Hall Of Fame
Does anybody take the slightest bit of notice of a statistic called "Assists"? Just one touch of the ball in the penalty area (ooh, missus!) can be called an assist if it leads to a goal. On the other hand, if that brilliant touch leads to a miss, it's not worthy of a mention. How about if there are several of these said touches? Is each one an assist? Does an assist outside the penalty are count as an assist? What if the ball had just bounced off someone's @rse - an assist? Perhaps there is an FA panel of assist judges?
These questions need to be addressed, we demand an answer!
Hall Of Fame
I think it’s a useful statistic, but only if you look at it over the course of a season or several games at least. Like you say, one assist could be down to anything, but if over a season one player is racking up loads of assists, you start to see a pattern which indicates they’re doing the right things.
Hall Of Fame
It does seem a bit of an arbitrary way to measure a player's creativity or impact.
Isn't there a metric like 'key passes' or something similar? Basically any pass that creates or results in a goal-scoring opportunity. It doesn't have to be the final pass in a move, and it doesn't have to result in a goal.
Hall Of Fame
Assists are very useful and valid stat IMO.
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Yes and no.
Hall Of Fame
Wait till they bring in the second assist like they have in Ice Hockey.
Hall Of Fame
Second and third assists already exist. What is defined as an assist differs depending on who has tagged it. Key passes and smart passes are definitely a thing. Any metric that helps to identify playing styles of a team or player are important key performance indicators especially when doing your homework on the opposition (yes, opposition analysis exists as well).
You also have shot assists and expected assists to underpin your xG (expected goals) and you now have post shot xG as well.
Having access to good data is the key thing, there's an old saying that goes "good data is your friend". Assists are very much a key performance indicator so yes, if you're working in football data analysis then it's a very useful metric, if you don't it doesn't matter, just enjoy the game the way you like to enjoy it
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The higher up the pyramid you go, assists become more and more of an important "statistic", along with a million other statistics. Assists alone are important but combine that with sprints per game, yards per game, pass completion etc etc, it becomes massive.
The game is more data driven up the pyramid.
I was amazed when I realised National League teams kitted their players with GPS trackers. The good old "Vauxhall Conference" it is not any longer.
Last edited by Gimpymoo; 22-05-2023 at 10:46 AM.
Hall Of Fame
Well I got my answer and it serves me right for asking, but what load of bolleaux goes into the analysis of a game of footy.
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That extra one assist per season could mean soo much in terms of finances for the club.Originally Posted by LaxtonLad
Look at Mansfield, missed out on Playoffs by ONE GOAL.
Data analysis is a huge part of the game now, scouts are not as important as they once were now we are in the "digital" age.
Heck, the Notts owners own a data analysis company.
Last edited by Gimpymoo; 22-05-2023 at 12:12 PM.
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