Shooting/Finishing

is it just me or is this really mucked up even after the patches?

I remember it being bought up before any patches were released but it still seems diabolical?

i dunno mate im not totaly convinced on it either i keep finding the 1-1 really hard to win from an attacking point of view. im manchester city btw for any fan boys to slate me for just contributing !

You'll probably need to give a bit more information before people can comment. What exactly is the issue?

I dont usually complain, but its getting pretty annoying tbh.. majority of my games having 20+ shots, and only 3-8 of them going on target and still barely ever scoring..

I dont usually complain, but its getting pretty annoying tbh.. majority of my games having 20+ shots, and only 3-8 of them going on target and still barely ever scoring..

It is likely to be a tactical issue. I suggest that you watch a match in full and study how your team are creating your chances. If the chances look good then perhaps look at the players that are taking these chances and see if there is a problem there. Once you've got your tactics complimenting your players you shouldn't really be having these sorts of problems.

But I remember reading on here about a month or so ago and it was a known bug?

But its still happening to me and im running on 11.2?

Any chance of screenshot of your league table, so we can get an idea of the size of the problem?

This is a quote from a similar thread i just found my searching the forums, post was made on the 14th of this month..

'Yeah I get it all the time. As far as I can tell, the standard of defending in the game is not realistic and so you end up with your strikers clean through on goal a lot. To balance this out, the match engine seems to make your chance conversion rate pathetic and have your players continually fluff up one on ones or have their keeper play amazing so you dont win all your matches 8-0. Its just covering up flaws with more flaws, they really need to revamp the match engine so that easy chances are less common, but more easily scored. Im so sick of watching Wayne Rooney blast his shots at the keeper or pointlessly thump it from 40 yards when he has plenty of passing options, its something that has been around for years and yet they still havent bothered getting rid of it. '

quoting threads etc isnt going to help mate. Daf has given you some good advice, try it first, then come back with more quotes saying its a bug. You are really reading like you dont want any help, you just want a moan.

I'm never one to post on threads that complain about things like this, as I prefer to work through it (very much of the "it's [my] tactics" school of thought) but for once I have to say I kind of agree...there are no odd scorelines, and I'm not finding it hard to win, and the league table goal tallies seem quite sensible. However, I have noticed that there seem to be a large number (more noticeable than on any previous iteration - although I did not play this one pre-11.2.1of times that my players are clean through only to shoot wide. I'm hoping that people will excuse the vagueness of my explanation, but I will say - in order to make it seem less like a complaint - that the AI has this problem; the number of times my heart has sunk when their striker races through only to skew it hideously wide...to my relief obviously...Now I think that the AI sharing the problem may indicate that it's actually there - I mean I read about all of the problems on FM10 and sort of noticed them, but then got through them through tweaking tactics - but the AI never had them (like the ease with which you could get your strikers inbetween the centrebacks only to have them hit it at the keeper).

However, I haven't been playing 11 long yet, so we'll see. But this seems to be a problem, albeit one that doesn't impact on scorelines. However it impacts on the aesthetics of the match engine. It's annoying to watch. But I'm top, so I can hardly complain. Maybe it'll get sorted, maybe it's my tactics. Just thought I should say I'd noticed it too...

I think it has a lot to do with morale and team talks(i still can't fully grasp both these areas) my top striker on my save right now was banging them in last season.. on this season he just couldn't hit a barndoor with a banjo as Kamara would say..

So i benched him and have been using him as an impact sub always telling that i have faith or that he can make the difference, now almost everytime he comes on the game from the bench he scores.

Morale really does have a huge impact on this game and you really have to be really careful in managing it.. for instance i had a little winning streak and was about to play the last placed team at home.. even though the ass.man wasn't reporting complacency i only told my players to "do it for the fans" instead of "expecting a win".. as soon as i started to watch highlights i realized i screwed up due to the incredible amount of misplaced passes and lost challenges..

They scored and not even a harsh half time team talk could save it.. from there i just started a horrible patch of games that went to 5 games without winning.. but it was my fault all along.

is it just me or is this really mucked up even after the patches?

I remember it being bought up before any patches were released but it still seems diabolical?

you have to take in to account composure as well.

Also have to remember that strikers are pretty bad at scoring one-on-ones in real life.

