Can Score, Wont Score....

Ever wondered what you can do to make your strikers convert the chances they always seem to miss? Then maybe this can help you.

There comes a point in all players career when the goals dry up and they just cannot score no matter how hard they try. Maybe this is the reason why in some cases, due to trying too hard to score, they begin to crack under the pressure. Prior to the European Championships in 1996 Alan Shearer was lacking the confidence to convert any chances that came his way, but once the Euros started he soon found his goal scoring boots again. It only takes the striker to score one goal to get his confidence back and it doesn't matter how the goal is scored, it could be the easiest or luckiest chance the player as converted but it all helps give the striker his belief back. All strikers live off confidence, with it they can be lethal without it they can be useless.

It's no good having the ability to create 20+ shots every game if you don't have the strikers to score from these opportunities. A striker who is clinical or lethal will be a lot more useful than just an average striker; he could be the difference between mid-table place and a European place. Finishing really can be that important on Football Manager. Attempts on goal are the main reason why goals are scored; therefore, effective finishing decides the outcome of games. Without successful finishing, matches cannot be won.

Finishing: Is a very important attribute for all strikers and can be the difference between a 10 goals a seasons striker and a 20 goals a season striker. A player with a high finishing stat is more likely to have his attempt on target than someone with a low attribute.

Composure: It's ok having the ability to get shots on target but if a one on one chance arises will your player bottle it or not? If he has high composure then he should keep him calm, but if he has a low composure stat then he might not be so good under pressure.

First Touch:Can set any player on their way and can be a deciding factor whether your striker can leave their defender for dead. If he has high First Touch then he has more chance or turning his marker.

Technique: Is how well he can control the ball overall, so if he has high technique then that is a bonus.

Decisions: The striker needs good decisions to know exactly when and where to pull the trigger

Anticipation:He needs the ability to know where the ball will go when it’s played to him and he also needs this to know where the keeper will be.

So what do you do when the player cannot score for his life?

Well if a striker just suddenly stops scoring or is going through a lean period there could be a number of reasons for this and you must check them all out. The first thing to check for me would be is he getting chances to miss or as his supply from the defenders and midfield been cut off. This can be a common problem on Football Manager, the opposition soon cut off any supply the forwards maybe getting. So if this is the problem then you need to either tweak the striker so he maybe comes a little deeper searching for the ball or try different passing styles on your midfield and defender.

Have a look at whom the players are who are passing the most to the strikers and then alter the passing and see if that works better. If you're using a direct passing game try a much shorter game and you might find this helps you out quite a bit. If this doesn't work you can try to focus the team passing differently and hopefully this should be enough to get the supply to the strikers again so they can bang home the goals. If this doesn't work don't be too disheartened as there are other things you can try.

If it’s none of the above then it could actually be your striker who is at fault for missing the chances. It could be to do with morale; if the striker is lacking confidence in front of the goal then he will miss a hatful of chances. What I do is drop the striker for a couple of games in the hope he regains confidence by resting for a while. If you cannot afford to drop the player then it might be useful to arrange a friendly against your under 19's in the hope you score a lot of goals and give the striker his confidence back.

Playing against a side like this you should have no problems what so ever scoring a few goals. Don't be scared to tamper with your training schedules it can keep the player on his toes and kick start his goal scoring campaign again. You could also change his training schedule that he is currently using as well if you wish.. You could always give him a few weeks with extra shooting practise to get him familiar with hitting the target once again.

The final thing you could try if none of this works is change the strikers instructions, if you look at the 2D Match Engine you should see why the striker is missing the chances. Maybe it’s a case of just making his creativity freedom very low so he sticks to the exact set instructions you give him. Or it could be a case of changing his instructions to include run with the ball so he gets inside the 18 yard box before trying to shoot. As soon as a striker has a lean patch this is what I do and I have never had him stay on a bad patch for long at all, they always end up firing on all cylinders again.

Tbh, I would drop him for a few reserves game and see his performance. If he scores goals and regain his confidence, he comes back into my team. If he doesn't, I would keep putting him in reserve games till he scores, even if he's unhappy.

Originally posted by ubos:

Tbh, I would drop him for a few reserves game and see his performance. If he scores goals and regain his confidence, he comes back into my team. If he doesn't, I would keep putting him in reserve games till he scores, even if he's unhappy.

If you have a small squad though or lots of injuries, that might not be an option

Instead of just posting all your old articles, it would be better if you actually re-read them and adjusted them to be correct for FM07.

Although they are good articles, it feels a bit like spamming if your gonna open a new thread for each of them and just post them without altering them. If you just wanted to bring them under attention, you couldve done that in one thread. (imo).

If you really do want a seperate thread for each, at least make them up to date (things such as piggy in the middle are from FM05..).

Im not a moderator and I dont want to be one, Im just posting my opinion..

Originally posted by Benoit2:

Instead of just posting all your old articles, it would be better if you actually re-read them and adjusted them to be correct for FM07.

Although they are good articles, it feels a bit like spamming if your gonna open a new thread for each of them and just post them without altering them. If you just wanted to bring them under attention, you couldve done that in one thread. (imo).

