FERNANDO TORRES is Liverpool's undoubted Player of the Season for the campaign just about to end. Indeed, but for a remarkable run of form from Cristiano Ronaldo he may even have been the Footballer of the Year. But when you analyse the stats for 2007/08, one figure jumps out and hits you with all the force of a John Arne Riise volley. Steven Gerrard is still the man Liverpool rely on the most. The Reds skipper has scored 21 times this season, helped by manager Rafa Benitez's decision to use him in a more advanced attacking role. But it's Gerrard's assists which are truly remarkable. In all competitions this season, Liverpool's captain has directly created 23 goals. That's twice as many as anyone else at Anfield. And added to the goals he has scored, that makes him responsible for more than half his side's goals output in 2007/08. Not bad for a man many reckon has been overshadowed by the Spanish striker. Across the park, there's another, even more unsung hero. Steven Pienaar spent a month of the season in Ghana at the African Nations Cup. Yet the little South African still produced the best assists return of anybody at Everton, and in his debut season in English football. Inventive, stylish and ambitious in his passing, his signing has been one of the unexpected high points of Everton's season. And if such a competition existed, he'd get my vote for the assist of the season for his beautifully inventive backheel which teed up Leon Osman for Everton's Goal of the Season against Larissa. There were other stand-out stats from this season's assists chart. For the first time we had BOTH goalkeepers featuring. Tim Howard's monster punt against Sunderland was possibly intended as nothing more than an attempt to give Yakubu something to challenge for, but Pepe Reina's precise volley in a deadlocked home match with Fulham was stunning. It received the finish from Fernando Torres such deadeye distribution deserved. There were other anomalies, too. Sebastien Leto, it seems, wasn't totally hopeless. He contributed one key-pass in a Carling Cup tie at Reading before his season ending performance against Marseille. And Jermaine Pennant proved once again that he can still deliver defence-splitting passes even if consistency eludes him. But for a second season running, there was a worrying stat on the Liverpool chart. Two years ago, during a devastatingly impressive introduction to English football, Xabi Alonso strode across the Anfield turf like a latter day Jan Molby. His ability to dictate the tempo and direction of a match was one of the highlights of the season. But after seven assists in his debut season, there was just one the following campaign - and only one more this time round. The stats seem to underline a diminishing influence Alonso has exerted on Liverpool’s fortunes – and perhaps explain the interest in Gareth Barry's signature. Stats don't always deliver good news.
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