Stopping "Long Shots"

[The Raconteur]

I'm trying to stop my players from taking long shots (as part of a larger experiment - the how and why isn't at issue here ) - and I was hoping for some assistance.

For the purposes of this experiment, I have chosen the team tactic of "Work ball into box" solely because it conflicts with "Shoot on sight", which is what they seem to do with no shout. (The starting team mentality is "counter")

I have then gone through the player tactics and given every single player (except the keeper) the "Shoot less often" instruction.

However, I am still having half of my shots being classed as "Long shots". I can appreciate that some are direct free kicks, but I'm going spare trying to stop them from blazing away. Can anyone please advise me how to stop this?

I remember making a post regarding last year's iteration (or maybe the year before) that we needed a button for "If you take a long shot I'll break your legs". It was a joke then, but I feel I really need that button right now.

[RTHerringbone]

Long shots will still occur if you aren't creating passing opportunities for your players, or if they have certain PPMs.

Watch some of your long shots back, and try to diagnose what the common theme is.

More often that not it will be due to the ball carrier being isolated, or his available passing options being blocked.

[The Raconteur]

Sorry - forgot to mention. There are no players in my team with and long-range shooting, except the free-kick taker who "Hits Free Kicks With Power".

(I don't sign long range shooters, and I sell/drop to reserves any that I start with)

[Cleon]

Most people always assume its a player issue or something when they have a lot of long shots, but over the years I reckon a good 90% of the issue is from the user not having movement or passing options leaving the players with little option to shoot. Even people who claim they have these options and then uploaded a PKM to show us actually did have this problem. So above all else I'd look at the positioning, movement and support of the players before they shoot via the analysis tab etc.

[wereldbol]

this has been an underlying problem with the match engine for years now. even if a player has no clear pass available or no space to run into, surely he wouldn't just take a pop if you specifically instruct him not to? he'd turn his back to goal, try and protect the ball, head to the sideline or just try and find an easy pass back? or let's say he's instructed to play balls into space and he's been given a fair bit of creative freedom, yet instructed not to shoot at goal unless he has a good chance of finding the net, then surely it'd be more logical if he'd tried (and failed) a risky pass instead of having a pop anyway, because, well, he simply refuses to listen to what the gaffa has to say? find this very hard to believe

[oneronaldo]

this has been an underlying problem with the match engine for years now. even if a player has no clear pass available or no space to run into, surely he wouldn't just take a pop if you specifically instruct him not to? he'd turn his back to goal, try and protect the ball, head to the sideline or just try and find an easy pass back? or let's say he's instructed to play balls into space and he's been given a fair bit of creative freedom, yet instructed not to shoot at goal unless he has a good chance of finding the net, then surely it'd be more logical if he'd tried (and failed) a risky pass instead of having a pop anyway, because, well, he simply refuses to listen to what the gaffa has to say? find this very hard to believe

Well there are plenty of footballers in real life, despite being given instructions, fail to follow it/choose not to follow it anyway and frustrate their managers to no end by doing whatever the hell they wanted on the field. Poor decision-making plays a part as well (think Nani or a young CR7).

[DavidPengilley]

Think about all those Glen Johnson wasted shots from about 20 yards out for England. He's unlikely to have been told to have a go from that distance but, when options are few or none, he has no choice.

Breaking out movement by players up front should help. So thing like roam from position or move into channels

[The Raconteur]

Think about all those Glen Johnson wasted shots from about 20 yards out for England. He's unlikely to have been told to have a go from that distance but, when options are few or none, he has no choice.

Breaking out movement by players up front should help. So thing like roam from position or move into channels

This is one of the things I am trying to do - and to that end I have purchased a player who "Moves into channels" to play up front.

I have to say it's very frustrating to try and isolate one particular issue only to be told that it can't be isolated. I know my attacking play is deeply flawed - that is what I'm trying to resolve. Similar to what wereldbol said, I find it very difficult to accept that players in trouble are going to choose the one option they've been specifically instructed not to use. And it's not just PPM's, or low decisions or low composure problems. It's more broad than that. It's all players although, of course, as I experiment with worse and worse players (through dropping those who refuse to follow instructions) I get dominated in games which leads to fewer chances and thus devaluing the experiment.

