CASTROL RANKINGS ANALYSIS

Michael Owen’s expert hat-trick in the Champions League against German champions VfL Wolfsburg is the Castrol Edge Performance of the Month for December 2009.

Castrol Performance Analysts have studied every minute of every match in the top five European leagues and the Champions League and Owen’s demonstration of composed finishing has emerged as the best showing by any player over the last month.




The Manchester United striker is keen to impress England coach Fabio Capello in the build up to the FIFA World Cup™ finals and this was the kind of display that could earn Owen a place on the plane to South Africa.

It was the former Liverpool and Real Madrid forward’s second Champions League treble and his goals came from just five attempts on goal. Owen also set up one chance for a colleague while his all round display will have undoubtedly caught the eye of Capello’s scouts.

The forward’s link-up work was excellent and Owen successfully completed 39 of 45 passes, an 87% completion rate, demonstrating how successfully he brought other team-mates into play.

Owen, however, has largely been used as a substitute by United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his limited match action is reflected in his position of 944 in the Castrol Rankings.

Castrol Ambassador and former England striker Alan Shearer said: “Michael has shown time and time again that there are few strikers in the world who are better at making the most of a half chance.

"Michael is fit again and Sir Alex's decision to sign him last summer now looks like a very good move. He has been injury free now for quite a while which is also a bonus."

“He still has a lot of work to do to convince Fabio Capello he should be included in the England squad for South Africa but this is exactly the kind of performance that will make the coach sit up and take notice.

“If he can stay fit and get more opportunities to play, I wouldn’t bet against Michael forcing his way into the squad and if he does get to World Cup finals, he is the kind of player who can make an impact. There are very few players like Michael, in his position, who can cope with the pressure of those situations. One-on-one with a keeper, in a massive game, who would you prefer to be behind the trigger?" 

Interestingly, the top three performances in December all came in away matches.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi posted the second-best display of the month, scoring twice against Deportivo La Coruna at the beginning of December. Messi’s two goals came from nine attempts in the match, five of which were on target, scoring 1,706 Castrol Rankings points and helping the Argentine move up to second place behind Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the overall rankings.

Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic scored two goals and an assist to earn the third-best score of the month with 1,668 Castrol Rankings points, in a 5-1 away win against Vfl Bochum. The performance helped the forward to move up from 72 to 20 in the Castrol Rankings.