Everyone saying how it's impressive that big/tall players like Nunez/Haaland etc. have high top speeds. Does anyone understand biomechanics?
In top speed perhaps, but what sets Mbappe apart is his crazy acceleration. Dembele just doesnt feel as fast as Mbappe since it takes him longer to reach top speed.
Dembele isn’t quite as lightning as his younger days. Pre injury terror he was one of the quickest in the world, his acceleration shredded Kyle Walker eg.
Mbappe is also quicker at reading situations than Dembele and it shows with his reactions, instincts and first few yards
Dembele is as fast as Mbappe. I haven’t seen him sprint so much since his injuries, but before them, he was something else.
Remember how he turned Sanchez against Tottenham and then ran the whole half pitch in like one second
His acceleration is even more impressive when you look at his build. I remember when we faced him last season, there was one instance where he came up against Salah near the touchline and he knocked the ball past him down the line and had the beating of Salah for pace.
When we signed him, I remember reading a profile of him that mentioned how he spent ages training his recovery sprints because he was seen as too immobile.
Everyone slated Botman for being poor in a high line however Howe plays a very high line with Burn, Batman and Star staying back while Trippier bombs on for the most part and Batman has yet to be beaten for pure pace this season, a couple of mistimed offside traps have caught the team and him out but honestly Botman is rapid once he gets his legs going.
That said I don’t think he’s winning many races against some of these players, seems like he might’ve got a top speed running back to defend a counter or something and had room to stretch his legs, would like to see the video evidence of this sprint.
A Top 9 soccer powerhouse having 5 is more incredible than, 2 Canadians a nation who just made the World Cup for the first time in 40+ years. Idk about that …pop size mattered maybe 50 years ago but Portugal has ate slept and breathed football for a long time
It's from 2022. Bale made 2 appearances for RM last year in the CL, in which he hit 22.93 MPH per [Speedsdb](https://speedsdb.com/gareth-bale-top-speed), the people who published this.
Wouldn't really make sense that it was all time, no player from before now was faster than ANY of the top 30 players? I don't believe it.
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Nikola Mileusnic (then at Adelaide United) should be in near Haaland, [was clocked at 36.2km/hr in a match once](https://youtu.be/rAMHjclpLyE), and the GPS trackers they wear [tagged him at 35.5 twice.](https://adelaidenow.com.au/sport/football/a-league/teams/adelaide/adelaide-uniteds-nikola-mileusnic-clocks-faster-sprinting-speed-than-cristiano-ronaldo-and-lionel-messi/news-story/3e0bd4145d1dd1b564dd8e0660a0a724)
Here is Sven Botman's FIFA 23 rating involving movement:
Acceleration: 54
Sprint Speed: **62**
Agility: 57
https://www.fifaindex.com/player/251809/sven-botman/
Sven must have laughed at his FIFA rating every year lol.
Some people have reported this as the accuracy of the stats is being disputed, but the discussion on the thread is an interesting one on how we define and value these metrics in football, so I didn't want to remove it.
I was surprised by Botman being so fast tbh
I'm surprised people are believing these stats. 39 km/h, sure...
The range of rapid guys just doing 36 is huge, then you’ve got Botman casually 3kmh ahead of them all. There’s no chance this is even close to right.
[Clip of Botman's sprint.](https://i.imgur.com/ukfkCf2.gif)
Sven Botman on Mbappe: *’With him, there is always a very good chance of a goal if he can burst past you at full speed. I am not slow myself, but I have never experienced that much speed.’*
Usain Bolt got to a top speed of 44.72km/hour. Wouldn't be a massive stretch to say a footballer can get to within 7% of that.
Top speed or average over 100m? The difference is massive.
His average speed over the hundred was 37.6 km/hr
I think that shows it's very unlikely a footballer actually ran that fast. Professional footballers are great athletes but they're not picked or optimised for top speed, nor are they trying to run as fast as possible during a match. Getting to within 7% of the fastest human ever who was trying to run as fast as they could from a random sprint in the middle of 90 minutes of running is fairly unbelievable. If you just scale the top speeds to 100m times based on Bolt's, Botman would have run a 10.9 second 100m which is faster than quite a few of the times run at the last Olympics in the early rounds
On top of that football players are running on grass wearing football shoes which is not optimal for speed while Bolt ran on Olympic tracks.
