My Big Fat GK can score more than your Big Fat GK (Blast from the past challenge).

[Joe.]

I may have discovered a Ghanaian regen 'keeper worthy of this challenge - though he's already 19 and doesn't play for me yet so I certainly won't be breaking any records.. Also, as a goalie he'd be considered the third best at my club, and would have to dislodge Ospina in my Watford save. If I can get hold of him, I may just throw him in regardless and see how much fun I can have!

I don't currently have a screenshot as I'm at work, but I'll load it up later on and post on here.

EDIT

Here he is - Prince Tesa

Suppose he doesn't look like much, but I had searched for Free Kicks being over 11 and he came up.. so we shall see!

[smp20]

[video=youtube;B9Kw3E3pB5k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Kw3E3pB5k

Meet Alan Robson, my first ever goalscoring goalkeeper on any iteration of FM! Here he is after his breakthrough season from the youth intake:

What a free-kick that was in the video! His other goal was on the edge of the box, and he's picked up an assist from a free kick too. He's yet to take a penalty, but 2 in 10 is a good start!

[Jimbokav1971]

[video=youtube;B9Kw3E3pB5k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Kw3E3pB5k

Meet Alan Robson, my first ever goalscoring goalkeeper on any iteration of FM! Here he is after his breakthrough season from the youth intake:

What a free-kick that was in the video! His other goal was on the edge of the box, and he's picked up an assist from a free kick too. He's yet to take a penalty, but 2 in 10 is a good start!

1. That's a loooooong way out.

2. That's a really loooooong way out.

3. He looks an excellent prospect. I mean really special.

4. Did he have that PPM when he came through or did you teach him?

5. Love the personality too.

6. What version of the game are you playing?

7. What are his penalty and free-kick attributes?

8. 2 in 10 without pens is great.

9. 1 clean sheet in 10 not so great.

10. Get him on pens!

[Edit]

Who are Spartans?

[Jimbokav1971]

I may have discovered a Ghanaian regen 'keeper worthy of this challenge - though he's already 19 and doesn't play for me yet so I certainly won't be breaking any records.. Also, as a goalie he'd be considered the third best at my club, and would have to dislodge Ospina in my Watford save. If I can get hold of him, I may just throw him in regardless and see how much fun I can have!

I don't currently have a screenshot as I'm at work, but I'll load it up later on and post on here.

EDIT

Here he is - Prince Tesa

Suppose he doesn't look like much, but I had searched for Free Kicks being over 11 and he came up.. so we shall see!

Thanks for the pic.

I'd say he looks pretty decent for that age.

What s his free-kick attribute by the way?

Also, what is his PA in terms of star rating?

[smp20]

1. That's a loooooong way out.

2. That's a really loooooong way out.

3. He looks an excellent prospect. I mean really special.

4. Did he have that PPM when he came through or did you teach him?

5. Love the personality too.

6. What version of the game are you playing?

7. What are his penalty and free-kick attributes?

8. 2 in 10 without pens is great.

9. 1 clean sheet in 10 not so great.

10. Get him on pens!

[Edit]

Who are Spartans?

It really was a long way out, he absolutely smashes them! He had the PPM when he came through the intake, didnt realise for a while as i dont normally look at keeper ppms.

This is on FM16 and he is my best prospect, never had a keeper like it (goalscoring ability) so im quite excited. He has 15 free kicks, 12 pens, 10 tekkers. Hes been on pens but didnt get any in those first 11 games. Hes scored 2 so far in my current season.

Spartans are a Scottish team IRL in the Lowlands league. Im doing the youth challenge with them

[Joe.]

Thanks for the pic.

I'd say he looks pretty decent for that age.

What s his free-kick attribute by the way?

Also, what is his PA in terms of star rating?

Free kicks were 11, PA was 3.5/4 stars I believe.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a work permit and then later I was sacked - so he's now just a distant memory... I've started a new save, so am on the lookout once more for a goal scoring keeper.

