They say goalscoring is the hardest job in soccer, but that does a disservice to the industrious and selfless nature of creators.
Goalscorers will always grab the headlines, yet the work of supplying the chances shouldn’t go unnoticed.Let me provide some useful information on assists and their significance to soccer.
So, what is an assist in soccer?
In soccer, an assist is the pass or touch that’s played directly into a subsequent goalscorer. MLS actually credits two players with an assist (assuming two players are directly involved in the goal’s build-up), as does ice hockey.
However, in virtually every other soccer league globally, there’s only ever one person officially credited with an assist.
Any player on the field can be credited with an assist, even a goalkeeper. Defenders, midfielders, and forwards all chip in with assists regularly.
The pass, cross, or touch that leads to a teammate scoring doesn’t have to be intentional for it to count as an assist.
Frequently players are aiming for other teammates to latch onto the end of their cross but instead find an unintended target who’s better placed to finish the chance.
Why are assists in soccer important?
Without creative players feeding them, forwards would be presented with fewer goalscoring opportunities.
Assists are crucial to your side in creating goalscoring opportunities. If forwards were forced into generating every single attack themselves, we’d probably only see ambitious solo dribbles and failed attempts to slalom through defenders.
Instead, players can rely on their teammates to build attacks and serve up opportunities, presenting better goalscoring chances.
Critics of the growing obsession with statistics in the beautiful game claim that the more we microscopically analyze soccer through increasingly obscure data, the more we detract from what really decides games: who puts the ball in the net.
There’s an argument to be made about how detrimental poor finishing can be on assist numbers.
It’s not the fault of the passer that a striker has missed an opportunity. A team could have an ensemble of creative talent but lack a clinical forward who’d score the chances created for them.For this reason, many within the industry believe that xA (expected assists) is a fairer gauge of the quality of chances that players are creating.
Is there an award for most assists in a season?
While many leagues recognize the top assister in a given campaign in their list of statistics, it appears that few actually present a physical award.
In the Premier League, for instance, the person who achieves the highest number of assists within a season receives the Playmaker of the Year award.
This Premier League award, despite all its acclaim, has only existed for five seasons. Nowadays, it’s a renowned accolade celebrating the creators within the division.
Currently, there is no award given to the player with the most assists in either the Champions League or MLS campaigns. This seems to be the same throughout many European leagues as well.
Can you get an assist for a penalty in soccer?
Typically, if a penalty is scored, the player who won the penalty kick isn’t credited with an assist.
Official records don’t tend to count fouls as a form of assisting, meaning scored penalties are often recorded as unassisted.
Your fantasy league, depending on which one you play in, may differ. Depending on the type of infringement, the official Premier League fantasy system rewards the fouled player with assist points.
However, did you realise you can pass a penalty kick in soccer? In this instance, if you passed the penalty to a teammate who then scored a goal, you would register an assist in your name!
Do assists count for own goals in soccer?
Much like penalties, own goals aren’t usually accredited with assists.
This might seem unfair on a player who’s potentially put as much, if not more, work into forcing their opponent into a mistake than someone who’s teed up their teammate.
Again, fantasy operators are much more lenient and will often accredit the last player to touch the ball for the scoring team with the assist.
Assists and fantasy soccer
It’s quite straightforward regarding the official Fantasy Premier League (FPL) system: if an opposition player doesn’t touch the ball in between the goalscorer and the previous player, the supplier gets credited with an assist.
This doesn’t have to be an intentional touch, nor does the pass have to be aimed at any specific person. FPL scoring systems are more generous when it comes to assists than the official records.
Players who are fouled in the penalty box are often credited with an assist because their contribution is crucial to the goal being scored. Nobody will be awarded an assist if the same player wins and converts the penalty, though.
The same logic applies to own goals; if it weren’t for the attacking player, the defending player’s mistake is less likely to occur.
There is subjectivity when it comes to the awarding of assists, however.
When a shot is rebounded out to another player from the initial shooter via a goalkeeper’s save or the frame of the goal, the original shooter will often be accredited with the assist.
Let’s say a shot at goal is attempted by Player A, but the effort is blocked by a defender, yet the ball falls to Player B, who then scores without interference – this would count as an assist in FPL.
Yet perhaps confusingly, if the connection by Player A is deemed a cross rather than a shot, and the ball is similarly blocked or deflected to Player B, who then scores, you wouldn’t be awarded the assist points as per FPL rules.
This seems a bit odd because a cross is clearly an attempt to assist somebody when a shot isn’t, but this is how the fantasy organizers distinguish them.
Who has the most assists in world soccer?
Former Wales international Ryan Giggs holds the all-time Premier League record for most assists, thanks largely to the longevity of the Manchester United icon.
Unsurprisingly, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne sits top of this season’s Premier League assists chart, supplying eight goals to teammates, double the amount of next on the list.
The Belgian, along with soccer legend Thierry Henry, holds the Premier League record for the highest number of assists in a season with 20.
Back Stateside, FC Cinncinati’s Luciano Acosta is this term’s top provider so far, with an impressive 18. He has some way to go to catch up with the 32 assists that Carlos Valderrama and Sacha Kljestan each recorded in a single campaign.
Remember, however, that MLS records include secondary assists.As of March this year, Brazilian star Neymar Jr. holds the record for the most assists in international soccer, pipping Lionel Messi to the feat.
It’s important to bear in mind that assists have only begun being recorded relatively recently, so players of bygone eras might not be included in such data. Even so, 51 assists for his country is an astounding number for a player who contributes a lot of goals too.
Recap: Assists in soccer revealed
Now that you know what assists are, you have a more informed choice when selecting your fantasy team. Or maybe you’re looking to pick up some tips from the best creators in the game.
Either way, it’s about time we showed some love to those who make goals possible.