By Shaun Fuentes
With maybe the biggest club match of his career coming up on the weekend when Stoke City takes on Manchester City in the English FA Cup final, Kenwyne Jones will head into it being ranged as the fourth best player from CONCACAF in the top five Leagues in Europe currently.
This is according to the Castrol Players ranking system. Jones (rated 406th among all the top players in Europe’s top five leagues) is behind Concacaf leader and American Clint Dempsey who is 76th on the overall list, Mexican Javier Hernandez (92nd) and American Stuart Holden of Bolton Wanderers in 324th spot overall in that order. Among all forwards in the Premiership, Jones, with 12 goals is rated 18th with Robin Van Persie and Dimitar Berbatov holding the top spots.
The Castrol rankings is the world’s first ranking system based on actual performances of the player. The player’s Castrol index score is multiplied by predetermined weighting. The weighting is based on the type of game so the more important the match, the higher the weighting. For example, a UEFA Champions League semi-final will be weighed higher than a Serie A or Premiership match. The result is a Castrol Rankings points total awarded to every player after every match in the season.
The points total is then added to all previous points to provide a cumulative Castrol ranking. This is then divided by the total minutes played over the twelve months and multiplied by 90 to give an average 90 minute score for every player. It analyses player performance, tracking every move on the field and assessing whether it has had a negative or positive impact on the team’s ability to score or concede. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is currently heads the overall pack of all-round performers. The Castrol ranking system is also the official one for the Euro 2012 tournament.