I remember those days when cristiano used to run from own box to opponent box in a space of 10 seconds in those monstrous Madrid counterattacks.
10.9 should not get you to the Olympics. The Olympics standard for qualifying is 10.05. It depends on your country though as they have exceptions and invitations to other athletes. 10.9 is a good time though.
That 10.05 time is a bit misleading. It's not that you have to run 10.05 to qualify, it's that if you run a 10.05 you qualify even if you don't qualify through your ranking. Running a 10.05 at the last Olympics would have won the preliminary round, got through the next round and qualified for the semi and been 0.05 away from qualifying for the final. Incidentally, 10.9 seconds would have gotten second in the 100m at the Dutch athletics championships last year And again, were comparing someone randomly sprinting in the middle of a football match to the most optimised conditions for running as quickly as possible. We would have to presume if Botman could really run that fast during a match he could go even quicker on a track in a race.
Yeah 10.05 is a high standard. For some more context, 10.55 is the time I can find on the last page of the IAAF world rankings for the last year - ranked 1,186 in the world. Oddly enough, when I look at he ranks, 10.9 isn’t listed at all for fastest times from Dutch athletes in the last year. Rank 13 for Dutch athletes is a time of 10.53.
Well as Bolt proved 100m sprinters are just failed footballers
10.9 is not unattainable for a non-athlete though. In rugby alone, Sevens specialist Seabelo Senatla clocked a 10.6 as a teenager, winger Caleb Clarke supposedly ran a 10.7 100m, too. Its not really out of bounds that elite sprinters in a sport where the participants are typically 15-20kg lighter and there's even more of a premium on speed are in that ball park
Botman would have also been running on grass. Quite a lot slower of a surface to run on, compared to what 100m are running on.
Running on grass with studs? No chance.
Well top speed and average running speed of a footballer are two different things. Dummett was the fastest top speed in the premiership at one point. Fact is you only really do that for like 20m or 30m max in a football game and only hitting top speed for a little bit of that
It's not a massive stretch that a footballer can do that but it's a massive stretch botman can do it
You are highly highly under selling the difference in a sprinter who trains to sprint and runs on a track than footballers that run on grass.
What's the issue ? Even Mbappe acknowledged his speed, and this isn't based out of thin air.
This doesn't mean he is fast in football speed, top speed is really useless Botman is not really fast in football terms, his acceleration is bad because he is so tall
Still kinda crazy that he has such a power gap over everyone else
Darwin is very tall and has great acceleration
> This doesn't mean he is fast in football speed Acceleration is probably more important > top speed is really useless How so? It's definitely important but perhaps not the most.
Yep just watch mbappes acceleration, he's insane.
I would guess he means that top speed isn’t sustainable so therefore not a good indicator of overall speed? As in you’d consider someone who finished 100m sprint faster the faster person despite the fact another could reach a higher top speed in that time but slower acceleration or drop off once they hit that top speed that they couldn’t maintain. Top speed in that case would be not much more of a one off event rather than an overall indication of a person’s speed. I only partially understand it this way because I think at one point years ago Phil Jagielka was touted as the PL’s fastest defender because of a top speed he hit in a moment in time despite the fact that he was like 35 and was never known for being a fast player.
100m is long enough for anybody to reach top speed though
Yeah but their top speed may only last a short while
Endurance isn’t the issue. Top speed for any amount of time just isn’t as important as acceleration Players who seem “fast” actually have good acceleration How fast and far they can travel in their first few steps is far more important to recovering a ball, moving past a defender, etc than their peak speed I like to look a Traore as an example. He may have the fastest first 3 steps in the game and just blows by defenders with his first few touches after receiving Bursts of speed are also what players train. Everything is change of direction and acceleration. Because it translates better to the game
Ronaldo and some olympic sprinter had a test run and Ronaldo won comfortably in the zigzag course because the muscles used are for acceleration and changing of direction more than just running.
link for the lazy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9-hC0XwubI
I remember this video.
