Behind every great MLS goalscorer, an assist man to lend a helping hand

This is a companion piece to senior writer Jeff Bradley's long-form feature "Inside the Meticulous, Manic Mind of an MLS Goalscorer.

Behind every good goalscorer in  the history of Major League Soccer, there’s always been someone to lend a helping hand.

MLSsoccer.com and the Elias Sports Bureau dug into the stats to find out which players deserve the credit for setting the table for the best goalscorers in MLS history.

It came as no surprise that Steve Ralston – who holds the league record for career assists (135) after a 14-year career with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the New England Revolution – leads this group, thanks to his partnership with former Revs striker Taylor Twellman. Ralston logged either a primary or secondary assist on 29 of Twellman’s 101 career goals, meaning that Ralston played a direct part in 28.7 percent of Twellman’s goals.

Here’s a look at the breakdown of which player contributed the most assists to each of the league’s 10 leading scorers of all time.

* active players