THE ASSISTKINGS QUARTERLY: RENEGADES OF FUNK
Welcome back to the Assist Kings Quarterly where we obsess and delight in the creative and expressive joys of the game.
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Ok. Here's the list:
10
ANDREW ROBERTSON (Liverpool)
Assists: 8
(with 6 assists in the EPL from 24 appearances, giving Liverpool an assist from Robertson every 4 matches)
Key Passes: 38 (from two competitions, UCL and EPL; rested by Klopp in dom. cup comps.)
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 3
Robertson has expanded his passing arsenal to include on the ground cutback passes that have produced goals, or shots on target that have turned into goals, with the Scottish left back as the conductor of it all.
Yes, at 8 assists and 11 confirmed goals created total, and with the absence of Leroy Sane and Jordi Alba from league play this weekend, we had to include the in form left back who has 2 assists in his last 4 matches, too.
9
PAUL POGBA (Man U)
Assists: 9
Goals: 13
Passes per game: 61.9 in EPL, 57.2 in UCL; 83.8 in EPL, 85.7 in UCL
MOTM Awards: 6 in EPL, 1 in UCL
UncreditedDirectGoalContributions:2
With 5 assists and 8 goals in his last 9 matches, Paul Pogba deserves to finally make one of our lists.
Ever since negative presence and shitty manager Jose Mourinho was finally ousted as Manchester United manager, Paul Pogba has had the shackles freed and has gone absolutely crazy, scoring goals at will (including some penalties that tested his mental toughness) and dishing assists to teammates all over the park.
He has exploded like a meteor across the sky, or like Thanksgiving dinner in John Goodman's pants after watching THX-1138 on acid: the full embellishments and adornments of his game coming to life before our eyes...no more poor, awful United with such cynical defensive and shameful tactics, with the wasted existence of Paul Pogba shaking his head or groaning as he looked on in silence at Mourinho's embarrassing meltdown in the public arena.
It is absolutely bizarre to see this group of United players thriving offensively like this and it isn't a coincidence that this revolution has coincided with perennial cynical-fan's favorite Marouanne Fellaini departing from the club, as well as Ole Gunnar Skolsjaer's positive managerial debut. The midfield balance is finally right enough, not as slow in midfield with the inclusion of Ander Herrera back into the fold more, Pogba has had far more freedom to venture and affect the final third.Pogba has exploded now that he's been given the freedom of the entire team. It is clear, with how much Paul Pogba has to do with the success or failure of the club on the pitch, we now know Man U go as Pogba goes and they've been slightly less boring to watch recently, which...dare I say it....is really hard for me to say.
8
| Sterling gets revenge against the racists from the Chelsea crowd who said nasty things to him, Sterling responded with 2 goals and earning a penalty in a 6-0 destruction of the Londoners. |
Assists:12
Goals: 12
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 5
(Sterling has earned 2 penalties in his last few matches)
Sterling has been notching assists, too, his brace of havoc against Arsenal proving too much for Bernd Leno and Unai Emery's men. Though Sterling is now turning into an all around goal creating machine as well, starving and carving defenses in his wake thanks to the return of the magical abilities and presence of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne only taking Manchester City up another level, with Sterling an ever-present.
In the battle over who makes the starting XI, Sterling or Sane, Raheem Sterling is currently and definitively in front and is as valuable a player for the Guardiola side as any, with his avant garde movement and outrageous pace crippling back lines and confusing the best anticipatory defenders in the game.
7
KYLIAN MBAPPE (PSG)
Assists: 12
Goals: 22
Key Passes: 53
Shots On Target Per match: 3.9 att. 2.2 on target, 66 shots att. 38 on target in Ligue 1, 22 taken 8 on goal in UCL
Uncredited direct goal contributions:5
Has hit the post 3 times
Mbappe provided 2 assists as a substitute in PSG's midweek 3-0 extra time victory in the Coup De France, with both assists being finished off at the tail end of dizzying Mbappe fast breaks.
The weekend match was meant as a rest for Kylian, but due to a 55th minute injury to Edinson Cavani which could spell imminent doom and cannibalism for PSG's UCL hopes, with two legs against a resurgent Man United and now having both Neymar and Cavani out injured, the 20 year old had to make a cameo appearance in the 1-0 PSG victory.
