striker got a lobotomy and has forgotten how to score

[fraudiola]

coming hot off of a 35 goal season my striker decided to get a lobotomy over the summer break and now he's incapable of putting away easy 1v1s. he'll put away the hard ones; beat a defender and score while being pressed, ezpz lemon squeezy, but he'll smash a free 1v1 right at the keeper or off target. his conversion rate is 20% with 9 goals in 20 appearances, he could be at at least 20 if he put away half the 1v1s. if 20% is high then maybe the game is artificially limiting his goals to keep his conversion rate "realistic", but i doubt thats even a thing. or maybe its the new 5 year contract i gave him at the end of last season, don't know if the games that realistic. his avg rating is kinda low too cause even in games where he scores he'll miss a few chances and thus brining his rating down. chance creation isn't the issue. how do i fix him? 

[herne79]

If you are still performing well in the league then you don't fix him because there's nothing to fix.  He's scoring in pretty much half of the games he plays in, which by any standard other than CR7 or Lewandowski is great, and your season is going well.  If you tinker with a winning formula for no other reason than to get a striker who is already scoring well to score even more then you run the risk of breaking things.

[fraudiola]

18 minutes ago, herne79 said:

If you are still performing well in the league then you don't fix him because there's nothing to fix.  He's scoring in pretty much half of the games he plays in, which by any standard other than CR7 or Lewandowski is great, and your season is going well.  If you tinker with a winning formula for no other reason than to get a striker who is already scoring well to score even more then you run the risk of breaking things.

yea sure, 5 spots ahead of our predicted but there were games that should've been comfortable wins if not for those missed chances, also my wonderkid CAM's goals are drying up too and our most recent goals have been weird or lucky. the guy has 1 long shot out of 15ish shots in last 5 games scoring 2 goals and id wager most of those were quality opportunities. 

also i wouldn't mind it if it wasnt so hard to sell players. said striker scored 35 in the bundesliga, europe's top marksman, 7.30 avg rating, pre-contract renewal at 14k a week, 0 offers. safe to say there wont any offers for him this season either. personally i haven't had any luck whatsoever selling players in the past few FMs. 

[YAMS]

From you tactic you are relying on the counter attack, there's no harm in this as you have a nice counter attack set up there. 

My only thought is you may have been underestimated last season & you counter attack worked very well but this season teams have adjusted to you & are playing more reserved so your counter is less effective. Perhaps a more possession based alternate tactic is needed here. 

[fraudiola]

34 minutes ago, YAMS said:

From you tactic you are relying on the counter attack, there's no harm in this as you have a nice counter attack set up there. 

My only thought is you may have been underestimated last season & you counter attack worked very well but this season teams have adjusted to you & are playing more reserved so your counter is less effective. Perhaps a more possession based alternate tactic is needed here. 

still creating plenty from counters against most clubs, the bottoms team i go a bit aggressive against. its the worse against the bottom sides, 0-1 towards the start of the season cause my striker missed 4 1v1s. media predicted a 10th place finish just like the previous season. 

side note: something wonky is happening in my save, joined a newly promoted side that has been teetering between bundesliga and second division every year but they had 4.5 star rep, same with a lot of other buli clubs (apparently its an issue with the buli). board's expectation is to avoid relegation for the past 3 seasons despite finishing in the top 7 every season. 

[fraudiola]

i've noticed that he scored most his goals in the more difficult games yet miss a ton against easier sides. is there a hidden attribute for that? 

[bosque]

Maybe he is in a bad run of form. 9 goals in 20 games is still a good amount for a mid table team. You could try bench him for a few games.

[alerosso]

47 minuti fa, fraudiola ha scritto:

i've noticed that he scored most his goals in the more difficult games yet miss a ton against easier sides. is there a hidden attribute for that? 

Maybe he's just getting a little complacent?

There are actually 2 hidden attributes called consistency and big games (it may not be the exact translation. If so, sorry) that can influence this kind of behavior.

You should be able to spot it in his scout/analyst report in the PRO/CONS table

Edited September 2, 2021 by alerosso

[zabyl]

There is not enough info.

 

-can you share a coach report of this player?

-what kind of chance did he miss more? clear cut chances, half chances or normal shots?

-did he shoot with power mostly when he missed a chance?

