I've never been an advocate of judging a player's creativity based on the amount of assists he makes. Chance creation is by far a better barometer.
This weekend's game between Everton and Man City saw one of the most delicious assists in recent memory from Kevin De Bruyne. His first time cross between defence and goalkeeper was delivered so perfectly into an area that neither keeper or defender could get to, and landed plum on the forehead of Gabriel Jesus. A David Beckham-esque cross of the most pinpoint perfection.
That game also however demonstrated just how ridiculous assist stats can be, when - according to Fantasy Premier League at least - Sergio Aguero was awarded an assist for a cross-cum-shot that was parried by Pickford, and then subsequently finished off by Raheem Sterling.
Aguero was not trying to set up Sterling. He wasn't even trying to set anyone up. He was shooting like all good strikers would do in that position, but he ends up with an assist to make up for his - for once - wayward shot.
And that is in no way a dig at Aguero - I'm sure he doesn't give a shit how many assists he's got - but there is an obsession amongst fans and pundits these days with assists, and to me it just seems one of the most pointless stats to reel off when judging how creative a player is.
Assists can be given to a player when he has no intention of finding a teammate, or if a defender puts a terrible cross into his own net, or if a hoof out of defence happens to put a striker through on goal.
At the same time, some of the most creative players will lose potential assists if their teammates can't convert an absolute sitter. You can create all the chances you like but if your mate's having a shocker you're bang out of luck in your hunt for an assist. It happens to the best of them too.
Chance conversion is never 100% for any player or any team, so there are numerous chances that get wasted and not turned into assists due to no fault of the player that created them.
Chance creation therefore is surely a much clearer indication of a player's inventiveness and a look at the Premier League's own figures on big chances created vs assists in the 2019/20 season to date (14-10-2019) paints the same picture.
Kevin De Bruyne, unsurprisingly, leads the way in both, however the rest of the lists look quite different. Trent Alexander-Arnold has only 2 assists so far, but he's laid on 7 big chances for his team mates. Pascal Gross hasn't had a single assist in 8 games despite setting up 4 big chances for Brighton.
People seem fixated on assists and I've never understood it. If you're going by that a player's creativity is defined by his teammate's ability to stick the ball in the back of the net.