[size=15pt]Castrol Rankings rate Thierry Henry world's No.1 soccer player[/size]

MOVE over Ronaldo - not to mention Torres, Messi and Gerrard. They all have their supporters to be considered the most influential player in the world but one man now has the statistics to be able to make that claim authoritatively.
Step forward Thierry Henry - World Cup winner, EPL champion, Champions League victor, and now rated the most effective player of the past 12 months.

Henry, whose second season at Barcelona after he left Arsenal saw them win a unique treble of the Spanish league and cup and then the Champions League, heads a list of players from the Catalan club dominating the first listings from the Castrol Rankings, a FIFA-endorsed analysis system launched yesterday in the Spanish capital.

The rankings are based on highly advanced technology that measures every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players and games, covering the top five leagues in Europe and the Champions League, updated monthly, and they point to a possible shift in the balance of power across Europe. Nine of the top 20 players play in Spain's La Liga, while just five - Torres (5th), Nemanja Vidic (12th), Frank Lampard (14th), Steven Gerrard (17th), and Emmanuel Adebayor (18th) - are from the EPL.

It marks a remarkable return to form for a player seen to be treading water towards the end of his time at Arsenal, but who now at 32 seems if anything at the height of his powers.

Barcelona's attacking trident of Henry, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto - the latter pair second and sixth respectively on the rankings - produced an astonishing tally of 100 goals between them as the Spanish giants swept all before them last season.

The number of Barcelona players in the rankings is testament to that, with defenders Gerard Pique, Rafael Marquez and Carles Puyol all making the top 10.

Cristiano Ronaldo has to accept third on the back of his achievements with Manchester United - beaten by Barcelona in last year's Champions League final - and, since his $160m transfer, for Real Madrid so far this season.

Liverpool's Fernando Torres comes in fifth, with the figures underpinning the rankings showing that he converts a remarkable 22 per cent of the chances he receives for Liverpool.


Thierry Henry’s efforts in front of goal are what have made him the stand-out player of the last year. The French international scored five goals and provided three assists during Barca’s successful Champions League campaign and has contributed a further 18 goals and eight assists in La Liga during the 12-month period all of which have helped him become the world’s best performing player.

The key to Henry’s success has been the accuracy of his shooting with the forward finding the target with an impressive 70% of his shots compared to an average of 42% across the five main European leagues.

The irony of there being five Barcelona players in the top 10 of a system launched in Madrid, home of their their fiercest rivals, was not lost on Real's Cristiano Ronaldo, a Castrol Global Ambassador who admitted he is now gunning for Henry and determined to claim top spot for himself soon. “The Castrol Rankings is the ranking that every player wants to top,” said the Portuguese winger. “If you can be number one on the Castrol Rankings there can be no arguments, as it is based on fact, not opinion. That’s why I’m aiming for the number one spot – to prove I’m the best!”  [size=13pt]GBAM!!![/size]

see full list here: http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/  note how Alves is #11 and Maicon is # 140. Evra is #92, Drogba is #73, Ronaldinho is #908  , Rooney is #31 . "80 million euro man" Ribery is #40  , Van Persie is # 38

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This is not about hype, subjectivity, bias etc . . . this is about measured performance and efficiency!!!

[size=16pt]DISCUSS!!![/size]   

Vidic No 12

Barca dominating all aspects of this football thingy.

Any ranking that has Luca Toni on it is a joke. WTF!!! did i just see pizarro. Fidel Castro had better channell cuba's money into better things!!!

krayola why ? What did we ever do to you ?
Why did have to go and find this obscure material no matter how authoritative it might or might not be ?
You've just given the Grand Wizard of the KKK mayor of the town.
Lucatoni ? Klose ?? Dzeko You should have just closed the EPL threads.

Any ranking that has Adebayor in the top-20 considering his lazy performances for Arsenal last season is a joke.

WTF! Did I see Luca Toni and Pizzaro in there?

And Ronaldinho 908

What kinda rating is this?