[Sankalan]

Wow, Abazi is actually feeling insecure. And here is what he is doing:

2056:He played essentially only half a season. Also, I think 2 international goals were carried over from the Belgium Season. But 4 goals is hardly satisfactory:

2057:10 goals in 73 appearances is like 1 goal in 7. Well, by Abazi standards, nonsense:

2058:Won't say anything. He retired from International soccer in this season:

2059:It seems International soccer was holding him back, after all. With that out, he is back to about 1 goal/5 games:

2060:What the ****? Why was he not doing this all along(maybe because this was the first time when my assistant managed almost all of the season?). See the profile:

So, 205+4+10+5+15+26=265

If the next couple of seasons are a repeat of 2060 season, definitely he can get to 300!!!

[kandersson]

It really was a long way out, he absolutely smashes them! He had the PPM when he came through the intake, didnt realise for a while as i dont normally look at keeper ppms.

This is on FM16 and he is my best prospect, never had a keeper like it (goalscoring ability) so im quite excited. He has 15 free kicks, 12 pens, 10 tekkers. Hes been on pens but didnt get any in those first 11 games. Hes scored 2 so far in my current season.

Spartans are a Scottish team IRL in the Lowlands league. Im doing the youth challenge with them

I only recently discovered that only players with 15 or above for FK can learn that PPM. Coupled with the 'attempts long range free kicks' PPM could be even more effective!

[Sankalan]

Btw, Abazi has gone past 300, but I will upload the screenshots all at once when he decides to hang his boots

EDIT:The sad moment seems near, he has set his retirement date on the new year day of 2064(1/1/2064)

[Sankalan]

So, when I asked him to reconsider his retirement...

Burim:Hi Gaffer, wanted to see me?

Anayjit:Yes, and you know why...

Burim:I know, but this time I really must disobey you

Anayjit:Come on, you are not that old. Surely you can last another season.

Burim:It is not about lasting, it is about dominating. I am clearly the weak point of our starting lineup.

Anayjit:Do not think it that way. You still inspire the others.

Burim:and Mourinho inspires you. But that does not mean that he should still be managing, does it?

Anayjit:Well, at his medical condition, certainly not. But you are not in your 90s, are you?

Burim:No, but 40 is old enough for a player. Look at the others who have retired from our team, they were all younger to me!

Anayjit:But you are special. Do you not want to target 350?

Burim:No. 300 is enough for me. the initial target was 200, right?

Anayjit:It was. But i always saw you like my son and so...

Burim:So thank you. But now I have a son too. Heard that he has been made the captain of his school team, and I am yet to see him play

Anayjit:At his age, you were the captain of the best team in Belgium.

Burim:Yes, but still, he is good. And even if not, I still want to see him in action.

Anayjit:See, even I am getting old. Next year, we can retire together?

Burim:It is all well for you, not having married. But I am not so dedicated. I have a wife and a son.

Anayjit:So, is this your final decision?

Burim:Yes...

Last update coming soon...

[Sankalan]

2061:

2062:

2063+profile:

The other profile:

Do not see him going far with those stats.

And the last news item:

[kandersson]

having followed this thread for a while I finally started a fresh brazilian save to join the challenge. Took over Juventude in the third division and signed the sexy André Zuba as my scoring keeper.

André is a good keeper for this standard of football, but most of all has exceptional attributes for penalties and free kicks. Completed first season with a decent 7 goals in 47 matches, going 5/5 from penalty spot and converting two direct free kicks, scoring in three different competitions. He also added 5 assists. Not the greatest numbers I reckon, but a decent start of a long challenge. In my plans André will be the perfect mentor for my 'real' scoring GK of the future - whoever he will be. He has already learned the 'Shoots free kicks with power' PPM and I'm trying to teach him the 'long range free kicks' move too. Hopefully he can score more goals in the next few years before passing his goal scoring skills to the next keeper... beating Abazi's record seems absolutely impossible though!

[leonavich]

what was Abazi's final total?

I will finally have a chance to play a few games tonight, so I want to try and burn through at least 10 or so. It has been far far too long since I have opened FM

[Sankalan]

Just add the goals up:265+21+20+19=325

[leonavich]

Luciano Canini has just reached his 100th goal, scoring the winner in the European Championships in a 2-1 victory!!

[video=youtube_share;oxJWUSvDx38]

What a way to amass a century of goals as a keeper!

[Joe.]

I have a 16 year old keeper who has scored 2 in 5, doesn't have tragic stats but he's yet to be on the winning side for me so far and I fear for my job if I keep faith!

