On July 28, New York Red Bulls' creator-in-chief Kaku came off the bench and grabbed an assist in a loss to Columbus Crew SC. That in and of itself is nothing special; Kaku had 14 assists this season and the game against Crew SC was his fourth consecutive game with a helper at the time.
Since that loss to Columbus, which was the team's last match before the All-Star game, Kaku hasn't registered another assist. He's scored three goals since, all winning efforts, but his biggest strength is chance creation rather than finishing.
What do his underlying numbers say since the break?
Period |
Minutes |
Chances Created |
Chances Created per/90 |
Big Chances Created |
Big Chances Created per/90 |
xA |
xA per/90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre All-Star |
1395 |
39 |
2.52 |
12 |
0.77 |
5.32 |
0.34 |
Post All-Star |
1299 |
25 |
1.73 |
1 |
0.07 |
2.74 |
0.19 |
Big chance definition per Opta: "A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range when the ball has a clear path to goal and there is low to moderate pressure on the shooter."
Kaku's chance creation has sharply declined, though he will consider himself unlucky to have not gotten an assist at all, with a 2.74 xA over that time.
Down three goals heading into Leg 2 of the Eastern Conference Championship, the Red Bulls will hope that first-half Kaku returns on Thursday against Atlanta United (7:30 pm ET | FS1, TSN2, TVAS2).