The ranking does not favour central midfielders at all. . . .Lamps and Gerrard are the only midfielders in the top 20. . . . no Xavi, no Iniesta. . . . this ranking is officially rubbish!

what is luca Toni, Pizzaro, Marquez all doing up there (top 20) and thierry henry ahead of CR7 and messi , this is a joke

Maicon at 140 is the pick of the lot.
the folks responsible for this should have all their limbs cut off. . . right before they are used to beat them to death.

hahahahah.

Numbers don't have emotions and they don't pick favorites. Xavi and Iniesta do a lot of passing, but not much defending, tackling, scoring. Xavi takes freekicks sometimes but not a lot. So from a statistical standpoint, i can understand why Lampard and Gerrard are ahead of them.

I understand how u guys feel. . .some of it does not add up to me too. But dismissing stuff just because u disagree with it is the height of intellectial laziness IMO. It's like dogmatic religious people that insist everyone outside their circle is lost. Let's analyse the info. . .quit this insecure bullshit y'all are pullin.

Why can't Toni and Pizarro be in there? because u don't like them? abegi jare. . na jealousy dey catch una 

Krayola,
I have my own ranking,and Chritian Chukwu is at the top of the list.
All these rankings sef.Who are these castrol donkeys?

Krayola
u know, because they tell u they've taken every little statistic into consideration, doesnt mean they actually have.
Unless talking about beyonce improves ur stats, adebayor has no business in the TOP 1000! Now where did they rank him again?

Nuff said - objective, calculated rankings not based on empty boasting and loud mouthed hype of the English press.

Anybody can rank anything.
Bullshit.

Henry is good though.
One of the best.

Pizzaro number 10?
This confirms the ranking is a joke.

This ranking is as wack as anything. . . .

Henry is number 1 based on what?
How many goals has he scored since joining Barcelona, how many assists?
In the triumvirate of Messi, Henry and Etoo last season, Thierry Henry was the WEAKEST.

Henry gets 70% of his shots on target. The average is 42%. He gets more assists than anyone else, tracks back and puts in tackles, wins lots of corners and free kicks. He doesn't do tricks but he works his ass off.

I wish they would use this method to compare Ronaldo lima and Henry. I want to put this shit to rest once and for all.

Thierry Henry is the best football player of our generation!!! 

Krayola:

Henry gets 70% of his shots on target. The average is 42%. He gets more assists than anyone else, tracks back and puts in tackles, wins lots of corners and free kicks. He doesn't do tricks but he works his ass off.

I wish they would use this method to compare Ronaldo lima and Henry. I want to put this shit to rest once and for all.

Thierry Henry is the best football player of our generation!!! 

I laugh in Swahili(John O'Shea gets 98% of his shots on target). He should be up there too.
Henry is not better than ageing Ryan Giggs.
He is just lucky to be a French player.

I should be top of the list. . . . my conversion rate is 100%. . . . I have taken 0 shots and scored 0 goals.

Check the list on the website. You can sort by position, by league and position, nationality, etc. Its pretty neat. Keita is up there in the top 10 midfielders. Explains why Pep likes him so much. I never rated him very highly but Pep likes him a lot. Berbatov and Rooney are in the top 20 forwards, ahead of Ibrahimovic. . and some of the numbers are pretty close together. This list tells a lot. ,  I think u guys should give it a second look and stop being so dismissive. .  

Check the ranking of forwards in the EPL http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/?position=1&nation=&team=&comp=9#label

Krayola:

Check the list on the website. You can sort by position, by league and position, nationality, etc. Its pretty neat. Keita is up there in the top 10 midfielders. Explains why Pep likes him so much. I never rated him very highly but Pep likes him a lot. Berbatov and Rooney are in the top 20 forwards, ahead of Ibrahimovic. . and some of the numbers are pretty close together. This list tells a lot. ,   I think u guys should give it a second look and stop being so dismissive. .  

Check the ranking of forwards in the EPL http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/?position=1&nation=&team=&comp=9#label

So Van Persie is better than Drogba?
Cheese n Rice!!!! This is as shitty as ACTIM Index.
I love stats but sometimes it can be over-analysed. I will just stick to number of goals/number of goal assists.
Castrolfootball are buncha rogues.

