It’s always nice to feel a little loved, and it was with much joy that we came across this belated post on hypernarrative.com – which has only just appeared due to temporarily being lost in the drafts section on this rather super site. Extolling the virtues of the abundance of statistics in the game (and notably the Castrol Performance Index), see what Wilbert had to say over here – or in this small snippet.

“I can see that players that should be attacking spend most of their time on the wrong part of the field. This information adds context to the video footage, and it is context only interactive media can add. I don’t have to see this data all the time, I can just open it when I’m interested in how the players are doing. I don’t know if this is what interactive television should be, but I really like how this is adding an extra dimension to live footage.”

There’s more discussion on Xavi too, with those at http://r1ooooo.blogspot.com, keen to point out the benefits of the player of the tournament, as voted by the public on the Castrol Performance Index. Suggesting he was “key for La Furia Roja thanks to his superb short passing game and ability to break down opposition attacks”, he goes on with further praise. “His ability to dictate the pace of the game from midfield was extremely influential. The 28-year-old started in five matches and scored once, against Russia in the semi-final. He also created the goal for Fernando Torres in the final.”

Finally, there is plenty of food for thought over on the Sowetan blog, with a very relevant point for managers looking at picking up a bevy of hard-working journeymen on free transfers this summer. “According to the Castrol performance index website, in the group stage alone, the Romanians were the most energetic, covering 341.6 kilometres on average in three games. Powerful running is obviously not the key to winning however, as neither team made it past the group stage.”

True that!