If you are having 20+ shots each game, and only 3-8 of them are on target - then you need to change your tactics to get your players to not shoot from the places they are shooting from right now - that is an APPALLING Shots on Target ratio. Sounds to me like way too many long shots (so reduce certain offenders long shots slider to rarely / use the 'work into box' shout) or else they are only shooting because they have no passing opportunities from just outside the box (change some mentalities / runs from deep for the other players)

really look into your stats, i think you'll find them suprising, yes strikers miss good chances, they also do in real life, not even messi finishes every single chance that comes his way, it will even its self out over the season, you just remember the misses more than the goals.

If you are having 20+ shots each game, and only 3-8 of them are on target - then you need to change your tactics to get your players to not shoot from the places they are shooting from right now - that is an APPALLING Shots on Target ratio. Sounds to me like way too many long shots (so reduce certain offenders long shots slider to rarely / use the 'work into box' shout) or else they are only shooting because they have no passing opportunities from just outside the box (change some mentalities / runs from deep for the other players)

this...

its def not a bug, try more direct styles awell if theres too much knocking about until someone cant find anotehr pass and blasts it etc

Whilst experimenting with some different strategies and shouts, recently I've been playing "contain". Although we're having less chances on goal, what we do create, we're scoring.

As an example:

Beat Shrewsbury away (FAT:SF:2ndLeg) 5-0 with 10 chances, 9 on target, 1 blocked.

My team isn't rushing things when they get forward. They're not snatching at chances so much. There's more accuracy, consideration and precision to final balls and shots on goal. So, just one example of looking at different approaches to tactical settings, that can make a difference.

I've noticed poorer finishing this year but I have to say it applies to the AI as well. It's nice to see with 5 minutes to go at times the AI has a great chance but puts it wide or blazes it over when you play KEY HIGHLIGHTS whereas in previous incarnations that was a sure fire goal to ruin yor day!!

What I do note is that players now seem to finish according to many factors with one major situation being a great example seems to be players on the left side if they have no left foot blazing wide. That's better in my opinion as last year too many average strikers were finishing well.

I have Carlton Cole, Michael Owen, Zigic, Piquionne and Wickham as my forwards. Cole like real life gets into the positions and if he is high on confidence may score but he has the tendency to go through bad patches. Better than last year when he was top premiership scorer 3 years running!! Owen on the other hand is a great finisher but doesn't quite have the legs to get there quite a lot. So it's food for thought. I either use the PPM or search for a decent left footed striker.

If you are having 20+ shots each game, and only 3-8 of them are on target - then you need to change your tactics to get your players to not shoot from the places they are shooting from right now - that is an APPALLING Shots on Target ratio. Sounds to me like way too many long shots (so reduce certain offenders long shots slider to rarely / use the 'work into box' shout) or else they are only shooting because they have no passing opportunities from just outside the box (change some mentalities / runs from deep for the other players)

75% of the shots in the area, maybe about 8 yards out?

this...

its def not a bug, try more direct styles awell if theres too much knocking about until someone cant find anotehr pass and blasts it etc

Iv'e also tried playing a direct style, didn't make any different at all.

If its not a bug, then they have just genuinally mucked up the match engine..

i restarted the game once because of this, ive reached second season now and after the first match im thinking about stop playing this game, it also happens to the AI, but they still have better finishing, with worse strikers and worse chances...still, look at the first match of this season:

9 CCC and 1 goal? And even the goal was not a CCC, so thats 9 CCCs missed in a game, and just for testing i retried this match like 5 times, all times lots of CCC were missed, like 4 or 5 per match...

I thought it was quite bad before the patch and a lot of people complained about it, but it seems even worse now. Ignoring stats, I just see an awful lot of quality chances being squandered, either by completely missing the target from ridiculously close or by passing a weak ball to the keeper. I'm not talking 5 dreadful misses in 10 brilliant chances, more like 8-9 misses. It's like even the best finishers in the world lose all of their ability once they're in great positions to score. However, I still scored 112 league goals last season by scoring from all sorts of other sources and just creating too many chances. They just haven't got the balance right and defences are still too easily unlocked. To me that seems to be the root of the problem. 112 league goals is already an awful lot so I can't even imagine what I'd get if the finishing from clear chances wasn't completely terrible. They're brilliant at heading in corners and smashing shots in low and hard from the edge of the area though.

"He looks disgusted with himself."

"Even his manager's got his head in his hands!"

"An unbelievable miss!"

"He misses when it was easier to score!"

etc, etc

Happen to me several times a game with world class strikers

Not bothered reading much in this thread but I'll comment anyway, I noticed my strikers are terrible one-one. So I train them rigorously with composure and they are still hopeless hence my CB is the top goal scorer lol

Seems a little unrealistic but not far off in my opinion.

