When did Iniesta become an assist machine?

Now i'm not one who cares for stats but i noticed only Juan Mata has more assists than him this season.

Is it solely due to playing on the left of the attack rather than in midfield or is there more to it than that?

As great as a player he is, all his career he has never been one who has had numbers like he has this season.

Tito's philosophy is more direct and 'Cruyffian' in his minor changes from Pep's tactical playbook. Which essentially means Busquets is being used more in a restricted fulcrum role to assist Xavi in spreading the play horizantally. This allows Jordi Alba to be used almost as a wall for Iniesta who since the Euros has been more adventurous going forward and in his positioning. So in essence the use of Alba as a wall for Iniesta along with play spread more comventionally rather than the base positions of interchanging (except when it involves Fabregas) has allowed Iniesta to accrue more assists.

Playing as winger, he does not have the responsibility of tracking back as hard as he used to and he doesn't have to keep the tiki taka going on so he can have a lot more freedom in terms of making passes in the final third(like hes has with Spain).Also, Alba has helped a lot with his overlapping.

I still think he is MUCH better playing in midfield though.

I think it's because the team is playing a more direct style this season so there is more adventurous passing from our midfielders(Remember Iniesta has played at least over half of his games this season in midfield).Also when Iniesta has played as a midfielder Pedro and Alexis have been stretching defenses by hugging the touchline more than Villa and Pedro did in 2010/2011 for example so there is more space in the middle for him to take players on and thread through balls to Messi.

And when he plays on the left he is obviously further up the field thus has more attacking responsibility/freedom.Also he now has Alba bombing forward,overlapping him and running behind defenses to create gaps in the opposition defense which Iniesta can exploit.Whereas last season he had the more defensive Abidal and Adriano(who's best position is RB and doesn't make as many overlapping runs as Alba) playing behind him.

Plus it's possible Iniesta has slightly improved,he is now 28 which is normally peak age for a footballer.

Has only played 4-5 games as a winger and he already did regularly last seasons, so that can't be the reason.

Perhaps Arqui explanation is the correct. I don't know the reason.

Any videos/clips showing all his assists this season?

free_cat wrote:Has only played 4-5 games as a winger and he already did regularly last seasons, so that can't be the reason.

Perhaps Arqui explanation is the correct. I don't know the reason.

Pretty sure he's played out there more than that although i might be wrong.

He's already equaled his best ever season for assists so there must be a reason for it.

I think Arq and Worms post sum it up quite well i also agree with Worms its likely he's entering his prime at the moment so he probably has improved in the final third.

Most of the reasons i would have said myself from watching him but wanted to get some discussion on why people think it is as i have a pretty good idea why.

Most of it summed up in Arqs and Worms post.

Also Arq i'd like to ask you to eleborate on Busquets role this season.

You say he's being used in a restricted role to assist Xavi in spreading the play horizontally.

While that is true to some extent, i have seen him this season be a lot more forward thinking in his plays and more like a Regista with each passing week.

I always remember when Alex use to compare him to Redondo and as time goes on he seems to be a lot more vertical like he was even though from a deeper position.

This is not the Busquets from even a year ago, this is entirely different monster entirely.

Honestly I dont think there is anything much to it, he isnt doing anything very different than other years.

The assist to me is a terrible stat, I dont like stats but especially that one. Xavi's "assist" to Messi, his last in like 2 years or something, is the exact reason why.

He has always been capable of the final ball, I dont think he is any more or less capable this season.

I would hazard a guess that many of these assists are lateral balls across the box for Messi to hammer home, always played thoses balls, perhaps this season slightly more so as he has played with Cesc in some games.

The Franchise wrote:Honestly I dont think there is anything much to it, he isnt doing anything very different than other years.

The assist to me is a terrible stat, I dont like stats but especially that one. Xavi's "assist" to Messi, his last in like 2 years or something, is the exact reason why.

He has always been capable of the final ball, I dont think he is any more or less capable this season.

I would hazard a guess that many of these assists are lateral balls across the box for Messi to hammer home, always played thoses balls, perhaps this season slightly more so as he has played with Cesc in some games.

Agreed i just found it interesting that he's equalled his best tally of his career and we are only half way through the season.

Its a very strange statistically anomaly, thats for sure. I was surprised myself.

I am at least happy Iniesta has found a way to perform playing somewhat on the left, it helps that he can interchange with Cesc, which is something he never had before. He was previously anchored the left and it looked akward.

I still reserve approval though, bigger, tougher and harder tests to come.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has revealed that he never steps on the pitch with the intention of humiliating his opponents, despite his style of play regularly leaving defenders almost helpless.

The Spain international, who lost out to team-mate Lionel Messi in Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony, has been heralded for his dribbling, but some critics claim that he only plays in that way to show off.

The 28-year-old has responded by saying that he has nothing but respect for his peers and would not dream of making a fool of them on the field.

"I would not want it to look like that. I do nothing to humiliate anyone, especially a fellow. After all, they are playing on the other team, but they deserve my respect," he told El Pais.

"I play because I like the game, each time choosing the option that I feel that gives me the best chance. If it goes well you stay happy doing what you do, but never do anything with the intent to humiliate."

Iniesta also revealed that his favourite position is in the centre of midfield rather than the slightly advanced role that he plays in for both club and country, despite it giving him slightly less opportunity to have an impact in front of goal.

"Not that I like, but I prefer to play in midfield. The way I understand the game is very participatory. I like to combine, make passes and in the middle of the football field that is possible," he said.

"I have not felt that playing at the tip that I do more damage, but it is more decisive. It's not the same, but in the end, I want to win the game and stay happy."

The midfielder is one of a select group of players to have scored the winning goal in a World Cup final, but he hopes that his strike against Netherlands in 2010 is not the only reason why supporters feel affection towards him.

He added: "I have no feeling that the love is just for that, it is a consequence of that moment. Not that it was unfair, because people are free to love me or not depending on what you want, but I wish it was for something else.

"I feel loved for something more, beyond the achievements I may have had. I think people also value me because of my attitude. At least that's what I like."

Better than Xavi