It will be quite a feat if Mbappe single-handedly beats United over 2 legs, though would you doubt him doing it if the right lineup is used by Tuchel to get the best out of him?
6
JOSHUA KIMMICH (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 1
Assists: 12
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 5
Despite creating nothing in the 3-1 victory over Schalke, Kimmich had a thoroughly professional, if not boring performance for once.
He's allowed that.
He registered 0 key passes for one of the first times this season, a true rarity for the always creative right back. But such was his defensive duties against Schalke that he was focusing more on shutting down attacks up his wing then supplementing the Gnabry-Lewandowski partnership with more goals.
Kimmich drops a few spots due to the emergence of a few other creators who notched assists, or posted high numbers of key passes on the weekend.
CRAZY STAT: Kimmich has directly assisted Robert Lewandowski 8 times this season
5
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI
( Bayern Munich )
Goals: 25
Assists: 8
(4 assists in his last 6 matches)
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 4
Shots on Target per game: 1.7 from 4 total
(attempted 24 shots in the UCL with 16 on target and 8 goals)
Lewandowski has been on a creative tear, with the Polish striker directly involved in creating 6 goals since the beginning of 2019, also scoring 3, having multiple matches registering a goal and an assist and his club, Bayern, getting the rewards from his duel threat play.
He has formed vicious partnerships for opponents to deal with: right back Kimmich pinging in crosses to Robert's liking and providing danger all over the pitch. Kimmich and Lewandowski have combined for 8 goals in all competitions, a truly staggering companionship in goal-making; plus, he's nabbed a handful with Leon Goretzka and even 4 with Serge Gnabry.
After the worst World Cup Poland may have ever had, with their best team, and Lewandowski being under-par, we are seeing the best this guy has got.
He has been fired up by the appearance and world grabbing goalscoring talents of fellow Pole, Krystof Piatek, who burst on to the scene with 4 goals and an assist in his first appearance in Italian football, continued to bury goals consistently, then scored on his 2nd international match with Poland and now has moved from Genoa to A.C Milan for semi-big money for a "relative unknown" player. Piatek has only continued to score goals there, too.
Klopp will reunite with his former player when Liverpool take on Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 in the UCL this month, with high stakes and intensity abounding for both clubs, as this could've been a worthy final, let alone a semifinal...but this soon?
We will get into that later.
For now, let's just talk about how Lewandowski seems to do everything from earning penalties (4), to creating own goals (2); he is having his most prolific season in the Champions League too, with 8 goals in the Group Stage, only besting Lionel Messi. He will have to generate and finish those chances for and from his teammates, especially Coman, Kimmich and Gnabry, if Bayern are to get past Liverpool and continue their quest to the Champions League Final.
Lewandowski is what they're all about.
4
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN (Tottenham)
Assists: 11
(9 in the Premier League, 1 in the UCL, 1 in the CC cup)
Goals: 7
Key Passes: 1.9 EPL, 2.4 in the UCL; 60 total including 4 in 4 starts in the CC Cup
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 3
Shots Per Game / Shots on Target: 2.4 in UCL, 2.3 in EPL; 1.7 on target in UCL, 1 in EPL
Eriksen continued his assisting exploits with another Premier League assist, his 9th on the season in the league and also scored from outside of the box against Leicester in the 3-1 Spurs victory (another without Kane) to improbably keep pace in the EPL top four.
The Dane has quietly held his own without his target man, keeping up with Sterling, Fraser and Sane at 2nd place on the EPL assists table, a mean feat considering the carousel of injuries in the Tottenham lineup.
3
EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea)
Assists:10
Goals: 15
Key Passes: 2.7 EPL, 3.7 EUROPA; 93 key passes total in EPL, EUROPA, FA and CC cups
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 4
Chelsea have been outrageously bad as of late, losing 6-0 to Manchester City on Sunday in a thorough spanking by Guardiola's rampant men. The worst part of their time in the doldrums: they've looked like they were moving past the inconsistency, with a crazy 5-0 victory over Everton only a few days before this shocking result (lost to Arsenal 2-0, beat Tottenham 2-1, lose to Bournemouth 4-0, crushed Europa League pushing Everton 5-0 on February 2nd, only to get absolutely debilitated against City on Sunday, to the tune of 6-0.