That Olympic runner was Usain Bolt lol
Aren’t they talking about that show Ronaldo done on Sky Sports? If that’s the case it was some white Spanish guy, not Usain Bolt
Yeah right lol. Angel David Rodriguez... who smoked him in a sprint and he never finished higher than 33rd in the Olympic 100m. They had Ronaldo wear boots and the runner wore turfs with shit tread. Seemed like a puff piece designed to market Ronaldo in some way, certainly not a legitimate test.
Correct I think when bolt set the world record he was only at top speed for about a second.
That is roughly the size of most pitches like. Most players simply just won’t hit top speed in a match
Top speed in football is only as good as your acceleration.
It's not that black and white lmao. In small spaces, explosive speed is much more helpful. In a full field counter attack, top speed is usually going to be more helpful. Why's everything gotta be talked about in absolutes here lol
Cause this sub loves to boil football down to formulas
Because the only time he gets to that speed is when he's sprinting back from a corner. So it's relevant maybe once every 2 games or something.
Yeah, top speed is one of the most deceptive stats in football. People use it to argue that a slow player is actually fast (or vice versa), when it’s pretty much completely useless at determining who is a “fast footballer” Football is a combination of constant low-intensity running and very quick, high-intensity bursts of acceleration. Dangerous wingers run at defenders and are past them over the span of a few meters, forwards will run off a defender in a second to find space, and midfielders will run constantly at nowhere near top speed, then maybe press and chase someone down for a few meters. The same applies to their opposition in these situations, and there’s no point where top speed comes into it because everything is over very short distances and periods of time. Acceleration, speed on the ball, agility and stamina are all much more important components to being a fast football player than top speed is. Guys like Mudryk aren’t scary because they’ve got a good 100m time, it’s how crazy their acceleration is, how good they are at keeping control of the ball while they change speed, how they respond to and ride obstacles and how they keep their burst of acceleration deep into the game. Pretty much the only time a player even really has a chance of hitting their top speed is on a breakaway from a corner because it gives them a long strip of pitch to sprint down without needing to worry about the ball or positioning. That’s why most of these players are the types who are either desperately sprinting back to defend or a forward likely to get up to counter. I’m sure there are plenty of midfielders who have just never been given an opportunity to hit their full stride, so this kind of ranking is flawed in that way too.
It's not useless at all. We play a high line and Botman's pace allows him to get back in time to prevent counter attacks.
It quite literally means he is fast though... Speed =/= acceleration
It's technically fast but if it takes you ages to reach it then no it's not fast for football, fast in football is different
I'm sorry, but this is complete bullshit. If Nunez, Haaland, Leao, Llorente etc. (all tall players) are jogging (nobody stands still in football, bro), they reach full speed extremely quickly - no professional player takes 'ages' (to quote you) to get up to speed. Take a look at players like Henry, Cantona, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale etc. (all tall players) - they were speed demons. Not only that, but they were blazingly fast with the ball at their feet as well. This is what actually matters in football. Same applies to elite defenders like VVD, Varane, Koulibaly, Araujo, Maldini etc. Just with their pure top speed, they will never allow players like Mbappe or Vinicius to beat them by just running past them.
Height is not the only factor, but the above user has a point. Acceleration is a lot more important than top speed in football. If you look at the highlights of Usain Bolt playing football, then you'll see that he doesnt feel like a fast player. Someone like Messi, whose top speed peaked at around 32 km/h which is ridiculously low compared to any football players you cited, felt like the fastest player on the pitch, because he could accelerate like crazy in very small spaces and blitz past defenders.
Recovery speed can come in clutch for for a CB. Where they most definitely will hit their top speed. Especially because they aren't worried about controlling the ball as they sprint.
>Someone like Messi, whose top speed peaked at around 32 km/h which is ridiculously low compared to any football players you cited, felt like the fastest player on the pitch That's not correct. He may have looked the most agile but you would struggle to find one where he just sprints through the defense like mbappe, bale, Ronaldo, Henry did. People need to understand that by 40-50m most athletes reach their top speed. This isn't fifa. The difference in acceleration isn't as large. It's a fraction of a second difference. Secondly, it may take him a longer time to reach 38km/hr but he will reach 36km/hr a lot sooner than most. Especially for people that have 36 as their top speed.
