2. Assist Stats Aren't That Big a Deal
There really isn't a great deal to explain here; the heading is quite self-explanatory, but that doesn't mean it's any less important when talking about football. In fact, assist stats are so often hawked about that the football-following public at large are led to believe that assists are as good as goals. Indeed, I would agree that if the player in question was, say, Antonia Valencia, his assist record is substantially indicative of his form. After all, he is a good old-fashioned winger, and as such, he does a lot of crossing. The same might be said for Angel 'Makeweight' Di Maria, Jesus Navas and other more traditional wingers and crossers of the ball. However, there are times - I dare say many, many times - throughout a season where the recorded assist is not, in fact, the conception of the goal. If you don't believe me, fine - let Xavi show you: search Google for 'Xavi pass Malaga'. Now consider this: who got the assist for that goal? And who actually created it? Let that be the end of over-glorifying the assist stat. Of course, it won't be, but we can dream, eh?