This is rather irritating. I didn't take too much notice but considering my scoring rate for strikers is atrocious something is not right. Half a season of specific training on composure and my striker just missed from 2 yards out with no GK to beat what so ever. Come on, its not like this players is crap.

Here is an example of how bad the misses are when 1 on 1 (especially open goals)....

Definitely worse since the patch, had to stop playing as I've had enough of Suarez, Balotelli and Aguero missing every bloody chance!

The only goals seem to be where the keeper parries it and somebody else taps it on or a long shot or a heading goal from a corner.

Before you all start shouting 'it's your tactics!!11!!!1', please let me say that these tactics won me the treble in my first season managing Real Madrid. Probably not a big accomplishment, but the tactics worked. I use the same unaltered version of a homemade tactic both home and away.

Now, in the second season, things aren't going well - the following screenshots will show just that (except from the Osasuna match):

(These are the 6 most recent games I've played)

1.

2.

3.

More to come in the next post.

4.

5.

6.

As you can see, my players have serious trouble hitting the net. Last season, Ronaldo scored 34 goals in 32 matches in th eleague as a leftsided inside forward. The remaining goals were split between my lone poacher in front and the attacking midfielders.

The season ended like this:

I have set all of the players' long shots to 'rarely', and most of my attacking players have 'place shots' as a preferred move. Still, most of the time they blast the ball over or into the side netting. Yay.

Maybe it is my tactics? Maybe the opposition has found a way to conquer them? I just think mind control is cheating - the chances are good, the players are world class but somehow it doesn't matter and the ball rarely hits the back of the net, even though the shot is usually taken well inside the box. The opposition must have some witch doctor on the side lines messing with my players' heads - no other solution seems plausible at the moment.

I'm going to try the 'contain' approach, and see if it makes things better - even if it does, it doesn't make sense when ultra defensive is something Real Madrid or Barcelona etc. won't practise.

Have I proved my point now? Rather than people accusing me that it was my tactics lol

Hmm. I just noticed that in all my screenshots apart from the one from the match against Osasuna, my team has only been able to create 2 CCCs. Somewhat strange, no? Not counting the Osasuna match, my team has created 93 chances with only 8 of them being CCCs. That doesn't sound realistic to me. In 4 out of the 5 matches, the shots/shots on target/long shots ratio has been strangely similar: 18/3/6, 18/6/4, 17/8/5, 18/5/6 and 22/6/7. This shows that at least 2/3 of the shots are not long shots, which must mean that the rest are from somewhere rather close to goal. 28 shots out of 93 has hit the target, including long shots. That's poor finishing, especially when you consider the ability of the forwards. Later, I'll post an image that shows from where the chances come.

cheers TJ.

Troels are you playing with a direct style and a fast tempo? That amount of shots off target and low CCC's indicates that your team is rushing things up and not getting quality chances

Well spotted, Coentrao. I do in fact play with a fast and direct style - I fail to understand why that should have any impact on my players' ability to score from fairly good chances though. Anyway, I'm here to learn, so I will try playing a few matches with a lower tempo. Hopefully that'll create more CCCs. Although it doesn't explain why the tactics worked fine in the first season.

Troels Jensen's are not down to a bug or anything, he just can't create enough good chances. Apart from the one game, you've only created 2 CCC's a match. Considering that the stat CCC makes you think you've had a lot more chances than you've actually had, and that irl about 20% of one on ones are finished off, I think you've been quite lucky to win/draw some of them games!

"He looks disgusted with himself."

"Even his manager's got his head in his hands!"

"An unbelievable miss!"

"He misses when it was easier to score!"

etc, etc

Happen to me several times a game with world class strikers

amen thank you somone else finding the same problem and i doubt its always my tactics although in some cases it proberly was but not all the time

I don't know the answer to these questions, but:

In real life, how many shots have there been in the league you are simulating?

In real life, how many of these shots are on target?

In real life, how many goals have been scored?

How do these stats compare to those in your game?

In the game, which teams are scoring the highest % of goals to shots?

What style of football are they playing?

How does their style of football compare to yours?

How do their results compare to yours?

Troels Jensen's are not down to a bug or anything, he just can't create enough good chances. Apart from the one game, you've only created 2 CCC's a match. Considering that the stat CCC makes you think you've had a lot more chances than you've actually had, and that irl about 20% of one on ones are finished off, I think you've been quite lucky to win/draw some of them games!