[leonavich]

He is young so it is about balance. A good return is usually between 10-16 in a season, so if you rotate him at this age he may be ready within a few years to be your full time keeper as well as a regular scorer.

[leonavich]

Canini has reached 108 total goals in his career at 30 years of age. If I can get him to play for another 10 years, and at a rate of 8 goals a season he will end with just under 200

I need to work on winning more penalties!

[leonavich]

77 36

Canini Penalties and brace see him pass 110

Canini scored the equalizing penalty in a 5-5 goal gluttoned game against Udinese, followed by a brace against Avellino and a further goal against Palermo to give him 4 goals so far this season.

The 4 goals have come in his last 6 games and have seen the goal scoring keeper hit the back of the net a total of 77 times for his club and 36 times for his country.

This puts him on 113 career goals to date as he looks to become only the second goalkeeper to eclipse the 200 goal mark. Currently he sits in third, behind Lucio who is also in contention for reaching the 200 goal milestone before his retirement.

Burim Abazi 325

Lucio 178

Luciano Canini 113

[TheEarl]

I am going to give this a go.

There is no restriction on what team to play with and your starting skills?

My first choice will be D.Rodriguez 25 years old from Argentina signed to A.Mineiro in Brazil Serie A and Minas Gerais State Championship.

With 25 years old Rodriguez only has around 10 seasons left to play. I doubt he can reach the top, but will be fun to see how many goals he can get. When he comes closer to retirement I will look for a replacement for him.

In his first game he missed a penalty, what a dooch But since then he has played 2 more games scoring once in each game from direct free-kicks. So his tally is 2 goals in 3 games. Nice average hah? hehe

[leonavich]

That is a very good start Earl.

There are no restrictions around teams, league, keeper, etc.

The only restrictions are that the goalkeeper must play as a goalkeeper (i.e. no playing them as a striker)

But he can come up for attacking plays and corners, take freekick, penalties, etc.

Jimbokav tried a few throw in tactics I believe, but found them not very fruitful.

[TheEarl]

That is a very good start Earl.

There are no restrictions around teams, league, keeper, etc.

The only restrictions are that the goalkeeper must play as a goalkeeper (i.e. no playing them as a striker)

But he can come up for attacking plays and corners, take freekick, penalties, etc.

Jimbokav tried a few throw in tactics I believe, but found them not very fruitful.

Thanks for advice. I will make screenshot posts later tonight, but at work at the moment.

D.Rodriguez plays as a goalkeeper. Obviously I have not edited anything in editor or something like that would be considered cheating. He takes penalties and free-kicks and he is a free-kick specialist. He trains to further develop his set-pieces skills, but he doesnt come up for corner kicks yet, but I might attempt that later.

[leonavich]

I only have Canini go up for free kicks and penalties. I think he has gone up once or twice at the end of matches I have been losing when I have gone all out attack, but none have proven fruitful.

This year has been his most successful in quite some time as I am playing a little more attacking. He currently has 9 domestic goals, which is not a bad haul for being in January.

[TheEarl]

Just a curiocity note after 3 matches. D.Rodriguez has scored 2 goals, conceded 0!!!

[leonavich]

That is a very good start, and it could of been 3 if he didn't miss that penalty!

[leonavich]

Canini has a knack for scoring important goals at milestone moments and he has done it again... Number 120 comes in extra time to score the winner in the Champions League first round against Anderlecht

That is also his 11th goal of the season, which is his best return for some time. 200 may be a possibility yet!

[leonavich]

Canini is currently on 132 at the age of 31

93 for club and 39 for country.

68 more required for that 200 mark!

It will be close... If he goes at 7 a season, he will be 5 short by his 40th birthday, so he will need to try and hit at least 8 a season.

I have a new formation that is giving me a lot of opportunities, giving him 8 already this season, so who knows... It may be possible.

300 is no where near possible unless he plays until 50 though!

[leonavich]

Canini looking for 100 Club goals

Canini is just one goal away from reaching 100 goals for San Marino. Currently on 99 Club goals, Canini has a total of 138 as he hopes to reach 150 this season. He has had somewhat of a resurgence with the changing of playing style, enabling him to hit at least 12 in his last two seasons. He will also hope to reach 40 for the national side as h is one goal off this milestone, and just 6 games away from eclipsing the 200 caps mark.