It was a crazy result, but not one that had any bearing on Eden Hazard's performance: the Belgian created 3 good chances that should've brought his team back to somewhat equal footing, or saved some face before the 3rd goal from City entered the net in only the first 25 minutes.
Still, seeing Hazard rushing at the City defense with the score at 6-0, only minutes to go, putting his body about and trying to create something, anything, was a powerful example to his own teammates.
Hazard wasn't the reason they lost to City 6-0, and with an absolute bonkers stat of 93 key passes in the Premier League, the Europa League and the CC and FA Cups combined (71 in the Premier League alone is a shocking statistic from any player. Kevin De Bruyne notched 79 total in the EPL last season. Hazard is only 8 chances away from surpassing him with a few months of the season to go).
With that in mind...Hazard doesn't drop much.
JADON SANCHO (DORTMUND)
Assists: 11
Goals: 8
(has hit the post 4 times as well)
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 4
Dribbles: 3 per match in the Bundesliga and UCL
Key Passes: 1.9 per match, 47 total in all comps.
The otherworldly Brit has been on fire lately, dominating Hoffenheim at will for 80 minutes of the match, hitting the inside of the post with a furious blast, having a garbage goal disallowed by VAR, where he forced a deflection off of his own body and into the goal, created a goal for Mario Gotze from a shot on target that created a Gotze tap-in and then provided one of the best pure finishes in world football at this moment.
Sancho raced across the box after receiving a ball from Lukasz Piszczek and buried his head down and flew to the right of the goal as three Hoffenheim defenders tried in vain to track him, when suddenly at the weirdest possible timing, Sancho blasted a shot with the inside of his right foot through a sprawling defender right in his face and a hapless goalkeeper, watching on as it sank into the side of the net.
The goal is below:
He had an area the size of the ball in which to fit that finish in and he did it....it was straight up out of the Messi, Aguero, Kane, Ronaldo finishing techniques.... it was something special to see.
It must be seen to be believed, but the fact that this kid knows where the goal is at all times, without needing to lift his head up, is startling at times; he shows both an outrageous finishing touch and a perfection on the ball whether it be a final key pass that turns into an assist, or a simple pass back to the right back that doesn't put the fullback in danger, either way, Sancho has shown absolute world class command on the ball.
And with 22 dribbles in his last 4 matches and 7 out of 9 attempts completed against Hoffenheim on the weekend, we can deduce that Sancho's confidence is at an all time high, despite Dortmund's utter collapse in the final 10 minutes, allowing Julian Nagelsmann's men to score 3 goals and tie the match, an incredible display of fight and fury.
No one player is to blame, but this is a team game: Sancho should've done his part and buried the shot he watched clatter off of the post, or he could've finished off a few more openings he had in the final minutes, with one in particular showing him arrive in the box at the key moment and then nearly fall over the ball (he's not even 19...give him a break).
Yet what he has done so far this season has been unreal: if you were to tell everyone that he'd have 8 goals and 11 assists by the end of May, everyone would feel he could be one of the top 10 greatest players of his generation in time.
Instead, he's done this with only half of the season. There's still 3 months to go in the business end of the campaign.
There's no limit to what he can do: he had a period from late August to early October where he grabbed 8 assists in 10 matches, then had a spurt where he scored 4 goals in 3 matches and in his last 8 matches he's attained 3 goals and 3 assists....this train may not be stopping until he delivers a World Cup to England, cause why the hell not?
I can see England's national team becoming a shoe-in for the semifinals of the next 6 tournaments, with young-guns like Sancho and Phil Foden, veteran leadership in Sterling, Kane and Oxlade-Chamberlain taking them further than they could imagine.
The English squad is as deep as ever before, with Sancho being the brightest gems in the jewelry box. I wonder if England boss Gareth Southgate feels awful about not taking Jadon Sancho to this last World Cup, if not to play then just for experience purposes.
What else does Sancho have left?
We think plenty.
....this train doesn't stop....
1
LIONEL MESSI (Barca)
Assists: 14
Goals: 29
Key Passes: 83 total
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions: 3
Messi and Barca had a tough outing this weekend in the first goalless draw for Barcelona of the season, succumbing to Athletic Bilbao and the dogged, 30+ year old aged midfield three of Vidal, Rakitic and Busquets. Messi still engineered 2 key passes and a few openings his teammates, notably Luis Suarez, failed to capitalize on.