As a long time customer, I'm finding this season's iteration the most infuriating yet, and you can talk about how rewarding it is to "crack it", or win it but the time investment required to understand things like this outweighs the potential gratification.

[AndrikoDS]

I am just starting my second season and have noticed that my players are more prone to long shots (and long balls actually) even though I haven't changed the tactics at all (and have set up for the opposite to happen). I suspect it's a result of the AI pushing higher up and maybe pressing a bit more, and thus not giving my team much time to do anything else. Maybe you are having a similar issue, and so might need to adjust the tactics more broadly.

[nick1408]

Most people always assume its a player issue or something when they have a lot of long shots, but over the years I reckon a good 90% of the issue is from the user not having movement or passing options leaving the players with little option to shoot. Even people who claim they have these options and then uploaded a PKM to show us actually did have this problem. So above all else I'd look at the positioning, movement and support of the players before they shoot via the analysis tab etc.

I went on a form slump after leading the league by miles. One of the issues I had was long shots. The problem was that players were picking up the ball and having a shot without being told to. As an example this player (further developed from the screenshot) has taken the below shot -

Now, why didn't he dribble further into the box before taking the shot? He has "Runs with ball often" as a ppm which confused me even more. He is up to 19 pace and 16 acceleration so would have easily kept ahead of the defenders. I simply put it down to a poor mistake from a player who is now the best striker in the world.

Mistakes do happen. I feel the above, while infuriating was a build up of pressure from a losing run and also the time in the match (94th minute).

[Cleon]

I went on a form slump after leading the league by miles. One of the issues I had was long shots. The problem was that players were picking up the ball and having a shot without being told to. As an example this player (further developed from the screenshot) has taken the below shot -

Now, why didn't he dribble further into the box before taking the shot? He has "Runs with ball often" as a ppm which confused me even more. He is up to 19 pace and 16 acceleration so would have easily kept ahead of the defenders. I simply put it down to a poor mistake from a player who is now the best striker in the world.

Mistakes do happen. I feel the above, while infuriating was a build up of pressure from a losing run and also the time in the match (94th minute).

It could be a number of reasons and the actual build up to the move is just as important. It could also be a case of him seeing the keeper off his line. The text for the actual move would have gave you a reason too.

What your screenshot does show though is a lack of movement from the players around him and no-one is in space or a viable passing option....

[Dr. Hook]

I also noticed from that screenshot that the player has someone closing in from behind, and the center defender to his left is moving to cut him off. I too have experienced this frustrating event, but on closer look, you can see why a player might choose to let a shot go rather than get tackled or cut off and be left with nothing.

[nick1408]

I went on a form slump after leading the league by miles. One of the issues I had was long shots. The problem was that players were picking up the ball and having a shot without being told to. As an example this player (further developed from the screenshot) has taken the below shot -

Now, why didn't he dribble further into the box before taking the shot? He has "Runs with ball often" as a ppm which confused me even more. He is up to 19 pace and 16 acceleration so would have easily kept ahead of the defenders. I simply put it down to a poor mistake from a player who is now the best striker in the world.

Mistakes do happen. I feel the above, while infuriating was a build up of pressure from a losing run and also the time in the match (94th minute).

It could be a number of reasons and the actual build up to the move is just as important. It could also be a case of him seeing the keeper off his line. The text for the actual move would have gave you a reason too.

What your screenshot does show though is a lack of movement from the players around him and no-one is in space or a viable passing option....

Never noticed the lack of movement to be honest but I did see there were no passing options, hence why I thought a dribble into the box was the smartest move. Now that you have pointed it out I can see the players are too deep. This movement started from a goalkick and the players look like they are too deep. This could be due to me informing the players to drop deeper (most likely) so I will experiment with that. I haven't really arrested the issues yet but am working on it.

I also noticed from that screenshot that the player has someone closing in from behind, and the center defender to his left is moving to cut him off. I too have experienced this frustrating event, but on closer look, you can see why a player might choose to let a shot go rather than get tackled or cut off and be left with nothing.

The bloke behind him may have scared the striker into taking a shot. The CD to his left I don't think would have made it to him before the shot was taken a bit closer to goal. Either way, I think the biggest issue was the time left to play.