Genius Striker Syndrome

I played Man Utd today. My youngsters did very well on positioning and passing. It was 0-0 and one of my strikers got a 1vs1 with the goalie. He was far from the defenders. Instead of going into the box and round the goalie he took a shot outside the penalty area. Of course he sky-ed it. What made me mad was Man Utd was given a penalty like 5 mins later (85th min) and they won 0-1. All my hard work to set up the tatics and all was dumped. Never seen my strikers round the goalie they always take the hard way. I don't know why?

I guess because it's Man Utd they have to win? This made me believe this game is somewhat scripted.

Perhaps your striker had a low composure rating, that's why he snatched at and missed the chance?

Also, training your striker to "place the ball in the corner of the net" might help.....

as well as setting his long shots to rarely

If he is a dribbler/poacher perhaps train him to round the keeper. Sometimes we are just unlucky and losing 1-0 to Utd is nothing to be ashamed of.

So because one of your players missed a chance and you went on to lose the match, you think the game is scripted? What an amazing amount of evidence you have.

Scripted? Hardly.

Sounds like your striker has low composure and panicked, it happens a lot IRL.

For the record, the last goal my team scored yesterday was where my winger broke free in a counter attack from the halfway line, just the keeper to beat, can you guess what he did? Dribbles into the area, keeper comes out, my player goes around him and taps it in.

Remember that in real life, strikers only score 1 in 3 of the one on one chances that they get.

set long shots to rare. i did it with Nani, it worked wonders.

This sounds pretty realistic, especially with the penalty!!

This sounds pretty realistic, especially with the penalty!!

Well. I guess you're right. They're Man Utd. They win just like in real life.

I set his long shots to rarely already. He has 15 composure so he shouldn't have been nervous.

Everybody knows how Torres scored that goal against Barca. My striker was in a similar situation except his morale was good and he's scored a lot more than Torres.

He's done this many times already. I don't want it to ruin my games. They've got to fix this.

What's the player's decision rating? If it isn't particularly high then chances are he's just chose the wrong option. If you want him to round the keeper more often then get him to learn that PPM. Sometimes a player will look to try a different option. If I was personally put in such a situation I'd probably try to lob the keeper or slot it past him more often than I would round him. There isn't anything to fix

Well. I guess you're right. They're Man Utd. They win just like in real life.

I set his long shots to rarely already. He has 15 composure so he shouldn't have been nervous.

Everybody knows how Torres scored that goal against Barca. My striker was in a similar situation except his morale was good and he's scored a lot more than Torres.

He's done this many times already. I don't want it to ruin my games. They've got to fix this.

Post a picture of your players stats, the game most certainly is not scripted.

I have beaten Man Utd 4 times in 6 meetings as Rangers in the last few seasons in the Champions League, it is simply a question of approaching the game the correct way and making sure your players have the right stats.

They've got to fix this.

Fix what exactly? Players missing chances? Don't think so mate.

Remember that in real life, strikers only score 1 in 3 of the one on one chances that they get.

And then there's Stuart Downing

Post a picture of your players stats, the game most certainly is not scripted.

I have beaten Man Utd 4 times in 6 meetings as Rangers in the last few seasons in the Champions League, it is simply a question of approaching the game the correct way and making sure your players have the right stats.

I think I did a pretty good job for a beginner like me to keep the score at 0-0 for 85 mins. I didn't really mean it was scripted. I just think this is not realistic because in real life almost no decent strikers would do this: take a long shot outside the box while defenders are far behind you.

I have found that no matter what you do, if it's United against Old Trafford, even with 80 minutes left and they are down two goals, they are going to come back in this game, usually Rooney just becomes Jesus and scores a few wonder goals OR they get a penalty at the end. If I have a 1 goal lead going in to the last minute of stoppage time I know not to get excited because they're going to tie it, and sure enough, it always happens.

I think SI loves United just like the refs in real life do.

Last minute penalty. Howard Webb was refereeing I suppose?

Your striker is good. Seems to have the right stats, you should look to get him placing shots or rounding the keeper, since he has good composure, anticipation, dribbling, finishing.

His stats wouldn't suggest any obvious reason for the mistake, but saying that it still happens.

It would be nitpicking any possible suggestion for why could be he has relatively low first touch, did he possibly mess up the first touch and put the ball somewhere he didn't want it?

Or his technique did he feel he was unable to really challenge the imposing keeper?

Maybe his report has him as playing poorly in big games?

His stats are good but he has several areas that can easily lead to him making a mess of a shot.

Concentration of 11, from FM's own description of the stat

"This reflects a player’s concentration on an event-by-event basis. A high rating here will mean the player can concentrate harder for longer and be able to respond to incidents late in the game just as well as he did early on. Lower concentration will see players lose focus and perhaps become liable to mistakes at crucial times in the match."

With a relatively low concentration stat he is far more likely to not pick up on things, such as the defenders not being a threat.

Decisions of 13, its not too low but its still not that high, even the best players in the world make poor decisions now and again.

If it was a big game then he is under a lot of pressure to get it right and if its late in said game then its even more pressure.

Look at players like Torres, Ronaldo, Messi etc. who have all in their day (and much more recently) missed glaring chances or made silly choices despite being 3 of the best players in the game.

The game has a random element to it and even the best players are going to make stupid mistakes now and again, just like in real life.

Your striker's technique is 9! That's not "very good". He probable tried a difficult shot but due to his technique, he didn't hit the ball properly. Not sure if concentration was in effect here, but it's possible.

Also, the penalty isn't that unrealistic. You said you played a young team. Young players playing against United would have been nervous maybe? What's their composure, concentration, anticipation etc like?