On Monday, MLSSoccer.com began counting down the 2013 rankings in the site's popular "24 under 24" series to showcase the best young players in Major League Soccer. Players under the age of 24 as of MLS Cup on Dec. 7, 2013 are eligible and the rankings reflect the votes from MLSsoccer.com Editors and a Media Panel based on these criteria.
But what if there were a more objective way? Say, an official performance index of Major League Soccer that uses the latest technology to analyze every move of every match and crunch all that data to award each player a regularly updated score. Well yes, that would be the MLS Castrol Index. Check out the list below to see how the top "24 under 24" in MLS would rank based on their system.
Diego Fagundez (NE) - 742, No. 8 overall
Fifteen teams are represented on the list above with the Philadelphia Union leading all clubs with four players (all in the top 13). The four teams without a player on the chart (highest rated eligible player in parentheses)?
- Vancouver Whitecaps (Russell Teibert - 484, No. 123 overall)
- D.C. United (Kyle Porter - 470, No. 141 overall)
- Columbus Crew (Chad Barson - 449, No. 165 overall)
- New York Red Bulls* (Ruben Bover Izquierdo - 23, No. 423 overall)
*In 2013, players under the age of 24 as of 12/7/13 have logged a combined total of 221 minutes for the first place Red Bulls -- the fewest among all teams in Major League Soccer.
Fans can check out MLSSoccer.com's full "24 Under 24" 2013 rankings as they're released throughout the week.
