Striker no longer scoring

Something strange seems to be happening in my game and I wonder if anyone can offer a suggestion as to why:

A short while ago Wayne Rooney was a goal scoring machine for me (at one point he got hatricks 2 matches running), now suddenly it's all stopped, it's as if he's completely dried up.

When looking at coaching reports I was initially told he had the potential to become and key member of the squad, now it's been demoted to "quality player". He hasn't been injured, and I certainly didn't ignore his hot streak. So I'm wondering why someone who racked up, at one point, 25 goals in 21 matches now hasn't scored in three games.

Anyone?

Maybe he's tired or has lost morale.

Reading that again it seems you're overreacting, 3 games without scoring is nothing.

But he was scoring every game before, not only that but it's becoming patchy and inconsistent.

His moral seems to be fine too.

so . .

you cant expect a striker to score every game look at rooney IRL when he does score he scores shed loads but when he doesnt he can go up to 7 games with out a goal

There's a hidden stat, "Consistency". If a player has a high Consistency, you're going to get much the same performance from him game in and game out. If a player has a low Consistency, you are going to see him go through runs of tremendous form and runs of terrible form.

For example, two strikers who average 0.5 goals per game: one might get you a brace and a hat-trick in two matches, and then go eight matches without a goal. (5 goals, 10 games). Another might give you no more than a goal a game, but rarely go two games without: 1-0-0-1-1-0-1-0-1-0 .. 5 goals, 10 games. The first has very low consistency and the second has very high consistency.

You may notice your best scouts making comments about players like "Is a consistent performer" or "Is not a consistent performer".

I've had my team's leading scorer from 07/08 go on such a terrible slump that he didn't have a goal at all by Christmas of the 08/09 season. Same tactics, better supporting cast .. just .. too inconsistent.

It seemed like once he got into a bit of a poor patch, he started putting pressure on himself to perform, his morale dipped to Very Low, and he started missing sitters.

It seems like the way to get him out of that is to get him scoring goals, so .. "No pressure" and "Have Faith" team talks to keep him encouraged, "Prove a Point!" or "You can make the difference!" if those options are available at half-time, full-time praise when he does well ... and you can try tricks like making him your penalty taker once you have a comfortable two-goal lead, or bringing him in off the bench so he's fresh and facing tired defenders. Make sure he plays in that Cup game against lower-division opposition .. maybe give him a match or two in the Reserves if you're desperate.

Remember that some players respond very *well* to pressure - Rooney is one such, if I recall. If that's the case, you can use the "Player Interaction" to criticise his recent performances .. sometimes just calling them "Below Par" is good enough to spur an inspired performance from a player.

If all else fails, sell him, and buy a more consistent performer.

More importantly, why aren't you complaining that your striker is scoring every game?

That's far more unrealistic than going 3 games without scoring.

here's somethign realistic: it doesn't matter what team i choose, but through all games in january my 2 main strikers will stop scoring and behave like dumbs so i change them by the other 2 strikers and those will score like hell through allgames in january, then they go dumb too and i get the other 2 back and everything goes fine again, scoring like a lot again

same here. On a game, my striker like in 10 matches scored +20 goals, but them it stopped for 10 games...them he got back up again to a goal machine but its so unrealistic

If you're playing in England it's quite common and realistic. Come December with the holiday schedule and heavy pitches the players often get knackered. The problem is you've over-played and over-trained them and they've become jaded.

The solution is Rafa-esque rotation and lightening up the physical parts of the training regime for a few weeks.

Strikers in FM are mainly Streak strikers so they get a goal and build, but then if they dont score for 2-3 games, they loose moral and confidence to score. One way i get round strikers not scoring is to stick them in the reserves for a week or two and that normally sorts them out.

More importantly, why aren't you complaining that your striker is scoring every game?

That's far more unrealistic than going 3 games without scoring.

Because that would be like complaining about finding a wad of cash on the street.

Not only that, but it's not that unrealistic; Cristiano Ronaldo anyone? Van Nistelrooy? Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting a goal a game, I know that every now and then there will be games with no goals from Tevez or Rooney or Ronaldo etc, as long as they give a good performance I'm ok with that. However, for a Forward to give, say, an 8 in a game without scoring is a hard thing to do. The only times I've seen that happen is when everyone else around them is scoring.

It doesnt matter much now anyway, he smashed his way back onto the scoresheet; ended the season with 57 goals.

I think this is a question that every football manager everywhere is thinking. It happens. You cannot expect a striker to keep going at that rate.

I think this is a question that every football manager everywhere is thinking. It happens. You cannot expect a striker to keep going at that rate.

Yeah... but wouldn't it be great if you could...

3 games without scoring is nothing. 7.0.2 really seems to have made people look at this game as if it were an arcade game. It's suppose to be a simulation. Not some sort of game where you can have goal scorers score 40 goals a year every year. Seems that your playing in the prem.

Ronaldo had a wonderful year but that kind of goal scoring doesn't happen that often in real life or in the prem for that matter.

This is exactly why SI need to really do something about the high rate of goals being scored cause of posts like this.

Hence buy a striker that is really consistant, although I think it only appears in the coach report after they play a few games. But a consistent striker with fairly good atrributes in the right places and awesome pace/acceleration will rip up the league.

I have Nery Castillo in my team, he is a short , light , fast striker and he always has trouble scoring during winter and i think it is obvious why.

For heavy built strikers what i have noticed is that they are relying heavily in the performance of the midfielders, so if Rooney does not score anymore try changing some things (or personnel) in the midfield .

ended the season with 57 goals

And you're complaining that not scoring for 3 games is unrealistic?