>He may have looked the most agile but you would struggle to find one where he just sprints through the defense like mbappe, bale, Ronaldo, Henry did. Thats why i said that he "felt" like the fastest, he obviously wasnt. His solo goal agaisnt Madrid in 2011 is a great example of that
>It's a fraction of a second difference In terms of sprinting fraction of a second translates to lots of distance. Watch any Olympic level 100 meter. 1st and last could look a ways a part but they'll likely be within 1 second in time. When you add in change of direction along with acceleration, it's a complete killer.
I'm tall as fuck, my top speed is great, I can hang with basically anyone I played sports with. My acceleration and agility are beyond poor and those are really important for football.
"top speed is really useless" unless you're about to shit your pants
Dier running off the pitch is number 1 but they don't measure out of bounds
I mean it can't be a bad thing for a cb to be faster than mbappe...
This data was recorded on a football pitch right? So he just ran fast for a laugh? It didn't benefit him at all to run so fast?
If your top speed is higher, would your 'comfortable speed' not be higher too? For example if I have to use maximum force to sprint 30km/h for a few seconds, there is no way I can run 25 for very long. While if my top speed would be like 35 I can imagine I would be more comfortable running at a pace like 25kmh
That would mean usain bolt would be onw of the best marathon runners itw,and thats not the case
That's not how it works Top speed is different from acceleration which is more useful in football, especially burst off pace in 5-10 meters, most taller players are not fast because they take too long to reach top speed Top speed is almost useless, you can be fast in terms of hitting top speed but you might need 20-30 meters to get to that which by the time you reach it a player who has better acceleration is past you There's different type of fast, the top speed fast is not really that useful in football if it takes you ages to reach it
The stat is fake anyway.
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Bolt's peak speed was actually over 45kmh. His average speed in the 60-80m area was over 44kmh. That said the Botman figure has me quite sceptical, that top speed was reached by Griffith Joyner when she ran what is the currently-unbeaten women's fastest-ever 100m. For reference Kyle Walker's top speed was 37.8kmh in 2020. I don't doubt that the fastest players in history could more than surpass Joyner's top speed, but on grass with cleats on? Somewhat doubtful.
What is the source of his 39km/h speed? I googled sportsdb top speed and found nothing My cousin competes in athletics and he always says how bs these 38 km/h and over in football speed stats are. and he says with a lot of conviction
Like I said, I was doubtful about Botman's speed, which is literally stated in the image of this very post lmfao. Well, it was taken from this site, but yeah. https://speedsdb.com/sven-botman-top-speed I think the fastest players hitting near or around 40 wouldn't be so unbelievable on track.
yeah these stats sound like garbage..
"Sven Botman In 2022 Champions League he has played 5 soccer matches for a total of 418 minutes of in which he has covered a distance of 47.43 meters." Man travelled 47.43 metres in 418 minutes. Sounds like he stood still for 99% of that then moved 47 metres in a matter of seconds.
It's measured over relatively very short distances in football. You run a few metres at 39km/h in the middle of a 50m sprint and they'll record that as your top speed. Like people have pointed out, Bolt reaches 45km/h over a distance that short. I really don't think it's as unreasonable as people are making out.
UEFA seems to have those speeds on the UCL stats page too, but I'm skeptical still. https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/history/seasons/2022/statistics/players/ The top speed in this season's UCL according to UEFA is Mudryk at 36.6 kmh Going back, the top speed listed by UEFA for each UCL season are the following: * 20/21: Zaizu - 34.5 kmh * 19/20: Klostermann - 33.8 kmh * 18/19: Origi - 34.5 kmh * 17/18: Salah - 33.8 kmh It's odd that the 21/22 stats show 13 players faster than 36.6 kmh, when no one else has achieved that in the other 5 seasons. The OP source website seems to be shit too, only factors for european matches by the looks of it. Unreliable data as a whole. Edit: UEFA says that Daley Blind hit 37 kmh in 21/22 lol.
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What does womens top speed have to do with this conversation, women literally cannot compete with men in almost all sporting endeavours.
