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Are you familiar with the Castrol Index? On the MLS league website, it is described as "the Official Performance Index of Major League Soccer and uses the latest technology to objectively analyze player performance to help you see soccer from a completely different perspective." Yeah, I realize it's not very specific. The description goes on to explain that MLS and Opta data to calculate point values for players, regardless of playing position. As with any rankings or calculations that fail to actually share methodology publicly, they should be taken with a grain of salt.
That said, I was curious to see how Chivas USA's players currently stack up on the Castrol Index. Do the calculations match visual and anecdotal evidence of player performance? Let's take a look.
A player who ought to be considered among Chivas' most important so far this season, Dan Kennedy, ranks the highest among his teammates, at 25th overall. He has held considerable responsibility for Chivas' victories, and I don't believe he's been responsible for their losses. So to me, it seems justified that Kennedy should rank highest.
Here is the full list of Chivas' players to this point in the season:25. Dan Kennedy
35. Alejandro Moreno
49. Heath Pearce
52. James Riley
80. Oswaldo Minda
92. Ryan Smith
112. Ante Jazic
114. Rauwshan McKenzie
164. Laurent Courtois
190. Nick LaBrocca
200. Casey Townsend
225. Peter Vagenas
229. Miller Bolanos
253. Ben Zemanski
276. Juan Pablo Angel
282. Cesar Romero
295. Paolo Cardozo
297. Blair Gavin
340. Scott Gordon
The rankings currently stretch to 369 players. Once again, I want to emphasize that this is a ranking that needs to be taken with a grain of salt, especially considering the fact that the methods are obscured. But it gives us another snapshot of player performance from a different perspective.
By the way, who leads the Index? Thierry Henry. Considering he's an MVP candidate at this point who will have to contend with a dysfunctional club and poor defense that could derail his accomplishments, it seems justified at this point.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!