Drogba didn't do shit last season.

Robin van Persie alone hit the post more times than any TEAM in the league last season(except arsenal for obvious reasons). . . those efforts are considered OFF TARGET. but i can bet my house they are better efforts than the back passes henry has been giving keepers for the last 3 seasons, which are considered ON TARGET. How deceptive stats can be?
Lampard is a better player than zidane if we go by stats. How absurd?
Only a world class slowpoke believes stats paint the jpeg

Krayola:

Drogba didn't do shit last season.

So Adebayor of Arsenal last season was better than Grafite? Better than Rooney??

U guys are so lame. If u are going to dismiss stuff at least give decent reasons. Just because you disagree with something doesn't make it wrong. If u can't give a good reason for dismissing it the issue is with you, and not the ranking.

It is a STATISTICAL ranking. Of course i think Iniesta is better than Lampard. But maybe OVERALL he isn't. Just cause I disagree with it doesn't make me right. I think Ibrahimovic is better than Rooney or berbatov. But this measures everything they do on the pitch. . . and not just when they have the ball, and hiw many goals they scored. HOW MUCH MEASUREABLE VALUE DO THEY ADD TO THE OVERALL TEAM PERFORMANCE!!

~Sauron~:

So Adebayor of Arsenal last season was better than Grafite? Better than Rooney??

Why not?

~Sauron~:

So Adebayor of Arsenal last season was better than Grafite? Better than Rooney??

Yes - based on the statistics used to compile the rankings. You CANNOT argue blindly in this regard.

Based on the measures used, Henry is the best - end of story. Leave your personal bias at the door.

Krayola:

U guys are so lame. If u are going to dismiss stuff at least give decent reasons. Just because you disagree with something doesn't make it wrong. If u can't give a good reason for dismissing it the issue is with you, and not the ranking.

It is a STATISTICAL ranking. Of course i think Iniesta is better than Lampard. But maybe OVERALL he isn't. Just cause I disagree with it doesn't make me right. I think Ibrahimovic is better than Rooney or berbatov. But this measures everything they do on the pitch. . . and not just when they have the ball, and hiw many goals they scored. HOW MUCH MEASUREABLE VALUE DO THEY ADD TO THE OVERALL TEAM PERFORMANCE!!

U are chatting poppycocks.

I am a fan of statistics but i will be the first to tell you this ranking is as useless as a used condom.
Contribution/measurable value and all the other indices can only be measured by the number of goals and goal assists. Nothing else.
If we are to go by that, Henry is not even in the top 10 strikers in Europe last season.

debosky:

Yes - based on the statistics used to compile the rankings. You CANNOT argue blindly in this regard.

Based on the measures used, Henry is the best - end of story. Leave your personal bias at the door.

What was the statistics used. How did they compile it?
Let em show us where the numbers came from. Is it based on Henry's past achievements for France or Arsenal?
Is it based on just last season's performance where Henry's absence in the Barcelona team is like Man Utd missing O'Shea?

~Sauron~:

What was the statistics used. How did they compile it?
Let em show us where the numbers came from. Is it based on Henry's past achievements for France or Arsenal?
Is it based on just last season's performance where Henry's absence in the Barcelona team is like Man Utd missing O'Shea?

Stop being an ignorant mutt and go watch the video on the Castrol site - it's clearly explained there for you.

http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/about/

Even Ronaldo agrees Henry was better than him.

Ibime:

I should be top of the list. . . . my conversion rate is 100%. . . . I have taken 0 shots and scored 0 goals.

Another mumu - do you play in the top 5 leagues in Europe?

debosky:

Stop being an ignorant mutt and go watch the video on the Castrol site - it's clearly explained there for you.
http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/about/

The video graphics explained nothing.
Analysing players based on their mileage and ball control is what you wanna accept like an Italian prostitute?
You have the mental capacity of a culex mosquito.

Even Ronaldo agrees Henry was better than him. 

Yea right!!!