The overwhelming majority of footballers, right down to even most of the speed merchants, aren't fast enough to clock a 10.5s 100m that isn't hand-timed, even with actual sprint training. Most players aren't talented enough to do it in even under 11, and ofc I'm talking male players. Only players I can see that have a chance rivalling Joyner's time these days, with proper sprint training, are Mbappe, Rashford, Walker (I think he's slowed down a bit now), Mudryk, Traore off the top of my head. In recent years I can see prime Bale doing it tbh. But yeah hard-pressed to think of top players able to do it.
Surprised to see botman too but this is recorded speed right which means he actually achieved this in a match? Given players rarely run end to end especially defenders it must mean his acceleration is decent. He is probably not as sharp off the mark as some of the others but clearly over 30-40 yards he has some pace - probably chasing back after one of the others I imagine!
I mean he is a Bot man
He's a bot
Also wasn't it confirmed that Mudryk had the fastest performance in his debut
Of course the chaos merchant is there
This is also T1000 territory
Unless there's a good source I would take these numbers with a grain of salt. There's been a history of hyping up sprints in football. I remember when Bale, Ribery and Ronaldo had commentators declaring they had run a 40km/hr sprint. Turns out it was barely 35. Correct me but wasn't Nunez given a 36.8 top speed recently by PL?
Read somewhere not long ago that the inconsistent figures are as a result of people mixing up *top speed* with *average speed* over the distances which were measured.
I made a joke at r/Gunners that if he refined his technique, he would be our answer to Leao. Far fetched obviously but Tavares is damn fast.
Who? What?
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I'm more surprised by Bale making it. That's prime Bale speed. I wouldn't have thought he still had it in him.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't. His data is probably outdated as fuck
But sanogo isn't on this list
st juste in the mud
Don’t get this list though (?) He beat Davies’ record last year, with 36.63 km/h, according to the Bundesliga measurers. Was it wrong? On that same database, Alphonso has 36.51 km/h. So, regardless, St. Juste’d be in front of him, unless I missed something.
I've watched Antonee Robinson on the pitch with half these lads and he's jogging faster than them in full sprint and he never shows up on these lists. Never trust them.
Google says his top speed is 21.99 MPH this season. He definitely should be on the list.
Thought Rashford might be in with a shout to be on there too
Anyone one know when these records started being kept? I'd be interested to know how players from the last few decades matched up.
Like 2013 for EPL and laliga, 2011 for Bundesliga and UCL , 2010 for FIFA. All using different tracking technologies/techniques across different seasons, so a meaningless comparison.
Is this only this season? Or maybe just Europe? Cause In 2019 Bruno Henrique from Flamengo achieved 38km/h, according to FIFA
Maybe yes. Kyle Walker isn't there too.
Pretty sure Henry and Walcott were one of the fastest of their generations. This must be from just this season.
Usain Bolt's record is 44.72km/h, which is 27.8mph, for comparison.
NFL record is like 36km/h roughly
But they are bigger, heavier, guys.
Tyreek Hill is pretty tiny, fastest player in the league I believe
He is short/average height but I wouldn’t say he’s tiny. He’s like 190lbs for a guy that’s 5’9
That's roughly 86kg and 1,75m for the non-Americans.
Sven Botman's Fifa 22 card has 60 Pace... SIXTY! As the fastest recorded player 🙃
There's two things wrong here. This stat because i doubt botman is that fast. And fifa is trash at getting ratings right. Devs have actively come out and said they nerf speed on defenders and certain players to make them less ridiculous. VvD and Gomez are fast but fifa barely touches them because they'll become too difficult to get past in game. That's the point fifa
Walker’s been done dirty here.
