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CASTROL RANKINGS ANALYSIS
CASTROL RANKINGS ANALYSIS RSS Feed
January 08 2010
Retail therapy
Real Madrid and Manchester City must spend their millions on defenders in January.
Cristiano Ronaldo led the wave of big money signings at Real Madrid last summer but the Castrol Rankings show the Spanish giants must strengthen their back four during the January transfer window if they are to overhaul Barcelona in the La Liga title race.
Castrol has applied the same expertise they apply to the development of their oils to create the Castrol Rankings – using objective analysis and highly advanced technology to measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players and games from Europe’s top 5 leagues over the last 12 months.
That analysis shows that while Los Merengues spent around £230m on forward power during the close season, they had keeper Iker Casillas (67) to thank for reaching the turn of the year just two points adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
The arrival of Ronaldo – who tops the December 2009 Castrol Rankings – Kaka (125) and Karim Benzema (104) helped the club score 40 goals up to the turn of the year, the highest tally of any La Liga club.
Defensively, though, Manuel Pellegrini’s side have been far less impressive, underlining why the Spanish side have been linked with a shock move for Manchester United centre back Nemanja Vidic (21), particularly given the serious knee injury suffered by Pepe in mid-December.
Casillas’ defenders have allowed 73 shots on target, a record bettered by seven of their La Liga rivals including Barca’s rock solid backline that has allowed just 44. Fortunately for coach Pellegrini, Casillas has saved 82% of those efforts, a return second only to Valencia’s Cesar Sanchez.
The weakness of Real’s back-four is confirmed in the Castrol Rankings that reveal Pepe to be the club’s highest ranked centre back at 116. With the Portugal international now out for the rest of the season, the first choice central defensive pairing is likely to be Raul Albiol (392) and Ezequiel Garay, whose ranking dropped from 408 to 488 in December.
A move for Barcelona pair Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, the highest placed defenders in the Castrol Rankings, is clearly out of the question, but Pellegrini’s interest in Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic appears to be well founded with the Serb the 11th ranked defender at 42, up 11 places from 53.
Castrol Ambassador Marcel Desailly, a World Cup winner with France, said: “Great goalscorers are hard to find and a striker can transform a club’s season if he hits a run of form. That’s why they are so sought after in the transfer market.
“But a good defensive unit is crucial to any team’s chance of success and the art of team building is to strike the right balance between different parts of the team.
“Supporters want to see goals and signing a centre back might not create the same level of excitement as bringing in a big name striker. But every top coach is always on the look-out for good defenders and this January it looks as though there are a number of centre backs who will be in demand.”
David Villa’s recent announcement that he would now consider a move away from Spain is sure to trigger even more interest in the Valencia striker. Villa, who is a long-term target of Real Madrid, scored 28 goals in La Liga in 2009, the joint-highest of any forward in the top five leagues in Europe and is 6th in the Castrol Rankings.
Like Real Madrid, Manchester City have been on a £200m plus spending spree over the last 18 months and like the Spanish club, they still have significant defensive problems that new manager Roberto Mancini will try to resolve during the transfer window.
Only five teams in the Premier League have allowed their opponents fewer shots on target while 52% of the goals City have conceded have come from set plays - only three of their Premier League rivals have conceded a higher percentage of goals in this way.
Centre backs Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure arrived at the club this summer for a combined fee of around £36m but have been only a limited success. The pair were joint 189 in November’s Castrol Rankings but this month Lescott has dropped to 400 and Toure to 240.
Mancini will have funds to bring in a central defender and he could do worse than target the club’s former centre back Daniel van Buyten who is up to nine places to 9 after emerging as the Bundesliga’s outstanding defender with Bayern Munich.
The new manager could look closer to home to solve another defensive problem. Keeper Shay Given has attracted plenty of praise this season and at 63, is the club’s second highest ranked player in the Castrol Rankings behind striker Emmanuel Adebayor (43). But Given has saved just 65% of shots faced, while Joe Hart, currently on loan at Birmingham City from Manchester City, has stopped 78% and is ranked 28.
Mancini has already made Patrick Vieira his first signing in the hope that the Inter Milan man can add steel to the midfield. But the Castrol Rankings cast doubt on the veteran’s ability to improve Mancini’s line-up with Vieira’s current ranking of 1,488 considerably lower than that of Gareth Barry (291) and Nigel de Jong (449), the players he could replace.