[leonavich]

Bit of a quiet spell, but he has still got it

Canini now has 144 career goals.

105 for club

039 for nation

[kandersson]

Finally got my long term candidate for this challenge... and it's a 4.5 star rated young keeper from our very own academy: Glauber Daniel is still a teenager but after a year between the youth squad and senior team (already scored 3 goals in 15 senior appearances last year) he will start as first choice this year for my Juventude team - it helps that in the brazilian regional championship some teams are absolutely rubbish.

And Glauber scored a hat-trick in his first game of the season! 2 penalties and 1 free kick, and 2 assists too (for the record it was a 15-0 bashing of a fourth division club, still an official league match though ...). Hopefully he can take advantage of those garbage teams as our skilled attackers steal penalties for him...

With attributes of 14 for free kicks (hope to get him to 15 so he can learn the 'hit FK with power' PPM) and 11 for penalties, and having just turned 18, Glauber could become a serious threat for this challenge... though Barcelona and Real Madrid have already shown interest in him!

[leonavich]

wow he looks good!

Good to see someone picking this up again. It's been a bit quiet in here!

I have just finished off the 2047-48 season, and Canini has now got 151 goals at 33 years of age.

If I use him regularly, he may play until he is 40, which gives him 7 years-ish.

Scoring at an average of 6 a season (to be on the safe side) he could get 42, which puts him on 193, just shy of 200.

I don't know how to generate more opportunities, so we will just have to see how he goes!

Does anyone know the oldest a player has played in the game before retiring?I'm hoping he will play into his 40s if possible, as long as I keep using him and he gets good ratings due to scoring occasionally.

[kandersson]

wow he looks good!

Good to see someone picking this up again. It's been a bit quiet in here!

I have just finished off the 2047-48 season, and Canini has now got 151 goals at 33 years of age.

If I use him regularly, he may play until he is 40, which gives him 7 years-ish.

Scoring at an average of 6 a season (to be on the safe side) he could get 42, which puts him on 193, just shy of 200.

I don't know how to generate more opportunities, so we will just have to see how he goes!

Does anyone know the oldest a player has played in the game before retiring?I'm hoping he will play into his 40s if possible, as long as I keep using him and he gets good ratings due to scoring occasionally.

I have the old Julio Cesar (former brazilian international GK) as a mentor for youngsters and he'll retire at 42 at the end of the season, he never plays though. If you keep playing him and renewing his contract, I guess Canini could still go on for a few years. Also I think a player never retires before the end of his contract so if you can give him a long 5-years contract he might announce retirement but still keep playing until his contract is over.

[leonavich]

I have the old Julio Cesar (former brazilian international GK) as a mentor for youngsters and he'll retire at 42 at the end of the season, he never plays though. If you keep playing him and renewing his contract, I guess Canini could still go on for a few years. Also I think a player never retires before the end of his contract so if you can give him a long 5-years contract he might announce retirement but still keep playing until his contract is over.

I have a good 5 years left before I need to worry about that. I also have Dini, who is my first SM regen of talent at 39 years of age, retiring at the end of the season, so he will be 40.

The oldest I have ever had was 41, but I have seen a few more years into their 40s.

In this database, there are 2 40 year olds. One a keeper but he is set to retire after one year out of a club, the other a Midfielder still playing off the bench and going strong

[kandersson]

yeah I think when he approaches 40 every year you can maybe try to renew his contract for other 5 years, this way you might gain extra years and push it near 45

btw may I ask you how do you make gifs as in post #369? would love to post something like that for Glauber's goals!

[leonavich]

yeah I think when he approaches 40 every year you can maybe try to renew his contract for other 5 years, this way you might gain extra years and push it near 45

btw may I ask you how do you make gifs as in post #369? would love to post something like that for Glauber's goals!

I found it on another persons challenge. It is called Gyazo. It enables you to press ctrl+shft+G to do GIFS. They auto create and upload it for you as well, but sometimes i'll move it to imgur as they have good hosting. I don't use the catch tool as snippit it good enough for that.

[kandersson]

Glauber Daniel does it again with another hat-trick, courtesy of three penalties earned by his teammates:

After the first half of the season (full Gaucho regional championship and early rounds of Copa Libertadores) Glauber has an excellent return of 10 goals in 25 matches - 8 penalties and 2 free kicks - plus 4 assists.

