Jump to content

Assists


Tartan Blood

Recommended Posts

I can't seem to find any decent sources for all time assists charts for Scotland. Maybe I'm just not very good at Google. We go on about goals and lack thereof often, but I'd be interested to know who has a lot of assists for Scotland. In the current set up and historically.

For example, Robbo got an extra couple of assists versus Israel, but I don't actually know how many he has in total. If anyone has a decent source, or just wants to chime in, that would be great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure assists only started getting recorded in the mid-2000s, plus they're a pretty daft stat.

For example, Robertson was our most dangerous attacking player for a couple of years but only registered his first assist against the Faroes this year because his crosses weren't being converted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, HuttonDressedAsLahm said:

There is some data on WhoScored.com

Hanley has 3 cautions, so not sure how updated it is.  It has the correct goals for Dykes, but doesn't register an assist for Patterson (both Moldova and Faroe Islands were save/deflections)

image.png.c3a91306bd92303b43591d19eb4552bc.png

Yeah, I checked out this site and it's definitely not up to date. It seems to only show tournament stats as well. So friendlies aren't included either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

I'm sure assists only started getting recorded in the mid-2000s, plus they're a pretty daft stat.

For example, Robertson was our most dangerous attacking player for a couple of years but only registered his first assist against the Faroes this year because his crosses weren't being converted.

I do agree, assist stats can be massively misleading. Like, Fraser put in a wondeful cross for Burke against Cyprus who hit the post and it rebounded back to him before putting it in the net. In that scenario Fraser doesn't get the assist, but quite clearly created the goal.

On the other hand, you could have someone make a 3 yard sideways pass and if that player goes on a mazy run and scores, it still counts as an assist. I'm sure plenty of McFadden's goals were like that.

Winning penalties is another that I think should be counted as an assist.

However, even with its flaws, it's still interesting to look at. Especially if you can see other stats, like chance creation, alongside it. I would never hold a lack of assists against Robbo, especially after the Euros. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tartan Blood said:

I can't seem to find any decent sources for all time assists charts for Scotland. Maybe I'm just not very good at Google. We go on about goals and lack thereof often, but I'd be interested to know who has a lot of assists for Scotland. In the current set up and historically.

For example, Robbo got an extra couple of assists versus Israel, but I don't actually know how many he has in total. If anyone has a decent source, or just wants to chime in, that would be great.

You'd struggle to get historical information about this because 'assists' have only been a thing for about twenty five minutes.

Any attempt to create stats retrospectively would be difficult.  Going farther back than when games were routinely filmed, it would need reliance on match reports.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tartan Blood said:

I do agree, assist stats can be massively misleading. Like, Fraser put in a wondeful cross for Burke against Cyprus who hit the post and it rebounded back to him before putting it in the net. In that scenario Fraser doesn't get the assist, but quite clearly created the goal.

On the other hand, you could have someone make a 3 yard sideways pass and if that player goes on a mazy run and scores, it still counts as an assist. I'm sure plenty of McFadden's goals were like that.

Winning penalties is another that I think should be counted as an assist.

However, even with its flaws, it's still interesting to look at. Especially if you can see other stats, like chance creation, alongside it. I would never hold a lack of assists against Robbo, especially after the Euros. 

You could make the same argument about goals. Someone could score 5 screamers but it counts the same as 5 sclaffs from 3 yard.

The thing about statistics is that they even out over time, which is why the best creative players in the world are consistently at the top of the assist charts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do agree, assist stats can be massively misleading. Like, Fraser put in a wondeful cross for Burke against Cyprus who hit the post and it rebounded back to him before putting it in the net. In that scenario Fraser doesn't get the assist, but quite clearly created the goal.
On the other hand, you could have someone make a 3 yard sideways pass and if that player goes on a mazy run and scores, it still counts as an assist. I'm sure plenty of McFadden's goals were like that.
Winning penalties is another that I think should be counted as an assist.
However, even with its flaws, it's still interesting to look at. Especially if you can see other stats, like chance creation, alongside it. I would never hold a lack of assists against Robbo, especially after the Euros. 
The issue with winning a penalty being counted is it would then be the only scenario where a player can assist and score the same goal. There are other problems but tbh they could apply to assists in general.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aye I don't rate assists highly at all. It reminds me of Maradona's second goal against England, when Valdano (I think) rolls it to him on half way. Counts as an assist.

