Advice on making the most of one-on-ones

[Al Zeer]

Hi there!

I don't really post much unless I really have something bugging me and yes I have seen the amount of topics/reviews on the subject, it is very frustrating nonetheless and I had to say something to get out as it's making me consider going back to FM19 as I have never in my life seen this amount of consistently bad finishing from both my team and the opposition. One-on-ones on FM20 are the equivalent of hopeful 40-yearders in real life which makes absolutely no sense and I would really appreciate any help I could get to improve this. The screenshot is from a recent match against a 4th tier club in Portugal where I am managing Maritimo, granted not the best team with the best players but they should be able to finish off a team like this especially when we have had 24 shots on target with 7 clear cut chances + a penalty against a GK with 8 for dealing with one-on-ones and 9 for reflexes. Both goals were basically deflections. 

Also, worth mentioning I am currently on a run of 7 draws (1-1-/0-0) in a row in the league - just a fantastic exhibition of bad finishing from everyone - it feels like the game is broken or something.  

Again, any help would be appreciated! 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Al Zeer

[Enzo_Francescoli]

Option A: select shoot on site and create nice long-shot opportunities, they have better conversion rates than one-on-ones this year.

Option B: wait for the patch.

[3runhomer]

Congrats on creating 50 shots. That’s an impressive total against any team. 

Like you, my Blackpool team was running up big shot totals, scoring few, and getting lots of draws. More of our shots began to go in after I made our passing less direct, turned off pass into space, lowered the tempo, and switched to attacking mentality. Unfortunately I have no idea which one or combination of those changes made the difference.

The improvement didn’t come from our striker. Our left inside forward, right winger, and central midfielders (on attack) do most of the scoring in a 4-3-3 Wide formation. Good luck. 

[FMunderachiever]

1 hour ago, Enzo_Francescoli said:

Option A: select shoot on site and create nice long-shot opportunities, they have better conversion rates than one-on-ones this year.

Option B: wait for the patch.

Basically this is correct.

Get players in and around the edge of the box, ideally from the angles between penalty spot and edge of area on both sides, and then shoot, shoot, shoot.

[Svenc]

24 SOT with Little Goals will only be partially connected to one on ones (that they'd be generally less scored than Long shots is nonsensical)

It's the set piece attempts too. Rather easy to come by, not that oft converted into Goals, but then, to an extent, they shouldn't. The average finish off a set piece is a pressured Header...

Set pieces come about btw. to simplify if an opposition gets a foot into a move. To make this less happen, that defense Needs to be (positionally) stretched better.

Therefore, also consider lowering the amount of set piece attempts, make it more difficult to defend your moves, and you'll score more. (Especially since nobody has found a set piece exploit as of yet )

Edited December 27, 2019 by Svenc

[kevaggel]

This is something that i tried but it's not completely about tactics, it's about training.

Here are two seasons of a player that i was using mostly as a forward in pressing striker role.

The change is that for the 2nd season he was trained to "go round the GK" trait. He was also able to score an extra 8 goals in UCL during the second season. Zero penalties for both seasons.

I believe that trait and team training helped him to convert more 1vs1 during the second season.

The tactical aspect is about what was the role of his partner, i used a Target Man for the 2nd season but i am not sure that it helped him to score more goals.

[Svenc]

6 hours ago, kevaggel said:

This is something that i tried but it's not completely about tactics, it's about training.

Here are two seasons of a player that i was using mostly as a forward in pressing striker role.

The change is that for the 2nd season he was trained to "go round the GK" trait. He was also able to score an extra 8 goals in UCL during the second season. Zero penalties for both seasons.

I believe that trait and team training helped him to convert more 1vs1 during the second season.

The tactical aspect is about what was the role of his partner, i used a Target Man for the 2nd season but i am not sure that it helped him to score more goals.

Not sure whether you can look into that anymore, but it'd also be interesting whether he got more shots during the second season to begin with. The amount of one on ones as such we would need to Count manually.  

But ideally the trait would influence positively, yes. It may be underused though and what you have witnessed may be down to random chance. In the league that's plus 4 goals, which is always going to fluctuate some by nothing else but chance. Would be interesting to watch it over the longer term.


As of my set pieces point above: If @Al Zeer would upload the above match, I'd demonstrate to him what I mean. This many SOT with this little goals have been such a save bet for many years what the main culprit is/was. This can't / won't be purely about the one on ones -- usually, that is.  