Good news is Glauber has been an accurate PK taker (8 for 9 from the spot) and quite a successful FK taker (2 goals is not amazing but better than the usual 0 recorded by my previous 'specialists'), also hitting the bar from free kick on a couple of occasions. Consistent first team action is also helping Glauber's development as he improves most of his skills and attributes. Also there are still plenty of games in the season: the whole national league (38 games) plus all the games I can earn from Brazilian Cup, Copa Libertadores and possibly Club World Cup. Bad news is the level of competition will be much higher than Gaucho state championship, hopefully my attackers can keep stealing penalties at healthy rate!

[kandersson]

strikers stealing penalties to complete their hattricks are robbing Glauber of several chances to score... need to start subbing those greedy bast@rds the second they've scored a brace...

[kandersson]

End of season and career update for Glauber Daniel:

78 total appearances and 17 goals (14 penalties and 3 free kicks). A very good 14/16 on penalties for Glauber, and some promising FK skills (scored only 3 but had a few shots hit the post/crossbar or saved). Scoring around 12-15 goals in 70-75 matches would be a decent result, hopefully he can become a more deadly FK taker in time.

All time stats:

20 goals in 98 matches - 16 penalties and 4 free kicks

[Jimbokav1971]

I am going to give this a go.

There is no restriction on what team to play with and your starting skills?

My first choice will be D.Rodriguez 25 years old from Argentina signed to A.Mineiro in Brazil Serie A and Minas Gerais State Championship.

With 25 years old Rodriguez only has around 10 seasons left to play. I doubt he can reach the top, but will be fun to see how many goals he can get. When he comes closer to retirement I will look for a replacement for him.

In his first game he missed a penalty, what a dooch But since then he has played 2 more games scoring once in each game from direct free-kicks. So his tally is 2 goals in 3 games. Nice average hah? hehe

There are no restrictions at all really.

We would prefer that you didn't use the editor while participating in this challenge, but having said that, it's your game and you should play it how you see fit. If you use the editor you are certainly not going to be hounded out of here.

Other than that, the only really specific rule is that your GK has to play in goal, (rather than outfield).

That's a very good start by the way, but in my experience, I often found that GK's performed better in the very early stages of the season than they did on average over the course of the season, (but no idea at all why).

[Jimbokav1971]

Bit of a quiet spell, but he has still got it

Canini now has 144 career goals.

105 for club

039 for nation

Just 2 in the wall? Asking to be spanked in!

[Jimbokav1971]

Finally got my long term candidate for this challenge... and it's a 4.5 star rated young keeper from our very own academy: Glauber Daniel is still a teenager but after a year between the youth squad and senior team (already scored 3 goals in 15 senior appearances last year) he will start as first choice this year for my Juventude team - it helps that in the brazilian regional championship some teams are absolutely rubbish.

And Glauber scored a hat-trick in his first game of the season! 2 penalties and 1 free kick, and 2 assists too (for the record it was a 15-0 bashing of a fourth division club, still an official league match though ...). Hopefully he can take advantage of those garbage teams as our skilled attackers steal penalties for him...

With attributes of 14 for free kicks (hope to get him to 15 so he can learn the 'hit FK with power' PPM) and 11 for penalties, and having just turned 18, Glauber could become a serious threat for this challenge... though Barcelona and Real Madrid have already shown interest in him!

Haha.

I knew that Brazil was the place for goal-scoring records, but I wasn't quite expecting a debut hat-trick.

Sign him on a long term deal, add in a 3 year option and tell him he's going nowhere!

[Jimbokav1971]

strikers stealing penalties to complete their hattricks are robbing Glauber of several chances to score... need to start subbing those greedy bast@rds the second they've scored a brace...

That is annoying as hell.

[Jimbokav1971]

Just for the record, (in case nobody has seen me discuss this), I think the reason for goal-scoring GK's out-scoring better qualified outfield players, (especially when it comes to free-kicks), is an error with regards to where the match engine extracts the GK abilities from with the game.

What I mean is this.

When an outfield player has a direct free-kick opportunity, the game recognises that it is a free-kick and it takes the free kick attribute, (one of the important factors when determining the outcome of the free-kick), from the free-kick attribute line in his profile, (or wherever that his hidden under the bonnet of the game). This "free kick taking attribute" is the 6th attribute down on the list of technical attributes. That all seems pretty straightforward and sensible I think you would agree.