Barca are missing Arthur's valuable presence, drive and ingenuity from deep, but the Brazilian was rushed back immediately into the starting lineup after a spell out injured and now he's back on the rehab table for another 5 weeks, a common occurrence and intense problem caused by manager Ernesto Valverde's mindless 'rotation' policy (where the lack of rotation is stunning when it comes to the veteran or favored players).
And playing god with Messi's health is terrifying for any football fan to watch. Messi isn't fully fit and with the likelihood of Valverde forcing him on against Madrid in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey, one has to wonder if Messi can hold up against Valverde's ridiculous and stupid demands, as well as the newly recovered Ousmane Dembele, the injured Arthur and the warrior Pique who is currently battling a bad knee and a host of other problems.
As much as we want to see these players, Barcelona could afford to field other members of the squad in lieu of Messi, Suarez, Pique, Rakitic, Busquets and Alba for matches of lesser importance.
To win the Champions League is to have Messi on the pitch, at the center of everything, unencumbered by stupid needless thigh injuries suffered from dutiful outings in unnecessary matches for him to appear in.
Valverde is already cutting it close, with the Lyon tie looming and his obsession with avoiding media criticism by fielding a certain group of players every match, we wonder if Messi will ever have a chance for a proper recovery.
Is Messi that good that it won't matter? Can he play and carry Barca through injuries? We shall see...but he stays #1 on our list due to his European leading 14 assists and his European leading 83 chances created across all competitions.
REST OF THE BEST AND BEST OF THE REST:
DNA= Did not appear
LEROY SANE (Man City) DNA
Assists: 12
Goals: 11
(also scored 2 for Germany in international play)
Having been an unused substitute in 3 of his last 5 matches, with the other 2 appearances being 0 goals and 0 assists performances with a lack of creativity or drive all around and no matches above 1 chance carved out in those appearances as well, we have to leave him off of this list due to his non appearance in City's 6-0 City destruction, his 50+ minute start in midweek against Everton that showed a lack of confidence or tiredness. Sane does not make the list, a shocking development after being #2 on the last installment.
It's just simply we have to include players who did play and rank them accordingly, with consideration given to injured players with higher totals who'll remain on the list until equaled. Sane does not fall into that category, but we think he'll probably come back with a 3 goal and 3 assist match or something next game, he's completely capable of it.
We miss you Leroy!
JORDI ALBA (Barca)DNA
Assists: 12
Goals: 2
Sadly, due to Jordi Alba's yellow card accumulation suspension in La Liga, he did not feature in the rather drab 0-0 Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao match on Sunday, thus, we have to take him off of this list, regardless of the totals, due to his non-appearance.
HAKIM ZIYECH (Ajax)
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Goals: 14
Assists: 10
Key Passes: 81 in Eredivisie and UCL combined
Uncredited Direct Goal Contributions:5 Shots per game / Shots on target per game: 6 in ERED, 5 2 in UCL,1.9 ERED, 1.6 UCL on target
Passes per match / Pass completion rate: 50.9 ERED, 41.8 UCL;
73.3 & 73.4% in both tournaments
(showing not much of a drop from the toughest club competition in the world to the easiest of the top 6 European leagues)
Tackles per match: 1.8 in the ERED, 1.6 in the UCL; 41 out of 65 tackles completed
Hits the post: 6
In his last 11 matches, Moroccan Hakim Ziyech has secured 8 goals and 6 assists, while also posting ridiculous stat-stuffing numbers that'll surely beckon the demands and cash from a litany of clubs all across continental Europe.
The brilliance of Hakim Ziyech deserves a bigger club to prove what potential the players has: we believe his ceiling his endless, that he could become one of the greatest players of the post-Messi generation, such is his wondrous and varied abilities: the Moroccan registers high numbers of shots taken, shots on target, chances created, passes completed; gets his feet stuck in with the opposition, a rarity for a slender, creative attacking midfielder and tends to be all-action in everything he does.
Now...ask yourself: How outrageous would it be to see Ziyech join Sancho, Reus, his Moroccan teammate Achraf Hakimi and take Chelsea-bound winger Pulisic's spot in the squad at Dortmund, where the situation may be too perfect, too good to be true with manager Lucien Favre being as nurturing as he is demanding, getting the best out of young players and veterans alike and displaying a humanistic, emotional core that isn't seen much from football managers.