[thehig2]

You cant really a lot are missed on the game currently by both sides.

Exploit it because what affects you affects the AI teams in the same way

[Svenc]

57 minutes ago, thehig2 said:

You cant really a lot are missed on the game currently by both sides.

Exploit it because what affects you affects the AI teams in the same way

Not that sure as not all of them seem to be equal opportunity. And you can influence what kind of chances transpire somewhat on both ends of the pitch, which has always been the  point of the tactics module. This is the tactics board, not GD. So let's try to discuss this seriously rather than give in.  


There are some that seem to be converted at 50/50 ratios, actually rather than the real-life football ~33% for the average one on one. They should be harder to come by though with an AI Manager using "realistic" tactics, mind.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMXEHt2vHWU

What has tactically hurt 1vs1 conversion before:

- Playing all narrow and/or never advancing a wide Player and to a sole focal Point man in the middle. This would create a one on one with the Forward in tendency facing the keeper straight, no time on the ball. Slightly angled assists tended to give the Forward more time and space as opposed to balls straight in his back, and that's actually realistic -- vintage sequence with the forward facing the keeper straight and no time at  2:40 here.

https://youtu.be/I4rX1XHuQgI?t=165

 

There's likely measures you could take to avoid those from wider and tighter angles currently outright "bunching" wide in the ME too (red dots). To me those should be 1 in 6 to 1 in 5 chances even once patched @Rashidi, anyone?



And as a repeat: The above kinda match from the OP won't be purely About the one on ones, but also the set piece attempts (too many, just likek that West Ham FM 2015 guy).

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Svenc

[Al Zeer]

Thanks everyone for your replies and I will try the suggested. Also, as requested I've uploaded the match in question. 

Casa Pia v CS Marítimo.pkm

[Svenc]

42 minutes ago, Al Zeer said:

Thanks everyone for your replies and I will try the suggested. Also, as requested I've uploaded the match in question. 

Casa Pia v CS Marítimo.pkm 192.91 kB · 1 download

Thanks for providing. The game should really do this for us, as it is a lot of busy work for what is such a simple thing. I'm finished with the 1st half so far.

There is 1 one on one. (RED DOT) Actually in central spaces, but with the forward still under some pressure, and the keeper having closed the angles. Still could have been a goal.

As guessed, there is countless attempts purely from the set piece (throw-in, free kick, Corner). (BLUE DOTS) This suggests that tactically, a) the Opposition parked the bus, and it did. b) the attacking Team struggled to break that down from any Play. As soon as this happens, the SOT conversion takes a nose dive.

1st half Shots Off Target:

1st half on target/Blocked/Goal

So basically, for an entire half at least, there were 11 shots inside the box, but just three of them fron any play in space. The rest exclusively from a set piece. Headers off such simply are not converted that oftenly into goals. Maybe they should, maybe they shouldn't. But have too many of those, and you will suffer.


 

[Al Zeer]

Thank you, Svenc!

Interesting thing to note here is that this season most of my goals are coming from my wide players whereas last season it was the center forwards ( I took over a third of the way in as they were in 14th, predicted 8th, and I took them all the way to 4th and to the Europa League in addition to 2 cup finals, lost both resoundingly to Porto tho) but my center forwards were a big help with 20 goals from my main man and 13 from my young prospect. The only difference this season is that I brought in better players on the wings and that seems to be paying off, however, the strikers aren't  contributing much now even though the team has improved significantly and I haven't really changed the way I play. 
 

[Enzo_Francescoli]

I don't think one-on-one conversion rates can be traced back to anything tactical. A one-on-one is a one-on-one in every system. Granted, not all of them are created equal - angles matter, attributes matter, goalkeepers matter. Your tactical setup does not. I believe to try and find a tactical solution to a ME bug which has been acknowledged by SI as such is an exercise in vain, because no matter what you come up with, your players still won't convert these chances at the rate their attributes and the situation would otherwise dictate. What you can do is NOT build your system around through balls, which is especially infuriating because I love my direct attacks.

I could show you a game from my Dynamo Kyiv save where my players missed - by my count - four one-on-ones against a vastly inferior opponent and converted none. But the point here is that while constantly moaning about these bugs is pointless, not to mention boring, keeping a blind eye to them is equally so.

[Al Zeer]

Certainly not complaining here - more of trying to find a solution. I am 3rd in the league after 15 games despite being 10th in the salary per annum table and could probably be even closer to the top had my strikers been more productive.