Shooting from distance

Not a moan thread, just wondering whether anyone actively tries to get players to shoot from distance, whether it's teaching them the ppm or setting long shots to often? I try and unlearn the ppm and set long shots to rarely as I find it very counter productive, thoughts?

Certain player types can benefit from shooting from distance - e.g. target men, because they aren't going to run onto through balls. Having a threatening long shot to complement aerial ability and flicking the ball on to others is a huge part of a good target man.

Otherwise it can be good to have one central midfielder who doesn't run from deep often with good long shots, or if you're using an inside forward. Generally you just want 1 or 2 people in the team with long shots, and i've never used the "shoot on sight" shout (sets everyone's long shots to often). But yes, more than one or two and it's hugely counter productive.

I always set every one of my players long shot sliders to "rarely", with the exception of players with high technique and long shot attributes who I'll set on "sometimes" or "often". But unless I have a player with these attributes exceptionally high I find it a total waste and an annoyance.

I'm sure we've all felt the pain of a full back shooting from 40 yards.

Players set with high creative freedom will often shoot long anyway, so I think "rarely" gets it about right.

On the other hand, if the defence is deep and well organised you can end up going backwards and forwards looking for the killer pass.

So, I have my more defensive MC set to "sometimes." My theory is that early on in an attack, there's a lot of space to exploit. By the time he gets there, the defence will be organised and a pot shot at goal could be a good plan B.

Long shots result in corner kicks. Corner kicks result in goals. As a general rule I don't touch the default creator settings for long shots but if I see a player constantly wasting good positions by blasting it over the bar from distance (when I need a goal) I set that particular player to rarely. Depends on the match entirely.

Always always always set long shots to rarely, I prefer quality build up and a tap in than taking pot shots from range. About the only player who does it is Hoillet on my Blackburn save, and even with it set to rarely he still has a go. Although 90% of the time they are good efforts so I dont mind.

For example, this season my centre backs have scored 17 goals between them, mostly from corners (on default settings). Add a couple from tall midfielders and lurking strikers and it's a major source of goals which is in large part down to deflected shots/saves. Dominating the corners won statistic is a major part of my tactics and it can't be done when players aren't allowed to shoot from outside the box.

Long shots result in corner kicks. Corner kicks result in goals.

It would be nice to know how number of corner kicks per game/season/division in FM (AI vs AI) relates to real life data.

It would be nice to know how number of corner kicks per game/season/division in FM (AI vs AI) relates to real life data.

I get more than enough corner kicks without having my players waste possession by attempting something that works 1/100 times, thank you.

My players hardly waste possession on long shots too often and their success rate of actually scoring these is certainly way higher than 1/100. As I said, if anyone is getting too excited with their shooting I set that particular player to 'rarely'. Doesn't happen very often at all though. Definitely not often enough to cripple my team by taking away the option to shoot from distance completely.

Long shots result in corner kicks. Corner kicks result in goals. As a general rule I don't touch the default creator settings for long shots but if I see a player constantly wasting good positions by blasting it over the bar from distance (when I need a goal) I set that particular player to rarely. Depends on the match entirely.

Long shots also encourage the opposition defence to close your players down leaving space for your attacking players to exploit.

If you don't take long shots the opposition have no need to close your midfield down and are happy to sit back in a rigid formation blocking any available space for passes.

I also believe that real life stats show that 33% of goals come from shots outside the box so ignoring this route means ignoring a significant goalscoring chance.

Personally I don't encourage extra shooting from distance than what the tactic/role/position/duty has as standard but I don't discourage it either. If during a match I feel we are wasting too much possession by taking shots I'll look to change it, first port of call is normally "work ball into box" &/or "pass into space"

It depends on your overall mentality. If you use a generally attacking mentality, Long Shots need to be set to "Rarely" or your players will try them at every opportunity (as the assumption is that you are chasing a late goal or trying to break down an ultra-defensive team and have possession to spare). If you use a more balanced or defensive mentality, they will be more conservative with their long shots.

Long shots also encourage the opposition defence to close your players down leaving space for your attacking players to exploit.

That is very true, but this insight would be filed under, "Principles that apply in real life, not in Football Manager" as AI behavior doesn't react to your long shot settings.

I set one of my players to un-learn his "long shots" often PPM, and now I'm regretting it: he was top scorer in the Sao Paolo State Championship from left midfield, outscoring Neymar who's my principle striker, and Ganso, who plays in the hole behind him - and those are my two best players, in the two slots for which my tactic is designed to generate goals.

