Player Stats: Assists

Stats are one of those things that I often moan about, amongst a lot of other things. Because I feel that it doesn’t truly represent how good a player is or how well the team is doing in comparison to other teams. However, I thought that I would browse the official stats, and it is interesting to note who has been involved in terms of the assists so far this season.

In terms of tackling, shots and goals, Donaldson leads the way and in terms of assists, this is no different. He is yet again sitting pretty at the top of the table for assists amongst the Birmingham City players. In all competitions, he has made 6 assists. You would expect him to be high up on this list as he is responsible for link up play both with other attackers but also with wingers. He has the ability to knock the ball into good areas particularly with his aerial ability.

Second on the list, with just 4 assists is Cotterill. I say JUST four, because considering how many games we have played, to be the second highest assister with 4 just isn’t good enough really. However, it does show that we are fluid and a lot of players are contributing to the goals. I am also surprised because as you are all aware, Cotterill has been out with a muscular injury for a large chunk of the season so for him to have played so few games and yet to be second on the list is quite surprising.

An even more surprising discovery was that Kieftenbeld has 0 assists in both the league and the cup this year. As a midfielder, it is brilliant to see that he is getting goals as we all remember a few of his stunning strikes in recent weeks. But I would also like to see him try and create through balls for the striker. Our team is set up to use wingers so it is not totally shocking that he doesn’t have any assists but it would add a bit more unpredictability to the game if he were to play the ball straight to the striker rather than out wide. We need to be more fluid as people are getting used to our tactics.