The player did say years later "he couldn't miss with a pass like that" ☺️.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Monkey Tennis said:

You'd struggle to get historical information about this because 'assists' have only been a thing for about twenty five minutes.

Any attempt to create stats retrospectively would be difficult.  Going farther back than when games were routinely filmed, it would need reliance on match reports.

It should be easy enough to do for the current squad, though. I'm sure there must be detailed stats somewhere. Club football has it down to minute details, I'm sure international will have it as well. Or, someone could watch all the goals the past decade and write it down. Any takers? 😛

1 hour ago, MarkoRaj said:

You could make the same argument about goals. Someone could score 5 screamers but it counts the same as 5 sclaffs from 3 yard.

The thing about statistics is that they even out over time, which is why the best creative players in the world are consistently at the top of the assist charts

You're right, for club football. The most creative players will be paired up with the best finishers. That doesn't necessarily happen with international football. Maloney, for example, was an incredibly creative talent, but he rarely had a supreme finisher to aim at. Chance creation would be a better reflection for Scotland, I think.

Edited by Tartan Blood
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Tartan Blood said:

It should be easy enough to do for the current squad, though. I'm sure there must be detailed stats somewhere. Club football has it down to minute details, I'm sure international will have it as well.

 

Well yeah.

That's why I referred explicitly to "historical information".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK so for Scotland's last 38 games (since Mexico away), Christie has the most with 6, then Robertson on 4 and Tierney and Fraser with 3. Dykes, O'Donnell and Taylor have two each and a bunch are just on one.

You'd imagine 38 games should cover most of the squad's international career but I can't be bothered checking right now. It's a stat that should be pretty straightforward to check and you'd probably be able to find out for the last 15/20 years if you can be bothered looking at all our goals since then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, accies1874 said:

OK so for Scotland's last 38 games (since Mexico away), Christie has the most with 6, then Robertson on 4 and Tierney and Fraser with 3. Dykes, O'Donnell and Taylor have two each and a bunch are just on one.

You'd imagine 38 games should cover most of the squad's international career but I can't be bothered checking right now. It's a stat that should be pretty straightforward to check and you'd probably be able to find out for the last 15/20 years if you can be bothered looking at all our goals since then.

Did you look through all the games yourself? If so, that's commitment! Thanks!

38 should cover just about everyone except Robertson, who has 52 caps, I think. Don't worry, I won't make you go back through all his games.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, accies1874 said:

Is this available for internationals?

Aye. FWIW WyScout doesn't credit Nathan Patterson with an assist either, been classified as a cross that the defender touched first.

World Cup Qualifiers 2022

200 mins played cut off

WC2022.png.62610c2b3947b73831030882c4b78fc5.png

Last Nations League

200 mins played cut off

NL.png.e5a5dd487b34ffb62800820faba01f50.png

I can work out career totals for players since 2015 but not earlier, but it takes longer as I've to go through them one by one and write it, would be a job for after the Saints game.

Andy Robertson credited with 4 assists since 2015 for Scotland. 2 v Israel, 1 v Holland and 1 v the Faroes earlier this year. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
OK so for Scotland's last 38 games (since Mexico away), Christie has the most with 6, then Robertson on 4 and Tierney and Fraser with 3. Dykes, O'Donnell and Taylor have two each and a bunch are just on one.

You'd imagine 38 games should cover most of the squad's international career but I can't be bothered checking right now. It's a stat that should be pretty straightforward to check and you'd probably be able to find out for the last 15/20 years if you can be bothered looking at all our goals since then.
Thought I'd have another look at this as we've played four times since that post. Under Clarke (not actually the time period of that post but f**k it) McGinn, Robertson and Tierney all have four now. Armstrong's the only player to make onto more than one since then.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...