Graphic: Top of the pops - Europe's finest

Want to choose the player of Euro 2008? You have come to the right place.

The Castrol Performance Index (CPI) has been developed by the Fink Tank's Dr Ian Graham and Dr Henry Stott as the most sophisticated effort yet to rank the impact made by players on a tournament. And now it, and the Fink Tank, has received official recognition. Up to a point, at least.

Now, you know me. I am a data purist. The CPI, as far as I am concerned, tells it like it is. It objectively measures player performance by tracking every move made on the field and giving players appropriately weighted credit for every touch they make that increases or reduces the probability of a goal being scored.

You top that list, you are the player of the tournament in my opinion. End of discussion.

Naturally, though, it isn't. The end of the discussion, I mean. Uefa has decided that the Fink Tank's CPI will aid it in the selection of the official Player of the Tournament but won't determine it. But I give it full credit for even doing that. It is pretty advanced thinking.

Here's how it will work. Fans across Europe will be given the chance to put three players at Euro 2008 on to a shortlist of six. They will be able to vote on castrolindex.com, but will be able to cast their ballot only for a player who has, at some point, been in the CPI top ten for his position.

Once fans have chosen, the Uefa technical team will choose three more players for a shortlist and then pick a winner. On the castrolindex.com site, the CPI is being constantly updated. But the graphic tells you where we've got to so far.

As you can see, David Villa, the Spain striker, has accumulated the largest number of CPI points. And Edwin van der Sar, the Holland goalkeeper, is the runner-up. Neither of these is that surprising. But it is a bit surprising to discover that two Switzerland players, Tranquillo Barnetta and Hakan Yakin, top the list of midfield players.

And at the other end? Well, France's exit is at least partly explained by their goalkeeper, Grégory Coupet, being, by quite some distance, the bottom player on the CPI. The method used to construct the index takes account of whether the goalkeeper could have been expected to make a save or whether the shot was basically unsaveable. Coupet's position, therefore, suggests he was at fault in a number of the goals conceded.

Enough. Now go help the Uefa technical team.