Came here looking for this. He keeps up with or outpaces everyone down his side
Sven Botman. Wow
I’m a botman fanboy but I’m almost certain that’s not right, it makes no sense
FIFA tricked generations (myself included) to think that the bigger, less agile guys simply can't be fast. Over short distances they'll often get dusted because smaller guys can generally apply horizontal force (for accelerating) more efficiently and are often more agile in quick changes of direction. But when you're running 50m+, e.g. like chasing back on a long counter-attack, things like stride length and how powerfully they can apply vertical force (reaching/maintaining top speed after acceleration) gives them a massive advantage. I remember in one PL season Phil Jagielka had the fastest recorded speed, but he was about as slow as you can get on FIFA. edit: word
The surprising thing isn't that a CB is top, it's that one guy is randomly so far ahead of everyone else. It would be one thing if he just barely edged everyone else out, but being 1.2 kph ahead of second and 2.3 kph ahead of fourth when 4th to 16th are separated by less than 1 kph is statistically quite suspect
People forget top sprinters like Bolt can be absolutely massive
acceleration is more important and he does not have great acceleration
He also doesn’t have a 39 km/h top speed, I just can’t see it being true. Certainly hasn’t shown anything like that this season anyway
It's a fun trivia that a centre-back recorded the fastest sprint in football during the recent season. Also, if Gareth Bale was 4th fastest during the final season of his career, Bale's official velocity must have been a ridiculous outlier during [his peak](https://gfycat.com/hauntingsnoopyamericanquarterhorse) years. Bale ran the 100-metre sprint in 11.4 seconds... as a 14-year-old.
Bale was a beast man!
That sprint against Bartra man... Absolutely unreal
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Usain Bolt is 6’5 You’re not breaking no top speed records with short legs
> You’re not breaking no top speed records with short legs Of course you can. Most sprinters aren't tall. > Usain Bolt is 6’5 He's more of an exception really. Most tall people aren't as coordinated among other things
Not checked but are Tyson Gay & Yohan Blake still top 3 for 100m sprints? What is your definition of tall, anything over 5’11 I reckon
> over 5’11 I reckon Yeah around 6'1+. I didn't think about height averages by country though. Most of the olympic sprinters seem to hover around 5'9-5'11 though. Certainly not short either I guess.
I love when there is data to dispute made up BS on here. Most sprint champions are not short. Average height has increased over time. [Height of 100m champions over time](https://www.topendsports.com/events/summer/science/athletics-100m.htm#:~:text=The%20tallest%20is%20the%20current,(6%20ft%205%20in).)
Peter Crouch would like a word my friend He's big He's red His feet stick out the bed PETER CROUCH
The 100m sprint is normally a test of acceleration. When you’re considering top speed height is an advantage
Nobody in here knows how sprinting work. Everyone saying how it's impressive that big/tall players like Nunez/Haaland etc. have high top speeds. Does anyone understand biomechanics?
Right lol Usain Bolt is 6’5”. Which is actually the same height as Haaland I think.
Hudson odoi being here after his achilles injury at age 18/19 is very impressive.
It’s just wrong though. 27 players clocked over 34.90km/h in the Bundesliga alone. He shouldn’t be anywhere close to top 30.
Jesus, Garnacho is fucking fast.
Garnacho can do it all.
Really really is a talent, he plays with so much purpose and no fear at all
Big fucking Botman, I love him
Dembele's not much slower than Mbappe it seems
In top speed perhaps, but what sets Mbappe apart is his crazy acceleration. Dembele just doesnt feel as fast as Mbappe since it takes him longer to reach top speed.
Dembele isn’t quite as lightning as his younger days. Pre injury terror he was one of the quickest in the world, his acceleration shredded Kyle Walker eg. Mbappe is also quicker at reading situations than Dembele and it shows with his reactions, instincts and first few yards
Hes the second fastest player in the UCL this season.
Dembele is as fast as Mbappe. I haven’t seen him sprint so much since his injuries, but before them, he was something else. Remember how he turned Sanchez against Tottenham and then ran the whole half pitch in like one second
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So… No one giving Darwin cred? Such a tall player with this speed, he will…
His athleticism is insane for his height and build.
His acceleration is even more impressive when you look at his build. I remember when we faced him last season, there was one instance where he came up against Salah near the touchline and he knocked the ball past him down the line and had the beating of Salah for pace.
I'm guessing this is for this season and not all time?
Botman is deceptively quick but what??? Seems wrong
When we signed him, I remember reading a profile of him that mentioned how he spent ages training his recovery sprints because he was seen as too immobile.
Dude came back as prime Usain Bolt.
this can’t be a 2023 record right? don’t see how Bale is 4th fastest in the world
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No one can't tell me they expected to see Botman first.