-what kind of opposition did he miss chances more? weaker teams which gave him less time and space to score? stronger teams which gave him more time and space to score?

-what was the league ranking prediction last year and this year for your team?

[jozza800]

3 hours ago, fraudiola said:

still creating plenty from counters against most clubs, the bottoms team i go a bit aggressive against. its the worse against the bottom sides, 0-1 towards the start of the season cause my striker missed 4 1v1s. media predicted a 10th place finish just like the previous season. 

side note: something wonky is happening in my save, joined a newly promoted side that has been teetering between bundesliga and second division every year but they had 4.5 star rep, same with a lot of other buli clubs (apparently its an issue with the buli). board's expectation is to avoid relegation for the past 3 seasons despite finishing in the top 7 every season. 

This is the thing I've also noticed (not just in this year's version either). It's understandable that teams sit back a little more and deny the space for counter attacking but that's just not how the games show it. 

Your players still get in but stop putting the chances away. 

It does feel like it's artificial at times. You're supposed to struggle against packed defences but it doesn't look like it in the me, it just seems to make your striker hit everything at the keeper (who invariably will have a 7+ rating by the end of the game). The result is as it should be just not the way it's visualised. 

[CaptCanuck]

On first blush, single-digits concentration is not a good thing to have for your main goal scorer. Apparently last season he maintained it and maybe this season he is just returning to type. That plus a new contract could also be contributing, under the covers so to speak. If - as previous poster suggests - you see 'poor consistency' show up in his coach's report. That coupled with the low concentration would be a large part why.

What did he do the season before the 35 goal campaign? How does his xG last season compare to this? They could be close and last year overperformed and this year under.

Edited September 2, 2021 by CaptCanuck

[fraudiola]

10 hours ago, zabyl said:

There is not enough info.

 

-can you share a coach report of this player?

-what kind of chance did he miss more? clear cut chances, half chances or normal shots?

-did he shoot with power mostly when he missed a chance?

-what kind of opposition did he miss chances more? weaker teams which gave him less time and space to score? stronger teams which gave him more time and space to score?

-what was the league ranking prediction last year and this year for your team?

shoots with power, weaker to same level teams, 10th place prediction both years, misses CCC (the game doesnt recognize them as CCC maybe thats the problem? but the game doesn't recognize a lot of CCCs as CCCs anymore and yet it'll recognize non CCCs as CCCs) 

 

11 hours ago, alerosso said:

Maybe he's just getting a little complacent?

There are actually 2 hidden attributes called consistency and big games (it may not be the exact translation. If so, sorry) that can influence this kind of behavior.

You should be able to spot it in his scout/analyst report in the PRO/CONS table

 

8 hours ago, CaptCanuck said:

On first blush, single-digits concentration is not a good thing to have for your main goal scorer. Apparently last season he maintained it and maybe this season he is just returning to type. That plus a new contract could also be contributing, under the covers so to speak. If - as previous poster suggests - you see 'poor consistency' show up in his coach's report. That coupled with the low concentration would be a large part why.

What did he do the season before the 35 goal campaign? How does his xG last season compare to this? They could be close and last year overperformed and this year under.

22 goals in 33 first season but we weren't creating as many chances and had a TM sharing the load with 16 goals. how do i check a player's xG and previous season stats? 

Edited September 3, 2021 by fraudiola

[DarJ]

1 hour ago, fraudiola said:

22 goals in 33 first season but we weren't creating as many chances and had a TM sharing the load with 16 goals.

You didn't mention that he was playing alongside another striker and if that's the case then your tactic changed and it might have impacted him 

[zabyl]

6 saat önce, fraudiola said:

Inconsistent player. This could have changed because of his undulant performances in this season. 

What PPM are you training him? If I were you, I would train him not to "shoot with power". He is more suited to "placed shots". Also his weaker foot is bad too. Could those missed chances occur because of his weaker foot?

 

Also you had used him together with a TM last season. Why didn't you tell us at first? Don't you think that can affect striker performance?

Edited September 3, 2021 by zabyl

[nick1408]

Not really a help but I am in the same position. Striker won the Bundesliga Golden Boot twice in a row then picked up the Likes Balled Played to Feet PPM and now doesn't score at all. I am having a hell of a time removing the PPM so you have my sympathy.