I'm quite positive you don't know what I think. I don't know about you, but I'm watching the highlights hoping to spot what's wrong in the games. So far, as Coentrao indicates, the players rush their finishing to some extent. Too many easy shots are missed though, and that's what's really annoying me. CCCs are not only 1 on 1s, which is why I haven't talked about 1 on 1's. Under the 'analysis' tab, I can see from where the shots are being taken, and far too many are missed from positions where the shooter should have at least hit the target.

Please come back when you have something constructive to participate with.

Edit: And do you care to explain why I managed to win the treble in the first season, when my tactics according to you obviously suck? If you say 'luck' I will disregard anything you say from now on.

Well spotted, Coentrao. I do in fact play with a fast and direct style - I fail to understand why that should have any impact on my players' ability to score from fairly good chances though. Anyway, I'm here to learn, so I will try playing a few matches with a lower tempo. Hopefully that'll create more CCCs. Although it doesn't explain why the tactics worked fine in the first season.

You are right it doesn't explain.. unless you made a lot of new signings and they haven't gelled yet.

The only possible reason i can see is that from the league table SS you completly dominated the league last season so maybe this season all the AI teams are even more careful against you and are sitting really narrow and deep, my only flaw with this logic is that you are Real Madrid so they probably were already parking the bus last season..

The only goals seem to be where the keeper parries it and somebody else taps it on or a long shot or a heading goal from a corner.

While I've had decent success so far (getting Southampton to the Prem in 3 seasons) and so can't really complain, I have noticed that most of the goals I score or concede seem to be from these examples. A heck of a lot of penalties too.

I do think that too many chances are missed, but I haven't analysed my own stats enough to make a solid conclusion.

Just my observations. *shrug*

Has anyone reported this in the bugs forum?

I just destroyed a team and had 26 shots with 4 clear cut but my strikers cant score 1 on 1. Game ended up 1-1 because my players are not scoring despite getting them to train specifically on composure and finishing. Why is my Centre-Back the top scorer with 9 goals and my strikers are only netting a max of 8 goals?

Encase someone says its my tactics, I'm getting 20-35 shots on goal a game so its not that. And my strikers are good quality, just a little short of WC and even Man Utd are trying to sign them.

Glad to see im not the only one having these issues. Its terrible.

Everyone knows my opinion on these matters.

We are always missing sitters.

Reading posts like these make me happy that I've stayed with FM10.

This has started happening to me. I was flying in the first half of the season and went unbeaten, and then January came and while I was still dominating games my strikers would keep missing every chance by either blasting it over the bar or wide.

Ok, here goes. I have taken a look at the 6 games above and another 6 games after I tweaked my tactics. The 'contain' strategy didn't work, so I still play direct with a controlling mentality. Instead of a quick temp and time wasting set to rarely I now play with a high-ish 'normal' tempo and time wasting high-ish 'sometimes'. The results have been better, as you can see in the sreenshots below, but if you take a look at the chances, they're not much different from the pre-tweaked tactics. So, from what I can tell, the chances occur in the same places (more or less), the players however for some reason just couldn't score before the tweak.

These are the results post tweak:

And these are from pre-tweak:

Thing is, the chances post tweak do not appear to be any better than pre-tweak, which is something that confuses me a bit. If would be nice to have your assistant or something else telling you if your players are rushing their shots because of your strategy. Instead you more or less have to rely on the commentary, which only comes up with lines like 'that was a sitter...', 'he should have scored' etc. Not very useful, and the assistant is very quiet. So getting better results usually comes down to trial and error, often without making much sense.

I can't wait to see what happens in the second half of the season, let alone the beginning of the third season. Maybe I have to tweak again, or go back to the untweaked tactic?

Productive.

To be fair it does actually go for us sometimes!!! :-)

http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg265/SussexHammer/?action=view&current=WestHamvManUnited.jpg

http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg265/SussexHammer/?action=view&current=TottenhamvWestHam.jpg

http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg265/SussexHammer/?action=view&current=ArsenalvWestHam.jpg

My defender is constantly top goal scorer ahead of strikers. Something just doesn't seem right. Open goal misses, blasting it 50 yards over the bar and wide thinking they are playing Ozy rules. Im all for realism but 8 goals for a striker? na, not right is it when he is WC and i create a bucket load of chances - clear cut ones in abundance.