Article republished on businessofsoccer.com
Earlier this month, Major League Soccer announced and released the first official Castrol Index for MLS. The Castrol Index objectively ranks a player’s performance. It analyzes and tracks every players move, providing statistical data and analysis to fans, players and coaches throughout the season. Prior to the start of the season, Major League Soccer also announced a partnership with Opta, a firm specializing in the collection and distribution of detailed performance data for soccer matches, as the league moves toward providing more information to everyone.
According to the press release between Castrol and Major League Soccer:
Castrol's team of performance analysts use the latest technology to objectively analyze every match in the 2011 MLS season, logging an average of 1,800 player movements per match. The Castrol Index tracks every move on the field and assesses whether it has a negative or positive impact on a team’s ability to score or concede a goal. A key factor for all areas of performance in the Castrol Index is which zone on the pitch the action takes place. The Castrol Index operates on the philosophy that not all passes are created equal; a player’s quality is more than just the goals and shots he generates and individual actions have their own merits. Each player is awarded a score out of 10 to determine the best performing players in MLS over the season.
Brotherly Game's Managing Editor, Scott Kessler, provided the rankings for the Philadelphia Union following their release by Major League Soccer. Almost immediately prior to the announcement of the Castrol Index, the MLS Players Union released the annual report on player salaries and compensation. Reports quickly surfaced that striker, Carlos Ruiz, was earning more than $300,000 during the 2011 regular season, placing him second among the Union's payroll and seventh in the performance index. However, it is Faryd Mondragon that leads the club in earnings with nearly $400,000 despite falling to fourth in performance.
It is more important to note that seven players on the Union's payroll have yet to see playing time. While for many of these players, (Richter, Houapeu, Holder, Agorsor and Pfeffer) they are hoping to earn minutes while earning the league's minimum salary. However, two players, Gonzalez and MacMath, are occupying a large portion of the club's salaries. As Kessler noted in an earlier article, Gonzalez continues to be an expensive 'paperweight' at $193,000 (6% of the entire team). 2011 SuperDraft selection, MacMath, has yet to see the pitch while fulfilling the role of the Union's number two goalkeeper.
| Club | Last Name | First Name | Position | Base Salary | Guaranteed Compensation | Castrol Index - Score |
| PHI | Califf | Daniel | D | 250,000.00 | 250,000.00 | 8.94 |
| PHI | Valdes | Carlos | D | 180,000.00 | 180,000.00 | 8.13 |
| PHI | Harvey | Jordan | D | 61,875.00 | 63,125.00 | 8.08 |
| PHI | Mondragon | Faryd | GK | 230,000.00 | 396,666.67 | 7.82 |
| PHI | Williams | Sheanon | F | 42,000.00 | 42,000.00 | 7.81 |
| PHI | Miglioranzi | Stefani | M | 130,000.00 | 153,125.00 | 7.1 |
| PHI | Ruiz | Carlos | F | 260,004.00 | 306,670.67 | 6.88 |
| PHI | Le Toux | Sebastian | M | 155,000.00 | 179,000.00 | 6.62 |
| PHI | Daniel | Keon | M | 42,000.00 | 46,410.00 | 5.97 |
| PHI | Carroll | Brian | M | 160,000.00 | 160,000.00 | 5.82 |
| PHI | Okugo | Amobi | M | 85,000.00 | 168,000.00 | 5.8 |
| PHI | Nakazawa | Kyle | M | 44,000.00 | 44,000.00 | 5.78 |
| PHI | Mwanga | Danny | F | 120,000.00 | 226,250.00 | 5.3 |
| PHI | Torres | Roger | M | 105,600.00 | 108,725.00 | 5.04 |
| PHI | Mapp | Justin | M | 175,000.00 | 183,333.33 | 4.96 |
| PHI | Farfan | Michael | M | 42,000.00 | 79,500.00 | 4.24 |
| PHI | McInerney | Jack | F | 71,250.00 | 135,416.67 | 3.98 |
| PHI | Farfan | Gabriel | M | 42,000.00 | 42,000.00 | 3.8 |
| PHI | Gonzalez | Juan Diego | D | 189,000.00 | 193,462.50 | 0 |
| PHI | MacMath | Zac | GK | 80,000.00 | 125,000.00 | 0 |
| PHI | Pfeffer | Zach | M | 55,000.00 | 65,000.00 | 0 |
| PHI | Agorsor | Christopher | F | 42,000.00 | 42,000.00 | 0 |
| PHI | Holder | Thorne | GK | 42,000.00 | 42,000.00 | 0 |
| PHI | Houapeu | Levi | F | 32,604.00 | 32,604.00 | 0 |
| PHI | Richter | Ryan | F | 32,604.00 | 32,604.00 | 0 |
| Last updated 5/12/2011 | ||||||
As the season continues and the Castrol Index proves to provide more accurate data and fair analysis of players' performance, coaches and management may be better able to utilize this information with regards to player salaries and compensation for future seasons. What do you think about the player rankings alongside the compensation?
For more information on the Castrol Index and for full rankings, click here.