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We can’t all be like Kevin De Bruyne.
He’s the player that every forward dreams of playing alongside. You make the run, he’ll spot you. You find yourself in a goalscoring position, he will get that ball under his mesmeric control and he will pick you out.
That’s what he does, that’s what the Belgian maestro has been doing in the Premier League this season, and ever since he decided to grace the Premier League with his presence all of those years ago.
He’ll land it on a sixpence for you and you’ll have a better chance of scoring than missing. Oh and he does it all the time too. Without fail.
But as we said, we can’t all be like Kevin De Bruyne. He’s in a world of his own when it comes to dictating the game and creating glorious moves, openings and chances for his teammates so the barometer for how influential a player is shouldn’t really be his trailblazing lead marker.
Let’s be fair and judge the rest, off the rest.
And that’s where an Irish interest arises. Seamus Coleman has had his critics recently. On this island, there have been calls for Matt Doherty at right full. Across the water, Everton fans haven’t spared him as Marco Silva loses the plot by the weekend.
But up until a recent red card, even the cattiest observer will tell you that Coleman has been one of their most consistent players and one of their most probing attacking threats.
The stats will tell you that much.
Listen, stats don’t always tell the whole story but they do have their place. Your own eyes are the best judge, but when stats confirm to you what your eyes are leading you to believe, that’s when you’ve hit bingo.
That’s when you’re onto something.
Any avid Premier League follower in this instance then, won’t be too surprised to find out that Kevin De Bruyne tops the big chances created rankings in the top flight of English football so far this season. With ten matches played, the real ‘assist king’ has created ten goal-gaping opportunities for his teammates.
Crucially, and an indication of how inviting his passes can be, is the stat that each of these opportunities have been taken. De Bruryne is milling along at the rate of an assist per game.
And while he is out on his own, there are some impressive performers on his coat-tails too. Trent Alexander Arnold the sprightly Liverpool right back is next best with eight chances made.
Firmino and Sterling aren’t far behind and an eye-catching name is that of Andriy Yarmolenko, who holds West Ham’s creative key.
But not too far down the list with two big chances coming off him, is the Killybegs man on Everton’s right flank. Let’s not get carried away, a total of two is nothing special, but it’s still Ireland’s most prominent presence and it goes to show that Coleman is still a big threat going forward.
Alongside Coleman are Lucas Digne and Jack Grealish – two players who are considered some of the league’s most creative and when you see the ground he covers and the willing option he offers in each Everton outing, it tells you all about his influence on their game.
Conor Hourihane is the next Irish man on the list while Matt Doherty is also chipping away with his two assists.
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