The problem is that when it comes to GK's finding themselves in the same position and taking free-kicks, the 6th attribute down on the list of technical attributes isn't "free kick taking" at all. It's in fact "Handling". Now as you all know, handling is one of the key attributes for a GK. My personal opinion is that the game is extracting the GK's handling attribute and using it instead of his free-kick attribute.

It doesn't stop there though. While free-kick taking might be important in the taking of a free kick, it's not the be all and end all. What about technique?

Well technique is at the very bottom of the list of technical attributes for an outfield player, but for a GK, this spot is actually taken by "throwing", which again might be considered quite a key attribute for a GK.

Lastly, we might add, "long shots" into the mix and looking at that, that's 8 down on the list of technical attributes for an outfield player and it's place is taken by "one on one's" by a GK.

Some might argue that "finishing" might have an impact on free-kick taking, (I don't agree), but if you do, then this apace is taken up by "eccentricity" on a GK.

I've got absolutely no doubt that composure is a key attribute either way.

So basically, rather than a GK with a good free-kick or penalty attributes, what I think you are actually looking for is the following.

1. A good GK who will play every game for you.

2. A young GK who will be around for a while.

3. A player with enough PA to allow for significant growth.

4. Depending on what club you are at, ambition is a bad thing because it may encourage him to want to move on to bigger and better things. Professionalism all the way.

5. A high "Handling" attribute.

6. A high "Throwing" attribute.

7. A high "One on one's" attribute.

8. A high "composure" attribute.

9. Someone who doesn't often get injured.

I think that's just about it.

[kandersson]

Just for the record, (in case nobody has seen me discuss this), I think the reason for goal-scoring GK's out-scoring better qualified outfield players, (especially when it comes to free-kicks), is an error with regards to where the match engine extracts the GK abilities from with the game.

What I mean is this.

When an outfield player has a direct free-kick opportunity, the game recognises that it is a free-kick and it takes the free kick attribute, (one of the important factors when determining the outcome of the free-kick), from the free-kick attribute line in his profile, (or wherever that his hidden under the bonnet of the game). This "free kick taking attribute" is the 6th attribute down on the list of technical attributes. That all seems pretty straightforward and sensible I think you would agree.

The problem is that when it comes to GK's finding themselves in the same position and taking free-kicks, the 6th attribute down on the list of technical attributes isn't "free kick taking" at all. It's in fact "Handling". Now as you all know, handling is one of the key attributes for a GK. My personal opinion is that the game is extracting the GK's handling attribute and using it instead of his free-kick attribute.

It doesn't stop there though. While free-kick taking might be important in the taking of a free kick, it's not the be all and end all. What about technique?

Well technique is at the very bottom of the list of technical attributes for an outfield player, but for a GK, this spot is actually taken by "throwing", which again might be considered quite a key attribute for a GK.

Lastly, we might add, "long shots" into the mix and looking at that, that's 8 down on the list of technical attributes for an outfield player and it's place is taken by "one on one's" by a GK.

Some might argue that "finishing" might have an impact on free-kick taking, (I don't agree), but if you do, then this apace is taken up by "eccentricity" on a GK.

I've got absolutely no doubt that composure is a key attribute either way.

So basically, rather than a GK with a good free-kick or penalty attributes, what I think you are actually looking for is the following.

1. A good GK who will play every game for you.

2. A young GK who will be around for a while.

3. A player with enough PA to allow for significant growth.

4. Depending on what club you are at, ambition is a bad thing because it may encourage him to want to move on to bigger and better things. Professionalism all the way.

5. A high "Handling" attribute.

6. A high "Throwing" attribute.

7. A high "One on one's" attribute.

8. A high "composure" attribute.

9. Someone who doesn't often get injured.

I think that's just about it.

this is very interesting and a bit heart-breaking for Glauber

It does make some sense, my keeper doesn't score a lot from FK (say 5-6 in 100 matches) but I regularly had outfield 'specialists' that scored 0 in 5 years. Free kicks seem a bit broken in FM 16, sometimes it feels some players just have 'it' and can score those FK's regardless of attributes. In my FM 16 careers I've had only two players that seemed capable of scoring free kicks (except goalkeepers): Giovinco from Toronto FC and Ramon (Brazilian striker), that scored 3-4 per season. It would be interesting to have SI games insight, maybe post this in the ask SI thread?

