Real Madrid had the best creator in LaLiga in 2021

I think we can say that, Real Madrid, considering all the injuries and the COVID-19 cases, have had a good 2021. They may not have picked up a trophy, but it was a tough year, and I think in 2022, Los Blancos will be able to pick up at least a couple of them.

Of course, with every season we get a bunch of highs and a couple of low points, and of course, one of those high points would definitely have to be the consistency of Toni Kroos. The guy is a machine. He performs so well in every single game, it’s hard to pinpoint a bad Toni Kroos performance in the last few months, or well, the last year, I’d say.

Toni Kroos recorded 12 assists in 2021 for Real Madrid, the highest in LaLiga

I think that judging by the fact that he led the league in assists, among other things, Kroos had a pretty great year all around. He’s simply at his best. Kroos was one of the biggest reasons why Real Madrid were still in contention for the Champions League and La Liga titles in 2020-21, even after so many injuries.

Kroos has always been an incredible passer, you could argue that he is at least in the conversation for the best passer of all time. But he’s never really been a player who would create goals for others. He would be involved indirectly in every single goal, but usually wouldn’t have the final shot or pass (Think about this: He’s such a good passer but he’s only had 10 assists or more in four seasons). That changed a lot this year.

I looked at the German’s numbers from last season and I only saw 10 assists in La Liga, but then realised that, like, nine of them took place after the turn of the year, which is just really good for a midfielder who is usually a deep-lying playmaker. You don’t see him in or around the box that often, but he is still doing a lot of stuff that sometimes goes under the radar.

Kroos has carried his form from the last campaign into this season as well, as he already has three assists to his name in the league, and he has only played 12 games so far. As I said, it may not look like much, but Kroos quietly keeps having these all-time seasons and then is able to get the numbers to push himself into the limelight, while also making sure that the actual show-stealing is done by others, the ones who score the goals through the chances that he creates.

Kroos still averages insane numbers, even from a deep-lying playmaking sense. He’s averaging 4.42 shot-creating actions per 90, which is 7th in the league this season, while last season he was averaging 4.55 SCAs per 90, which was 3rd best in the league.

All that while being in the 99th percentile for passes attempted per 90, progressive passes per 90, assists per 90 and so much more. Kroos is one of the best midfielders of all time, and there is simply no other way around it.