[fraudiola]

2 hours ago, zabyl said:

Inconsistent player. This could have changed because of his undulant performances in this season. 

What PPM are you training him? If I were you, I would train him not to "shoot with power". He is more suited to "placed shots". Also his weaker foot is bad too. Could those missed chances occur because of his weaker foot?

 

Also you had used him together with a TM last season. Why didn't you tell us at first? Don't you think that can affect striker performance?

unpopular opinion but shoot with power results in more 1v1 goals in my experience than placed shots. 

with a TM in the first season not the last (2nd) season. mentioned that cause someone else asked the season before his 35 goal season. same tactic last season minus some PIs on LM and RM

Edited September 3, 2021 by fraudiola

[fraudiola]

1 hour ago, nick1408 said:

Not really a help but I am in the same position. Striker won the Bundesliga Golden Boot twice in a row then picked up the Likes Balled Played to Feet PPM and now doesn't score at all. I am having a hell of a time removing the PPM so you have my sympathy.

does he have the inconsistent trait like my guy? 

yea forget about removing PPMs. i havent been able remove a single PPM ever. takes 4-6 months to learn a simple PPM but it wont remove it no matter how many years you have it on discourage. its stupid. 

[zabyl]

2 saat önce, fraudiola said:

unpopular opinion but shoot with power results in more 1v1 goals in my experience than placed shots. 

I did not say that. I said "this PPM does not suit this player" because of his average strength.

 

2 saat önce, fraudiola said:

with a TM in the first season not the last (2nd) season. mentioned that cause someone else asked the season before his 35 goal season. same tactic last season minus some PIs on LM and RM

Ok then. But those changes could have been affected his performance too. 

Edited September 3, 2021 by zabyl

[fraudiola]

7 minutes ago, zabyl said:

Ok then. But those changes could have been affected his performance too. 

off the top of my head, only put sit narrower on LM, cross less dribble more on RM, stay wider on LB

[herne79]

9 minutes ago, fraudiola said:

off the top of my head, only put sit narrower on LM, cross less dribble more on RM, stay wider on LB

So basically you've tinkered with your system by restricting space in the final 3rd on the left and putting in less crosses from the right, and now your striker isn't scoring as often.

Here's a meme back for you .

[fraudiola]

1 hour ago, herne79 said:

So basically you've tinkered with your system by restricting space in the final 3rd on the left and putting in less crosses from the right, and now your striker isn't scoring as often.

Here's a meme back for you .

lol

90% of crosses are slammed right into the first defender and out for a corner. RM has high dribbling and low crossing, not like we were reliant on scoring from crosses and my ST is not going to win a lot of crosses. FB is already on attack so why not stay wider with the LM sit narrower to allow more overlaps? 

we're creating more chances than previous seasons but scoring fewer... also if thats all it takes to "break" a striker then i dont know what to say. 

 

[herne79]

Your striker isn't broken.  If striker's aren't scoring (and btw yours still is at a very good rate) it's because of the space they have and/or how they are being fed.  And, whether you believe it or not, that's what you've affected.  You've changed how he is being fed and the space he has.  You may think it's small but small changes can have large impacts.  So, despite your striker scoring all those goals last season you now want your fullback to create even more overlaps?  Why?  What was it about the play last season that you weren't happy with that led you to wanting even more?

Also, have you changed any players as well between seasons?  Such as your wingers, your fullbacks, your midfielders or your AMC?  Any personnel changes can also have an influence because those players will be using space and attacking in different ways.  Case in point - I bought Phil Foden at the end of last season after he was listed by Man City to replace my apparently worse AMC.  He's been a bit rubbish so far, so much so that I've gone back to using my previous AMC - results have picked up and my striker has started firing again.  If I'm going to use Foden (and I need to because he costs a lot to run) I need to tinker with my system.

All you seem to be seeing is "we're creating more chances and scoring fewer therefore striker is broken".  That's not how it works.  Quality is what counts, not quantity, and from what I can see you've replaced some quality with quantity.

[fraudiola]

25 minutes ago, herne79 said:

Your striker isn't broken.  If striker's aren't scoring (and btw yours still is at a very good rate) it's because of the space they have and/or how they are being fed.  And, whether you believe it or not, that's what you've affected.  You've changed how he is being fed and the space he has.  You may think it's small but small changes can have large impacts.  So, despite your striker scoring all those goals last season you now want your fullback to create even more overlaps?  Why?  What was it about the play last season that you weren't happy with that led you to wanting even more?