FK attribute of 15 might sill be useful as it gives players the chance to learn 'hits free kicks with power' PPM (while 'attempts long range FK' is apparently impossible to learm, tried countless times...), not sure if it's a helpful PPM though...

[leonavich]

Just for the record, (in case nobody has seen me discuss this), I think the reason for goal-scoring GK's out-scoring better qualified outfield players, (especially when it comes to free-kicks), is an error with regards to where the match engine extracts the GK abilities from with the game.

What I mean is this.

When an outfield player has a direct free-kick opportunity, the game recognises that it is a free-kick and it takes the free kick attribute, (one of the important factors when determining the outcome of the free-kick), from the free-kick attribute line in his profile, (or wherever that his hidden under the bonnet of the game). This "free kick taking attribute" is the 6th attribute down on the list of technical attributes. That all seems pretty straightforward and sensible I think you would agree.

The problem is that when it comes to GK's finding themselves in the same position and taking free-kicks, the 6th attribute down on the list of technical attributes isn't "free kick taking" at all. It's in fact "Handling". Now as you all know, handling is one of the key attributes for a GK. My personal opinion is that the game is extracting the GK's handling attribute and using it instead of his free-kick attribute.

It doesn't stop there though. While free-kick taking might be important in the taking of a free kick, it's not the be all and end all. What about technique?

Well technique is at the very bottom of the list of technical attributes for an outfield player, but for a GK, this spot is actually taken by "throwing", which again might be considered quite a key attribute for a GK.

Lastly, we might add, "long shots" into the mix and looking at that, that's 8 down on the list of technical attributes for an outfield player and it's place is taken by "one on one's" by a GK.

Some might argue that "finishing" might have an impact on free-kick taking, (I don't agree), but if you do, then this apace is taken up by "eccentricity" on a GK.

I've got absolutely no doubt that composure is a key attribute either way.

So basically, rather than a GK with a good free-kick or penalty attributes, what I think you are actually looking for is the following.

1. A good GK who will play every game for you.

2. A young GK who will be around for a while.

3. A player with enough PA to allow for significant growth.

4. Depending on what club you are at, ambition is a bad thing because it may encourage him to want to move on to bigger and better things. Professionalism all the way.

5. A high "Handling" attribute.

6. A high "Throwing" attribute.

7. A high "One on one's" attribute.

8. A high "composure" attribute.

9. Someone who doesn't often get injured.

I think that's just about it.

This is very interesting. One thing I also thought of is the "Kicking" ability. I know this is for their kicks from goal (i.e clearances, goal kicks, etc) but wondering if this is taken into account, akin to a "free kick" possibly being seen as a goal kick, thus high kicking providing good results from free kicks?

I have been away for two weeks but pretty keen to get back into this. I think I am about half way through the next season and Canini has only added about 2-3 this year so he is approaching 150 but taking his time in doing so.

[kandersson]

Season update from Glauber Daniel:

15 goals in 79 matches, not bad despite a pedestrian 13/20 on penalties and only 2 goals from free kicks. Glauber is nowe learning the 'Hits free kicks with power' PPM, hopefully this will help a bit, though I'm afraid FM16 isn't really free kicks friendly in any case...

All time stats:

35 goals in 177 appearances (29 penalties and 6 free kicks) for 20 years old Glauber, could have been better but all in all I'm happy with this tally!

[leonavich]

Been away for a while. 

Canini is currently on 159 career goals and is at the age of 34. I don't think he will carry on for too much longer but if he can hang in there for 4-5 mor years, he may still reach 200.

[Tecmo]

Anyone tried this in 17? My first game using my goalkeeper for free kicks I had a shot bounced off the wall and the opposition subsequently hit a 55 yard strike on my open goal.

[MCPlay]

I'm doing this as a part of my youth academy challenge. My goalkeeper Dave Owen is at 97 goals in 629 apps, at 29 years old. He has only cracked double digit scoring numbers in one season, which is a bit low compared to some of the greats of this thread.

[profii]

I scored a goal whilst playing in goal a couple of weeks ago at six a side... Count me for 1