And he didn't score a single one from inside the box, so far as I can remember. There were a few peachy free kicks, and a whole load of long-range screamers, cutting in from the left onto his right foot.

Although it looks like pointlessly wasted possession when they're going over the bar, a decent long shot is actually not quite so low percentage as it seems, and a long passing play is far lower percentage than it seems. The thing is, if you watch in highlights mode, you see all the long shots blazing over the bar, but you don't see the times he passed and nothing came of it - it skews your thinking.

It does, however, become infuriating in the hands of a player who's not actually good at long shots, but has decided that they are. Can't unlearn it fast enough in those situations. Like when a player who has that PPM passes it on to those he's tutoring, regardless of their attributes...such a pain.

what is PPM and where do you see it please ? I have heard the term mentioned a few times but cannot work out what it is and where you can see that .

what is PPM and where do you see it please ? I have heard the term mentioned a few times but cannot work out what it is and where you can see that .

It would be nice to know how number of corner kicks per game/season/division in FM (AI vs AI) relates to real life data.

It's about right iirc, but the number of goals from corners is wrong which results in ridiculous cases like AM's.

I also believe that real life stats show that 33% of goals come from shots outside the box

Source?

thanks for that falahk , never noticed that before . maybe thats why i am never really successful , i dont notice enough or spend enough time going over stats etc

I never seem to have any players with Long shots of over 14 so always set it to rarely across the board.

Source?

Yeah, that does sound a bit BS hehe. Didn't RVN never score for United from outside the box? I know when Rooney made his United debut he scored 3 goals outside the area and they mentioned that RVN had at that point never scored outside the area despite having scored loads of goals. Not sure if he kept that "record" until the end of his United career though.

But 1/3 goals outside the area definately does not sound right.

I'm sure we've all felt the pain of a full back shooting from 40 yards.

Indeed. Cannot put into words the joy though when Rafael spanked one into the top corner from 40 yards to win me the FA cup final against Man City on one of my FM11 saves though... absolute magic.

Yeah, that does sound a bit BS hehe. Didn't RVN never score for United from outside the box?

Pretty rubbish at thios sort of thing but I THINK he managed to get one about a month before he left .

who cares where they score from. rather they scored then not at all

Source?

No official source without searching for something - There have been many threads and links in the past on the subject.

As a general loose rule 33% of goals came from set pieces, 33% from open play inside the box & 33% open play from outside the box but this was a few years ago and a very general rule that will vary from country to country & league to league.

To give you some idea here is a link to shot statistics from the 2010 World Cup: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/statistics/teams/shotsposition.html

Even a team like Spain who have a very pass orientated game more than 50% of their total shots came from outside the 18 yard box (70/121 = 57.85%).

EDIT

Having looked at a few sites I may have got mixed up between shots & goals - That general rule seems to relate to shots with approx 15%-18% of goals coming from outside the 18 yard box.

Pretty rubbish at thios sort of thing but I THINK he managed to get one about a month before he left .

I think it was against Charlton in a 3-0 win. It was from about 2 inches outside the box.

It's about right iirc, but the number of goals from corners is wrong which results in ridiculous cases like AM's.

In my current save last season four serie B AI teams were scoring more than one goal from corner every other game, and three AI teams were scoring more than one goal from indirect free kick in three games.

It all depends on what players in have on my team, my general rule of thumb is if a player has 16 or over I'll let him have a go so say a CM for example, if he has over 16 dribbling I'll have him run with ball often, if he has over 16 finishing I'll have him Forward runs often, if he has over 16 long shots ill change that to often too, unless I already have a few other players trying long shots who are better. I also always use the "work ball into box" shout tho so I'd be limiting the rest of my team so maybe I don't notice as many wasted shots. I sometimes notice tho that in certain matches players get it in there head to take long shots all the time regardless of what i tell them, like they had a bad week and are just getting frustrated and shooting all the time or something

i have noticed a huge reduction in the number of goals i score from corners.

long shots are driving me insane, i have already dropped nani for a few games ebcause he is so wasteful

. The thing is, if you watch in highlights mode, you see all the long shots blazing over the bar, but you don't see the times he passed and nothing came of it - it skews your thinking.

That's a very good point.

I don't know why anyone would want to completely neglect shooting from distance as a way of scoring. After winning a World Cup through José Enrique long shot in OT and seeing a regen forward score four in one match with only long shots, I just can't set every one to LS 'rarely'.