Even with all of these bombastic numbers, if you're watching the matches you know one thing: Ziyech has actually been unlucky. Those numbers should be twice the amount, such is his production in the final third specifically, though he has been efficient in all areas of the pitch this season.
The experience he gained from the World Cup has enriched and matured the player: having to sit with and take missing close shots that could've beaten Spain; leading both Spain and Morocco in tackles completed in that same group stage match; and blasting goal-bound efforts that forced breathtaking saves and only barely kept him from scoring his first World Cup goals.
Hakim Ziyech is a breathtaking prospect full of verve, versatility and vibe.
If Barcelona's Coutinho continues to drain himself and the club around him like a Weinstein vampire with awful and (worst of all) boring performances, look for Ajax's fantastic philosophical and business relationship with Barcelona to be exploited and Ziyech to come to the Camp Nou if Coutinho continues his decline.
Ziyech is just that good.
DAVID NERES (AJAX)
Assists: 12
Goals: 5
Neres is a fantastic player: the Brazilian teenager came off of the bench against VVV-Venlo and scored a goal and stole 2 assists in only 17 minutes! David Neres has 5 assists as a substitute this season, showing that while the Eredivisie may be a weaker league defensively, if Neres can still create 3 goals in 17 minutes, and 2 more in 32 minutes vs De Graafschap a few weeks ago, then what can he do in 90 minutes in a top league?
We think a lot.
David Neres is under the radar at Ajax, as Barcelona signing Frenkie De Jong in midfield, attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech and center back and future City or Barcelona target Matthias De Ligt dominate the headlines. But for serious football junkies and freaks, David Neres is someone worth name-dropping to make sure everyone knows how much you know about futbol....
As hipster as it sounds, if you utter Neres' name in a hipster "soccer" bar in Boston, Seattle or San Francisco, you'll look like you know what the hell you're talking about....and you can thank us...that is, if the people you tell that to remember his name 3 years from now when he's starring for Brazil in the World Cup alongside Neymar and Coutinho.
KENNY LALA (STRASBOURG)
Assists: 9
Goals: 4
5 assists in his last 9 matches
DUSAN TADIC (AJAX)
Assists: 13
Goals: 22 (including 5 goals in the UCL group stage)
RYAN FRASER (BOURNEMOUTH)
Goals: 6
Shots on Target: 15 on target out of 31 taken in the EPL this season thus far
Fraser stood above the rest of his woeful Bournemouth teammates in the 3-0 drubbing against Liverpool at Anfield. Fraser at least had 1 shot on target and a key pass, in a match where 2 would give you the lead in the stats for all players. Milner and Fraser were locked into a duel on the right of Liverpool's back line and the left of Bournemouth's attack, with Milner inserted as a right back (he's usually featured on the left) with the design being to shut Ryan Fraser down.
We had a feeling Jurgen Klopp would be an admirer or a fan of Ryan Fraser's antics this season, and showing him the respect of having to face James Milner all 90 minutes is respect enough indeed of Fraser's abilities. Milner engaged him in 3 out of 5 tackles completed and was dribbled past 2 out of the 3 times Ryan Fraser dribbled in the match, another match high.
Yes, I admit we stick up for Ryan Fraser a bunch and include him on every list or get close, but he's continued to be that impressive and on such a crappy, inconsistent and bizarre club.
MEMPHIS DEPAY (LYON)
Assists: 13
With 2 assists in his last 6 matches, a few matches with barely anything created and another duck of assists in a 1-0 Lyon loss to Nice this weekend, we see Memphis drop out of the 10. While still posting an incredible 13 assists and notching 4 key passes vs Nice, Memphis has begun to fizzle from view as Lyon become even more inconsistent than they were before Fekir had returned from injury.
Now that he's back, it seems the only player who's benefiting is Fekir himself, with Traore, Depay and Aouar all playing bad matches as of late.
This is a bad omen going into the first leg against Barcelona in the Champions League, though we've seen worse sides change their tune far more drastically than this Lyon team would have to accomplish if they were to be up to the task against Barca (not even talking about them being able to beat them).
So there it is...tell us your list of the 10 best and if we're insane or got this right. Also don't forget to FOLLOW us on the main menu tab in the top corner.
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