CASTROL EDGE RANKINGS ANALYSIS

Lionel Messi still leads the way as Europe’s most outstanding player in the August 2010 Castrol Rankings, the ONLY objective football rankings system which measures the performance of EVERY player in the world’s top five leagues over the past 12 months.

Why is Lionel Messi top of the Castrol Rankings?

Lionel Messi may have had a subdued FIFA World Cup™, but he enjoyed another successful season at club level as Barcelona won La Liga last season with a record number of points. The mercurial forward has scored 35 league goals and laid on 10 assists in the league in the last 12 months, plus he has netted eight Champions League goals to make it 53 goals he has been directly involved in – more than any other player in Europe.

Which player has made the most dramatic rise?

One of the biggest movers into the top 10 is Florent Malouda. Like many others in the top 10, the Frenchman also had a FIFA World Cup™ to forget, but he has been taking out his frustration on Premier League defences by scoring four goals from just four shots on target at the start of this season. After scoring just eight goals and laying on three assists in his first two seasons in England, his form over the last 12 months has been inspired and a significant improvement on his past performance in the league - he has netted 16 goals and set up 10 more in the Premier League in the last 12 months.

Who has made the most dramatic drop?

One of the biggest fallers in the Castrol Rankings is Fernando Torres who has dropped from 7 to 49. Torres had a good August in 2009 scoring three goals in four games, but the points earned from those games have now dropped out of his 12-month score on which the Castrol Rankings are based. Also Torres only scored one goal in three games last month, hence his drop in position.

In addition, a player’s Castrol Rankings score takes into account the amount of minutes they have played. When a player is injured, the number of minutes they play naturally decreases, then so too does their Castrol Ranking. This means that Torres’ injury problems from last year are also contributing to his lower Castrol Rankings score.

Why is Marcus Hahnemann the top rated goalkeeper in Europe?

Marcus Hahnemann is currently ranked as the top goalkeeper in Europe according to the Castrol Rankings. This may seem unusual given that he plays for one of the Premier League’s lesser teams (Wolves), but he has saved 78% of shots he faced in the last 12 months – far better than the league’s 69.5% average. Before Hahnemann came into the side, Wolves were conceding two goals per game. This improved to 1.18 per match after his selection and this improvement helped Wolves to retain their Premier League status. The American is also making a save every 22 minutes on average – the most prolific rate in the Premier League.

Why are there no Inter players in the top 20?

Despite being Serie A and Champions League winners, no Inter players appear in the top 50. Inter struggled to qualify from the Group Stages of the Champions League and scored only 17 goals in 13 matches in the competition – five other teams scored more. Led by Jose Mourinho last season, whose team’s performances are renowned for being greater than the sum of their parts, no particular Inter player scored highly in the Castrol Rankings despite the team’s success last season. Perhaps this will change now the team is under new management.