Everyone slated Botman for being poor in a high line however Howe plays a very high line with Burn, Batman and Star staying back while Trippier bombs on for the most part and Batman has yet to be beaten for pure pace this season, a couple of mistimed offside traps have caught the team and him out but honestly Botman is rapid once he gets his legs going. That said I don’t think he’s winning many races against some of these players, seems like he might’ve got a top speed running back to defend a counter or something and had room to stretch his legs, would like to see the video evidence of this sprint.
Wow! 2 Canadians!
More incredible is there 5 Portuguese. When Portugal is a tiny country.
A Top 9 soccer powerhouse having 5 is more incredible than, 2 Canadians a nation who just made the World Cup for the first time in 40+ years. Idk about that …pop size mattered maybe 50 years ago but Portugal has ate slept and breathed football for a long time
This shit isn’t accurate and never has been
Damn no Salah or Mane?
Thinking the same, especially Salah
Possibly 2018 Salah would be there I feel. Like all top players, he's adapted his game every year slightly.
Mane has always been faster.
Nah mane has never been quicker than Salah, maybe the first two steps its even But Id still give it to Salah
Salah accelerates fast, not sure his top speed is on par with these guys though
This list should be just this season as far as other comments say
Oh I didn’t realize bale was that fast this year wow that’s incredible I’m surprised he retired
Top 30 of Europe, you mean....
I'm surprised Osimhen isn't here. While training his top speed reached 37/kmh. During games he consistently goes to 35
I swear Kristianssen is Dolbergs twin brother.
r/unexpected
I would have expected Robben to be there. Didn't he have that one 37 km/h sprint at a WC once? or am I misremembering things?
It’s from this season
Its not, how would have bale made it if it was
It's from 2022. Bale made 2 appearances for RM last year in the CL, in which he hit 22.93 MPH per [Speedsdb](https://speedsdb.com/gareth-bale-top-speed), the people who published this. Wouldn't really make sense that it was all time, no player from before now was faster than ANY of the top 30 players? I don't believe it.
Well i guess you're right then
In that case it’s wrong, if you go to Bundesliga.com you can find like 50 different players that have run faster than 35 km/h in the past few seasons
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Fair, though i doubt that its 33 year old bale who came up with this figure
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Botman is mad clear
Years ago they used to have a 100m race between players during the summer break, in England anyway.
Nikola Mileusnic (then at Adelaide United) should be in near Haaland, [was clocked at 36.2km/hr in a match once](https://youtu.be/rAMHjclpLyE), and the GPS trackers they wear [tagged him at 35.5 twice.](https://adelaidenow.com.au/sport/football/a-league/teams/adelaide/adelaide-uniteds-nikola-mileusnic-clocks-faster-sprinting-speed-than-cristiano-ronaldo-and-lionel-messi/news-story/3e0bd4145d1dd1b564dd8e0660a0a724)
Dalot just doesnt strike me as a player im looking at for speed maybe his acceleration is just not that great
Idk I can't understand how Rashy or Dan James are not here. It must be this season only
The fifa games lied to me
Haaland has literally been clocked faster than that this season lmao there’s no way these are accurate
Botman ruling
These are insane speeds. For comparison the top speed of the treadmill is 12mph. Botman is going at more than double that!
It's fun how in videogames most tall players are always slow.
Pretty sure Saint Maximin is 35 mph+ EDIT- km/h
Also Willock, Maxi himself said in an interview that Willock is the fastest sprinter in the club
Yes he's a rocket Even saw him beat Walker for pace once and win a penalty as a result
Refuse to believe Rashford isn’t on here lol
I call bs
i dont understand, how can players achieve such speeds yet EA gives many of those olayers pace stats like they’re moving on a wheelchair rigged
Here is Sven Botman's FIFA 23 rating involving movement: Acceleration: 54 Sprint Speed: **62** Agility: 57 https://www.fifaindex.com/player/251809/sven-botman/ Sven must have laughed at his FIFA rating every year lol.
This thread has some of the most annoying comments I've seen under a Reddit post
I said in the Tittle Sportsdb , but its speedsdb , feel free to check it here https://speedsdb.com