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Football fans across the country were probably left scratching their heads on Monday evening when a study named Liverpool's Dejan Lovren as the best centre-back in the Premier League.
Liverpool fans had high hopes for Lovren when he signed from Southampton for £20million last summer, but his first season at Anfield has widely been regarded as a failure.
Lovren committed a number of errors, was part of a Liverpool team that has conceded just nine fewer goals than relegation-threatened Hull and went through a spell of starting one league game in three months due to his poor form.
But the CIES Football Observatory see things differently. Its annual study into the top five leagues in Europe concluded that the former Lyon defender is better than John Terry, Vincent Kompany and Gary Cahill.
In an explanation of its formula, CIES states: “The starting principle of our approach consists of considering that in football the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Historically, all of the great teams have been able to integrate individual talent in to the collective effort of the team. Individual talent should serve the collective, not the inverse.”
It goes on to explain that: “Individual performance depends heavily on the astute assembly of complementary skills within the framework of the style of play practiced by teams, as well as on the matching of footballers’ characteristics and skills requested to play in a given position with respect to the style of play performed.
“Moreover, individual performance is influenced by the overall set up of teams.”
But Lovren’s inclusion is not the only anomaly.
Despite being involved in a relegation scrap, Sunderland's Patrick van Aanholt is rated as the 15th best full-back in Europe, while Gael Clichy is third and Manchester United's Antonio Valencia fourth.
Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas is regarded as the best "defensive midfielder" on the continent.
Only James Rodriguez is rated as a better attacking midfielder than Chelsea star Eden Hazard. Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson makes the cut for the top 15, sitting in 14th place - 10 places above Manchester City's David Silva.
Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi is listed as Europe's best forward. The Barcelona star tops the strikers' table, followed by his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez. Sergio Aguero is fifth, Diego Costa seventh and Gareth Bale 14th.