City may part with Robinho who is attracting the attention of Barcelona. Mancini should have no problem sanctioning a move for the Brazilian who has scored only three goals and contributed four assists in the last 12 months, and is currently 577 in the Castrol Rankings.
Castrol has applied the same expertise they apply to the development of their oils to create the Castrol Rankings – using objective analysis and highly advanced technology to measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players and games from Europe’s top 5 leagues over the last 12 months.
That analysis shows that while Los Merengues spent around £230m on forward power during the close season, they had keeper Iker Casillas (67) to thank for reaching the turn of the year just two points adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
The arrival of Ronaldo – who tops the December 2009 Castrol Rankings – Kaka (125) and Karim Benzema (104) helped the club score 40 goals up to the turn of the year, the highest tally of any La Liga club.
Defensively, though, Manuel Pellegrini’s side have been far less impressive, underlining why the Spanish side have been linked with a shock move for Manchester United centre back Nemanja Vidic (21), particularly given the serious knee injury suffered by Pepe in mid-December.
Casillas’ defenders have allowed 73 shots on target, a record bettered by seven of their La Liga rivals including Barca’s rock solid backline that has allowed just 44. Fortunately for coach Pellegrini, Casillas has saved 82% of those efforts, a return second only to Valencia’s Cesar Sanchez.
The weakness of Real’s back-four is confirmed in the Castrol Rankings that reveal Pepe to be the club’s highest ranked centre back at 116. With the Portugal international now out for the rest of the season, the first choice central defensive pairing is likely to be Raul Albiol (392) and Ezequiel Garay, whose ranking dropped from 408 to 488 in December.
A move for Barcelona pair Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, the highest placed defenders in the Castrol Rankings, is clearly out of the question, but Pellegrini’s interest in Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic appears to be well founded with the Serb the 11th ranked defender at 42, up 11 places from 53.
Castrol Ambassador Marcel Desailly, a World Cup winner with France, said: “Great goalscorers are hard to find and a striker can transform a club’s season if he hits a run of form. That’s why they are so sought after in the transfer market.
“But a good defensive unit is crucial to any team’s chance of success and the art of team building is to strike the right balance between different parts of the team.
“Supporters want to see goals and signing a centre back might not create the same level of excitement as bringing in a big name striker. But every top coach is always on the look-out for good defenders and this January it looks as though there are a number of centre backs who will be in demand.”
David Villa’s recent announcement that he would now consider a move away from Spain is sure to trigger even more interest in the Valencia striker. Villa, who is a long-term target of Real Madrid, scored 28 goals in La Liga in 2009, the joint-highest of any forward in the top five leagues in Europe and is 6th in the Castrol Rankings.
Like Real Madrid, Manchester City have been on a £200m plus spending spree over the last 18 months and like the Spanish club, they still have significant defensive problems that new manager Roberto Mancini will try to resolve during the transfer window.
Only five teams in the Premier League have allowed their opponents fewer shots on target while 52% of the goals City have conceded have come from set plays - only three of their Premier League rivals have conceded a higher percentage of goals in this way.
Centre backs Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure arrived at the club this summer for a combined fee of around £36m but have been only a limited success. The pair were joint 189 in November’s Castrol Rankings but this month Lescott has dropped to 400 and Toure to 240.
Mancini will have funds to bring in a central defender and he could do worse than target the club’s former centre back Daniel van Buyten who is up to nine places to 9 after emerging as the Bundesliga’s outstanding defender with Bayern Munich.
The new manager could look closer to home to solve another defensive problem. Keeper Shay Given has attracted plenty of praise this season and at 63, is the club’s second highest ranked player in the Castrol Rankings behind striker Emmanuel Adebayor (43). But Given has saved just 65% of shots faced, while Joe Hart, currently on loan at Birmingham City from Manchester City, has stopped 78% and is ranked 28.
Mancini has already made Patrick Vieira his first signing in the hope that the Inter Milan man can add steel to the midfield. But the Castrol Rankings cast doubt on the veteran’s ability to improve Mancini’s line-up with Vieira’s current ranking of 1,488 considerably lower than that of Gareth Barry (291) and Nigel de Jong (449), the players he could replace.
City may part with Robinho who is attracting the attention of Barcelona. Mancini should have no problem sanctioning a move for the Brazilian who has scored only three goals and contributed four assists in the last 12 months, and is currently 577 in the Castrol Rankings.
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