Few would be forgiven for pitting the image of retirement with Stoke City striker Peter Crouch as he uploaded an image of him in some resort standing in front of a couple of giraffes as he captioned the picture as spending time with “family.”
The England international apart from his reputation for light-hearted jokes, represents the rare breed of professionals playing right into the deep end of their career in a league as hostile as England’s while still managing to remain relevant.
He also belong to the class of those who appear as peripheral figures in squads yet a close look underneath such projections shows a decent string of achievements.
Even if he will never be a 20-goal per season striker, Crouch has managed to get by through using his stature by making sure opponents get wearied out by the number of crosses into their 18-yard box as Mark Hughes men love using the lanky old guy as a plan B in most of their encounters with stubborn defences.
An average of 10 goals per season since joining Stoke 6 years ago serve as a cherry on top of the cake of his presence and value to their attack.
Come next season the 36-year old will continue from where he left off, with Stoke of course, quietly racking up bits of chances which just like his career, add up to statistics worth more than a shrug-off acknowledgement.
Like a silhouette shows nothing and everything at the same time, Peter Crouch in playing the game of here and there morphing him into a tall stick of a traveler has ensured that he remains the kind of player who will have you asking where he is even after retirement. That is the cost of being in and out of the shadows for over a decade.