Getting more out of strikers with 4-2-3-1

[matt_afc]

Hi everyone, new poster so please bear with me!

I'm over halfway through season 1 as Norwich. It's going well, 2nd in the league and I'm using a tactic I've worked well with in previous FMs. But I'm really struggling to get good performances out of my striker(s) in this system. I've had a good read through other discussions in this Forum which have been helpful in trying to get more out of the system in general (and league position shows I'm not exactly struggling) but it is something I'm keen to address. I've tried tweaking the instructions, roles and mentalities to find a method that works, but so far nothing has seemed to solve it and I'm massively reliant on goals coming from further back.

Screenshot of my current system below and am open to any suggestions or comments on this set up if anything is glaringly obvious, or any tips to try next. Some more info below too.

I rank quite high for chances created in the division (4th - still lower than position so this annoys me still!) but for goals I'm quite far down, about 8th, so I don't know if it's just that there's missing quality in my team and I need better players to take chances?

Top scorer is Rhodes (10 goals, a few of which are pens, mostly at start of season), but I'm leading with Pukki and he is regularly dropping 6.3s and only has 2 League goals, one of which was a rebound tap in. Rhodes doesn't fair much better despite better scoring stats, his overall average is still well under 6.8 despite his goals and lately I can't get anything out of either of them. I also notice a regular analysis from assistant that we are struggling for possession in opposition half, although we have the best possession stats overall in the league quite comfortably (averaging 56% per game). 

My B2B seems to get a fair few opportunities and space but these are from range. Assistant often in game suggests 'Working ball into box' but have read elsewhere in this forum that this isn't great to rely on, especially when looking to break compact defenses.

Basically the above is where I'm at, hopefully the overview helps but I'm very open to suggestions, advice, tips etc to try and solve this annoyance! Happy to provide any further info as well if this helps.

TIA

[summatsupeer]

Firstly it sounds like your doing well in the league so I'd not go mad with changes.

I don't pay attention to advice from the assistant, it might highlight a stat but you'd have to analyse the cause. Just because direct passes were successful doesn't mean doing more of them is better but that's what the assistant would say. 

With a WB-A and IF-S you already have a natural overlap, I typically restrict Look For Overlap or Exploit instructions for when I see a weakness in an opposition.  Looking at that side I'd probably swap the CM pair so the DLP who holds position is covering the WB-A and leaving space for the IF-S. The BBM should have more space on the left inside of the W-A. Finally Pass Into Space, your BPD, DLP, AP and IF already try risky passes often, do you need to add to that? For example did you see lots of instances the BBM or W-A didn't try a through ball you think they should of done? Would having the players stick to the role given help more? Especially if they aren't good passes.

[matt_afc]

4 minutes ago, summatsupeer said:

Firstly it sounds like your doing well in the league so I'd not go mad with changes.

I don't pay attention to advice from the assistant, it might highlight a stat but you'd have to analyse the cause. Just because direct passes were successful doesn't mean doing more of them is better but that's what the assistant would say. 

With a WB-A and IF-S you already have a natural overlap, I typically restrict Look For Overlap or Exploit instructions for when I see a weakness in an opposition.  Looking at that side I'd probably swap the CM pair so the DLP who holds position is covering the WB-A and leaving space for the IF-S. The BBM should have more space on the left inside of the W-A. Finally Pass Into Space, your BPD, DLP, AP and IF already try risky passes often, do you need to add to that? For example did you see lots of instances the BBM or W-A didn't try a through ball you think they should of done? Would having the players stick to the role given help more? Especially if they aren't good passes.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, certainly going well, but I'm a sucker for having a striker that leads or competes as top goalscorer, hence my want to support that

Good advice re assistant, I don't always enforce the advice but he does seem to always push for work ball into box!

I'll try those tips as well. Pass into Space wasn't observational per se, more a though process behind inviting my quick wing backs into attacking play. But if you don't think that's needed (or I've misunderstood the instruction) then I can happily take out - that is one I've toggled with before so it isn't always set.

Would you say it's worth sticking with AP-S as my 10, or switching the role on that, such as SS? I rarely venture from AP, if I do it's to AM, so am less knowledgeable on the impact of the other roles, but if there is reason to think that another role might help my AF then I might experiment with that.

[summatsupeer]

6 minutes ago, matt_afc said:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, certainly going well, but I'm a sucker for having a striker that leads or competes as top goalscorer, hence my want to support that

Good advice re assistant, I don't always enforce the advice but he does seem to always push for work ball into box!

I'll try those tips as well. Pass into Space wasn't observational per se, more a though process behind inviting my quick wing backs into attacking play. But if you don't think that's needed (or I've misunderstood the instruction) then I can happily take out - that is one I've toggled with before so it isn't always set.

I think best thing to do is watch play with it on then turn it off and see of you can see how the players choices change in similar situations.

Id expect you to loose the ball early less which will give the WBs more time to get forward but I'm surmising.

6 minutes ago, matt_afc said:

Would you say it's worth sticking with AP-S as my 10, or switching the role on that, such as SS? I rarely venture from AP, if I do it's to AM, so am less knowledgeable on the impact of the other roles, but if there is reason to think that another role might help my AF then I might experiment with that.

Make as few changes as needed, that way it's easier to tell what the effect of the change was and if it was what you expected.

[Rashidi]

Hmm I know you’ve talked about strikers not finishing, but what is your big chance conversion rate or your CCC conversion rate?

Are you creating 2 or better a game? What kind of chances are you making? Are these in the danger zone? How are your strikers doing for their own SOT conversion? How many do you generate?, where do these chances come from? How are the chances created? Set pieces Overloads etc? 

 

[Experienced Defender]

13 hours ago, summatsupeer said:

With a WB-A and IF-S you already have a natural overlap, I typically restrict Look For Overlap or Exploit instructions for when I see a weakness in an opposition.  Looking at that side I'd probably swap the CM pair so the DLP who holds position is covering the WB-A and leaving space for the IF-S. The BBM should have more space on the left inside of the W-A. Finally Pass Into Space, your BPD, DLP, AP and IF already try risky passes often, do you need to add to that?

I think this is the best piece of advice you could've got 

[buachuta]

I have the same problem with my Everton side. My best striker is Tosun and he's got 5 goals in late January. Just can't get a lone forward to score in any role, so looking forward to this thread.

[Experienced Defender]

3 hours ago, buachuta said:

I have the same problem with my Everton side. My best striker is Tosun and he's got 5 goals in late January. Just can't get a lone forward to score in any role, so looking forward to this thread.

You can start your own thread, post a screenshot of your tactic there and explain in a bit more detail what kind of tactical issues you are struggling with. I'm sure a lot of people will be glad to help and offer some useful advice