If you really do want a seperate thread for each, at least make them up to date (things such as piggy in the middle are from FM05..).

Im not a moderator and I dont want to be one, Im just posting my opinion..

They are too big for one thread and altho players from previous versions will note some changes and errors from older FMs, the sentimenet in these articles still holds true for most and there are many new players who will get great value from these.

Personally I do not have any problem with older articles if they are still 90%+ relevant

Originally posted by Benoit2:

Instead of just posting all your old articles, it would be better if you actually re-read them and adjusted them to be correct for FM07.

Although they are good articles, it feels a bit like spamming if your gonna open a new thread for each of them and just post them without altering them. If you just wanted to bring them under attention, you couldve done that in one thread. (imo).

If you really do want a seperate thread for each, at least make them up to date (things such as piggy in the middle are from FM05..).

Im not a moderator and I dont want to be one, Im just posting my opinion..

I actually did re read them and deleted the piggy in the middle bit, however I must have forgot to c+p again. So don't assume I didn't read them.

As for posting them all in 1 topic, thats not really viable and would make any discussion rather confusing and hard to follow. The reason they have been reposted is because the old threads have been deleted, so I am redoing them and linking them in the links thread uptop.

I get the feeling you have an hidden agenda with me too judging by posts you made towards me in recent days. Care to email em and let mw know the issue

Originally posted by Cleon:

I actually did re read them and deleted the piggy in the middle bit, however I must have forgot to c+p again. So don't assume I didn't read them.

Its obviously impossible for me to tell you adjusted it if you didnt post the corrected version Coupled with an out-of-date thread of yours from some days ago, I dont think its unfair of me to think you didnt update them. Just wanted to point that out

As for posting them all in 1 topic, thats not really viable and would make any discussion rather confusing and hard to follow. The reason they have been reposted is because the old threads have been deleted, so I am redoing them and linking them in the links thread uptop.

I wasnt talking about posting all articles in one thread, rather then bringing them under attention again in one thread, by linking to your articles or something like that. Didnt know all threads had been deleted.

I get the feeling you have an hidden agenda with me too judging by posts you made towards me in recent days.

Erm, no, and I dont know what you're talking about either. Only thing I can think of is that older article which was out-of-date, and the recent discussion about off-the-ball/positioning, in which case I was right.

Its obviously impossible for me to tell you adjusted it if you didnt post the corrected version Coupled with an out-of-date thread of yours from some days ago, I dont think its unfair of me to think you didnt update them. Just wanted to point that out

Thanks, although it was a very small sentence

I wasnt talking about posting all articles in one thread, rather then bringing them under attention again in one thread, by linking to your articles or something like that. Didnt know all threads had been deleted.

Maybe find out first why they been reposted then maybe? As for linking them, thats what im doing.

Erm, no, and I dont know what you're talking about either. Only thing I can think of is that older article which was out-of-date, and the recent discussion about off-the-ball/positioning, in which case I was right.

Just the impression I got from you thats all, if that isn't the case then sorry

And erm yeah I can admit when im wrong like I did in that thread

Anyways back on topic.....

Cleon would you mind if I posted this information 'you know where'?

Originally posted by FMTacticus:

Cleon would you mind if I posted this information 'you know where'?

Omg do you have to post same question every thread?

Originally posted by Cleon:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FMTacticus:

Cleon would you mind if I posted this information 'you know where'?

Omg do you have to post same question every thread? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

hehe sorry mate, just its good content and definately worthy of a bump while I was asking

Big thanks once again.

Yeah, Benoit2 is right, stop spamming all these crappy threads that might generate tactical discussions! Bring back the old "GIMME A TACTIC NOW, PLZKTHXBYE!" threads ... they were so much better!

Originally posted by andre_costa:

Yeah, Benoit2 is right, stop spamming all these crappy threads that might generate tactical discussions! Bring back the old "GIMME A TACTIC NOW, PLZKTHXBYE!" threads ... they were so much better!

prink?

I've always thought low teamwork = greedy striker who'll just keep chances for himself.

prink?

bit harsh but still

About Composure , its in the shooting training together with long shot and finishing. But how important is it for a defender..I mean; will they stop kicking those long ball forward when under pressure if they got high composure ?

Originally posted by Joor:

About Composure , its in the shooting training together with long shot and finishing. But how important is it for a defender..I mean; will they stop kicking those long ball forward when under pressure if they got high composure ?

It might not eradicate it altogether because it might not be a composure issue whats forcing him to hoof it upfield. However yes it does help.

Need to up so it doesnt get deleted.

I got a striker that shots 9 of 10 1v1 right on the keeper. Was wondering what settings i should use. Atm i have ment on 17-18 and Creative freedom on 10.

Here is a few stats:

Finishing: 19

Composure: 20

First Touch: 19

Technique: 18

Decisions: 14

Anticipation: 18

Only thing that aint superb is Decision, but he should score more from 1v1 with the keeper?

Thanks for any help

up his creative freedom to allow more extravagant forms of finishing

up his creative freedom to allow more extravagant forms of finishing

Okey, Its has nothing to do with ment ? So creative freedom is the key to every player when it comes to finish?