There MUST be a way to reduce long shots on this game?

I've made a thread before but the problem is persisting worse than ever.

The situation is this: I have all my players set to take long shots rarely, none of them a PPM telling them to shoot, they're all on short passing, there's nearly always free man to pass to, I have the TI "work ball into box" on every match from the beginning

But STILL my players waste multiple chances a match by just whacking it at goal

Someone help as it's costing me at least a goal every couple of games

I feel you, buddy..

I have Javad Nekounam, Scott Parker and Mark Noble doing the same for me in my West Ham squad.

I don't mind Nekounam's shooting so much (16) and it did get me a win against FC Porto in the Champions League in the 86th minute. Still, the rate of goals scored from long shots for me is pretty pathetic, especially when its Mark Noble or Scott Parker, who tend to do it VERY often.

I would have 9 shots on goal sometimes during the first half, with only 1 or 2 being on target thanks to my CM's obsession with long shots!

I'm guessing you tried setting the Team's Creative Freedom to "More Disciplined" and setting Player's individual Creative Freedom level to "Little"? Might help a bit.. I know it helped Scott, now he simply panics outside the box

I've made a thread before but the problem is persisting worse than ever.

The situation is this: I have all my players set to take long shots rarely, none of them a PPM telling them to shoot, they're all on short passing, there's nearly always free man to pass to, I have the TI "work ball into box" on every match from the beginning

But STILL my players waste multiple chances a match by just whacking it at goal

Someone help as it's costing me at least a goal every couple of games

Whatever your tactics you should expect some long shots every match, maybe around a 1/3 of all shots.

Some individual players have a preference for shooting, this may be down to PPMs or other attributes - I'm not sure.

The most likely cause though is your tactics, players shoot when they don't have another option. You say there is a free man to pass to but is he within the passing range you have set and where is he on the pitch (in front? behind? sideways?). Mentality will also affect the direction a player looks to make a pass too attacking and they won't move the ball backwards or sideways.

I'd say just go back through your match replays and look at the long shots taken and try and figure out why they took it.

I would bet that a good portion of them will have been taken because the player didn't really have any other option, so no passes available and they couldn't get a ball through to your striker. It is also possible that they have done it because you've set their passing too short or their creative freedom too low. Very low passing will sometimes mean that they will take a long shot because there is no player very close to them, even if there is an available pass a bit further away. Very low creative freedom will make them shoot from range sometimes because they have no simple passes available, and rather than going for a slightly more complex pass they will take a shot.

Whatever your tactics you should expect some long shots every match, maybe around a 1/3 of all shots.

Quoted for emphasis.

Tactics aside there is a randomness involved dependent on player attributes and the 'moments'. I can use the same tactic, same starting 11 up against a defensive 451 in two different matches. In one match the runs are made/spotted, the pass is accurate and my long shots are reasonably low and I create a few good chances in the box behind the opposition defensive line. In the other match with the same tactics against a similarly defensive 451 it just doesn't happen. No tactical explanation, just a simulation of football.

Just my opinion of course. Others would call it making excuses for my own deficiencies

I'd say just go back through your match replays and look at the long shots taken and try and figure out why they took it.

I would bet that a good portion of them will have been taken because the player didn't really have any other option, so no passes available and they couldn't get a ball through to your striker. It is also possible that they have done it because you've set their passing too short or their creative freedom too low. Very low passing will sometimes mean that they will take a long shot because there is no player very close to them, even if there is an available pass a bit further away. Very low creative freedom will make them shoot from range sometimes because they have no simple passes available, and rather than going for a slightly more complex pass they will take a shot.

This is usually the case, particularly if the player shooting has lower creativity - if the player has no pass available or lacks the brains/instruction to try to create something out of nothing, he will shoot because there's nothing else for him to do. Keep an eye on your teams shape when these long shots occur and see what options are available.

Yeah try investing in some playmakers! Also in the game you can issue touchline instructions to your players to try and get the ball moving about a bit rather than players taking pot shots at goal.

"Retain Possesion"

"Work the ball into the box"

"Get ball forward"

Those instructions seem to result in better attacking play for me

Andy