Also, have you changed any players as well between seasons?  Such as your wingers, your fullbacks, your midfielders or your AMC?  Any personnel changes can also have an influence because those players will be using space and attacking in different ways.  Case in point - I bought Phil Foden at the end of last season after he was listed by Man City to replace my apparently worse AMC.  He's been a bit rubbish so far, so much so that I've gone back to using my previous AMC - results have picked up and my striker has started firing again.  If I'm going to use Foden (and I need to because he costs a lot to run) I need to tinker with my system.

All you seem to be seeing is "we're creating more chances and scoring fewer therefore striker is broken".  That's not how it works.  Quality is what counts, not quantity, and from what I can see you've replaced some quality with quantity.

thats the thing though, hes getting in more space to score now! i've literally been saying this the entire thread that the number of chances and quality of chances have gone up. unless its a visual bug and hes not actually in a ton of space in these 1v1s. my LB and LM were in too close of a proximity to each other. 

you brought in a completely new player in a vital CAM position while my preferred starting XI has been the same except for LCB and GK. 

anyways, 5 games into the new season and he has 5 goals from 14 shots. will see if it continues. 

[nick1408]

16 hours ago, fraudiola said:

does he have the inconsistent trait like my guy? 

yea forget about removing PPMs. i havent been able remove a single PPM ever. takes 4-6 months to learn a simple PPM but it wont remove it no matter how many years you have it on discourage. its stupid. 

He is inconsistent but my issues all came around with the addition of the player trait. My tactic isn't setup for strikers to receive the ball at their feet. I have a TM and an AF so the ball should be coming into the TM in the air or the AF either in front of him to run onto or knocked on from the striker. That particular player trait says in the tooltip that it increases the likelihood of the player showing and asking for the ball into his feet rather than into space or another part of his body. 

 

Inconsistency to me isn't two brilliant seasons then dropping off. It's yoyo performances game-to-game:

Here is my inconsistent striker. Notice the match ratings jump between mid 6's to mid 7's with not a lot in between? That's what I would call inconsistent. His last three games of 6.7, 6.7 and 6.6 I would call consistent (even if it isn't world beating).

[fraudiola]

12 hours ago, nick1408 said:

He is inconsistent but my issues all came around with the addition of the player trait. My tactic isn't setup for strikers to receive the ball at their feet. I have a TM and an AF so the ball should be coming into the TM in the air or the AF either in front of him to run onto or knocked on from the striker. That particular player trait says in the tooltip that it increases the likelihood of the player showing and asking for the ball into his feet rather than into space or another part of his body. 

 

Inconsistency to me isn't two brilliant seasons then dropping off. It's yoyo performances game-to-game:

Here is my inconsistent striker. Notice the match ratings jump between mid 6's to mid 7's with not a lot in between? That's what I would call inconsistent. His last three games of 6.7, 6.7 and 6.6 I would call consistent (even if it isn't world beating).

yea my "inconsistent" striker is back now. halfway through 4 season now with 18 goals from 45 shots in 15 games. 

if the PPM is truly the thing at fault for your striker then your pretty much screwed. time to get a new striker. 

[alerosso]

Btw guys being inconsistent doesn't necessarly mean that a player alternates between good and bad games all the time. He can have longer streaks or even entire seasons of good/bad "form".

[Piperita]

There are two things I would take a look at:

1) Your striker's mental stats are not the greatest. He has all the skill to score or to take on two or more opposition players but when he then thinks too much or gets nervous? Which is even harder on this guy because as sole striker AND AFa, he gets a lot of chances and shots and with his great dribbling and good movement his chances should be relatively clear. Which in turn ups the pressure more than a hopeful shot from the edge of the box or a random header.

2) With one man up front, I figured that his footedness is worth a lot, especially if he is  taking a lot of 1-v-1 chances or is under constant pressure. My star striker was scoring okay as single focus point but missed at least two really big chances a game because he was sent from the wrong side. His cheap replacement who has evenly footed was way more consistent in this system, even when lacking the sheer class. However, as soon as I played them next to each other the extra time (and more importantly the opponent bound elsewhere) his partner gave him and his focus on the right side, increased his conversion rate enormously.