Which is harder scoring or creating chances?

calodo2003

Flaming Full Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
Messages
41,577
Location
Florida
Considering the two tend to go hand in hand and in fact can't be separated, it's kind of a pointless argument. Like the chicken and egg

Not surprising michael owen is the one that jumped in :lol:
And he’d take a fecking selfie with the dead chicken.
 

JJ12

Predicted Portugal, Italy to win Euro 2016, 2020
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
10,841
Location
Wales
Both are hard - each example is different.
 

NasirTimothy

New Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2021
Messages
2,388
Supports
Enyimba F.C.
I was just going to post that assisting doesn't mean creating in the true sense. Creating is by far the hardest competency in football IMO as it requires a mix of vision and orchestration, seeing the picture others aren't, and having the technique to bring said vision to life.
Agreed.
 

Lux Thunder

Full Member
Joined
May 7, 2021
Messages
501
I was just going to post that assisting doesn't mean creating in the true sense. Creating is by far the hardest competency in football IMO as it requires a mix of vision and orchestration, seeing the picture others aren't, and having the technique to bring said vision to life.
Agree 100%. It's like comparing someone who observes game 4D with those who observes it 3D. But, of course, both important to win the game.
 

rcoobc

Not as crap as eferyone thinks
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
41,659
Location
C-137
I was just going to post that assisting doesn't mean creating in the true sense. Creating is by far the hardest competency in football IMO as it requires a mix of vision and orchestration, seeing the picture others aren't, and having the technique to bring said vision to life.
I'm glad someone agrees with me @The Original

That's not to say that there are any players that "create goals" but don't get assists. The type of player who "creates goals" will usually get assists sooner or later, even if its not every time.

Kante maybe you could say creates a lot of chances from deep without many assists but dont think there is many
 

HackeyC

Full Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
529
Harder to score than create a chance. The stats don't lie, there are about 10 chances in an average game but just 2 or 3 goals.
 

Swoobs

New Member
Newbie
Joined
May 2, 2019
Messages
761
Supports
Florentina
So who would people pick between ZZ and R9? Both are very comparable in their own positions, both 3 time FIFA world player of the years, both world cup winners, both qualify for the "tag" of all time greats. ZZ has a CL trophy R9 never had.
R9 is also a very creative player. I consider him a 70/30 mix player in terms of goal scoring /c creativity. He not a good example of pure goal scoring
 

Fox_Chrys

Full Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2019
Messages
333
Supports
LCFC
My view is more mental strength needed for scoring, is that extra pressure, but more of a skill to provide the killer assist.
 

MU655

Full Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
Messages
1,258
That's because every goal results from a chance but not every chance results in a goal. Ie it can't be any other way. So saying that is disingenuous. The logic falls apart once you imagine more goals being scored than chances created(where would the extra goals come from?)
Long shots don't particularly have creativity if you think about it, so that is one area you could get goals with no creative input. It is not really a chance being made, but more of just having a go.

Depends on percentages, but I know only about 14/15% of Fernandes' s and Dr Bruyne's chance created are actually scored. I looked at this a few months ago, so it might of changes. I don't know what the % of chances successfully made from attempts would be, though.

—----------------

Another argument is that the the target of a pass will move. A pass being accurate can depend on a player making the right run, so you can argue the run makes the pass accurate. On the other hand, the goal doesn't move, so the accuracy is completely on the shooting player. And then you also have to add in the goalkeeper isn't just going to stand there. This could make foal scoring harder.
 

Matt007a

Full Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
763
There are too many variables to really give a definitive answer. Not every goal or assist is of equal difficulty.

The only player who is truly elite in both areas is Messi and he certainly scores more than he assists. That might partly be down to his ability to assist his own goals though by taking the ball deep and doing everything himself.

I think there are probably more variables when trying to make an assist. You've got to know where everyone is, where they'll be when the pass is completed, where the path from A to B is to prevent interception and the weight of pass normally has to be right. With a goal, the target doesn't move and you've usually only got the goalkeeper to think about. Having said that, you can assist from almost anywhere on the pitch, where as you can only score from certain areas close to goal and at the right angles.
 

Jaxa

Full Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Messages
2,928
Location
Old Trafford
Michael Owen could tell me the sky is blue and I wouldn't trust him,

It's mental how little football knowledge he has considering he was pretty good at kicking a ball
 

Gio

★★★★★★★★
Joined
Jan 25, 2001
Messages
20,297
Location
Bonnie Scotland
Supports
Rangers
Michael Owen could tell me the sky is blue and I wouldn't trust him,

It's mental how little football knowledge he has considering he was pretty good at kicking a ball
His punditry reflects his playing career. Insightful into what a striker does in the attacking third, pretty forgettable on everywhere and everything else.
 

Bastian

Full Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
18,444
Supports
Mejbri
Anything is hard if you don't have the knack for it. For little Michael Owen, making a clean tackle inside the penalty box would probably have been impossible.

It's probably more rare to have scoring machines and creative types who have a picture of the whole pitch in their head at all times, a la Romario or Scholesy. But a defender outstanding with his timing and positioning and not having to go to ground too much is also very rare.

This is just Owen trying to stay relevant isn't it?
 

El Jefe

Full Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
4,855
R9 is also a very creative player. I consider him a 70/30 mix player in terms of goal scoring /c creativity. He not a good example of pure goal scoring
He was no more creative than Zidane being a goal scorer. I think Zidane and R9 is a good example.

I think the initial poster compared Inzaghi and Zidane which I think is a terrible comparison.

Deco vs Fernando Torres is also a good example.
 

Bobski

Full Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2017
Messages
9,662
Scoring is not just about finishing. The best training finisher I ever played with was a CB, unerring accuracy in shooting from 20 yards in off both feet but when tried up front for real he had no idea how to get into positions to score, was easy to mark. Cavani has never been an elite finisher, but his movement, intelligence of runs, how he worked the channels at his peak made him a nightmare to play against, a bit like Andy Cole in some ways, would always take that type of forward ahead of a pure finisher. I think the final act of finishing is consistently easier than playing a killer pass or putting a perfect cross in, fewer variables.
 

Fox_Chrys

Full Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2019
Messages
333
Supports
LCFC
Creating chances is statistically easier, hence why more big chances are created than goals scored.
We don't have a stat that shows failed chances to assist only successful one's, so we cannot come to that conclusion.

I see even in todays game Pogba was trying balls through to strikers and most got blocked.

I have seen teams falter when they don't have that person who can make the killer passes.

A striker has a bigger target to hit and usually at closer range, usually they only have one player defending that target (the keeper), so a striker has to position themselves, if they get that right and its a good assist its just at that point getting it round the keeper whilst also keeping it on target, meanwhile an attacking midfielder, has to place the ball much more precisely and also take into account there is often 3 or more players trying to block that pass whilst also usually at longer distance.