Penalty shootouts = Automatic loss

I've been playing this series on and off since about FM2007 and I would say I've been involved in about 250 penalty shootouts. Out of those I would say I have won less than 50. It's not even a coin toss anymore it's basically like trying to win the lottery.

Is there some secret to winning these?

I win around 90%. I use both the "penalty" attribute AND the "composure" one to pre-select my best pen takers.

I imagine winning penalties is as biased as winning anything in Football Manager.

Dont buy Yann Kermorgant and ^ what he said

I win most penalty shootouts with my st mirren side, I'm just lucky to have a good 6 or so players with around 15 penalty taking stat, and I've got a great goalie too, I also when it's looking like penalties try to keep on my high penalty-taking players even when they're incredibly tired and sub on people with high penalty taking where possible, even if it means breaking my formation for a few minutes, it's risky, as you could easily concede a late goal, but sometimes it's for the best.

I've actually had a penalty shootout that went to like the 8th player and I was lucky my defender with like 9 penalty taking scored was so thinking I was doomed

i manage to win 4 penalty shoot-outs on the way to the JPT final.. And guess what i lost on penalties in the final

I think in 9 years with Everton I have lost 1 out of about 10-12 shootouts. So I disagree.

One thing to do is to stop the game at full time, then reassess your penalty takers based on current fitness, current morale and game rating. Dont always put your takers in descending order of ability and dont be afraid to put your captain, if he has high attributes for composure and determination and not neccessarily a top attribute for penalties, in the list

Out of my main penalty takers, I put the worst of them to go first and then go from that building up to the best taker. Also try looking for a keeper that's good with penaltys.

I've certainly won a lot more than I've lost.

IRL, it tends to be strikers and the more experienced players who take them, so that's how I work it.

I can't remember ever winning one.

I'm in my 7th season and have yet to win one.

I have comfortably won all my penalty shootouts so far. In fact, I actually look forward to them. However, one of my best strikers (Marquinhos) suffered a Roberto Baggio-like heartbreaker by missing the last penalty in a World Cup final shootout. The amazing thing was his morale afterwards was still 'Superb'.

I havent lost one on FM10

Neither have I, 1 shootout 1 win.

I beat Ghana in the semis of the WC with Turkey in 2014 and looking back at the result here's the takers with the four stats I consider neccessary (Pens, Determination, COmposure and Concentration)

Tur:

1 Nuri (14/12/17/13)

2 Tuncay (11/18/14/15)

3 Necip Uysal (13/12/15/14)

4 Tarik Uyar [regen] (15/8/13/13)

All scored, nothing special

Ghana:

1 John Muntari [regen] (17/11/14/11)

2 Sulley Muntari (15/18/13/15)

3 Dickoh (10/16/11/14)

4 Prince Buaben (10/11/13/13)

5 Vorsah (10/12/14/15)

1-3 scored 4&5 missed.

Now I won fairly easily this time with an only all-right set of players. From this and other shootouts on previous saves and games I believe that there are factors which allow you to beat the AI easily:

1) I think the AI is too narrow in it's criteria, it only really chooses the penalty stat.

2) It always goes best to worst (I mix it up a bit often putting older more steady players before better takers)

3) It doesn't choose it's subs well. Buaben and Dickoh came on early in the 2nd half for better players, who coincedentally were also better pen takers. Dickoh in this case was forced, but the choices were odd, like they were going for the 0-0 and pens, but they didn't have the players on the field to win then.

4) The AI doesn't distinguish on experience either. There were 2 young regens in that list mine and theirs. Their regen went first, mine went fourth. The AI regen was in his second season (admittedly he's a player I'm looking at) at Timisoara, mine was on his third a Fenerbache player on loan at Sporting de Gijon in La Liga (and getting regular starts).

Now on this point I've had a 20 y.o. player scoring 2 on his debut from the spot, but by then he was a seasoned international, and he was only picked as both my main penalty takers weren't playing (one injured one resting). I would never put a player like that first, too much pressure.

I also disagree. I beat AC Milan in the CL final on penalties as Arsenal. Both teams missed the first one, my team then scored the next four, while AC Milan only scored two.

I've only lost on penalties once on any version of FM. I always have really good keepers, usually pretty tall, and they seem to come up big when it counts.

Also, for my order, I always go:

1) 3rd best at penalties

2) 2nd best

3) Best

4) 4th best

5) 5th best

It's worked for me so far.

If you won 50/250 games then it ain't auto lose then? 20%

Well I gotta agree with the OP

Just lost in the Coppa Italia final against Napoli in a pk shoot-out, and so far I've lost many games before that that came to it

Just my luck cuz I also got knocked out of the CL against Barca (for the second straight year)