[Too few goals]

The top scorer isn't a huge issue but average goals per game is definitely rough.

1 goal in 2 games for a player is a solid return but yes you would expect the top players to be popping a few more than that, more between the 0.5 to 0.75 per game ratio.

[Match engine thoughts]

First of all kudos to the changes, the fix for over the top balls is great and the football does feel more entertaining to watch now.

However, I have attached 4 versions of the same match I played to see how things played out and some things that did irk me.

CCC, Half Chance, shots in general are still horrendous. There were a good few chances for both teams in these games and a fair amount of 1v1s on top, only one goal with feet that I found acceptable was in game 3, West Hams first goal which was a decent pass across the box for a shot, it seems way too many shots just go straight at the keeper regardless of you stats, the best shot I saw from my team in 4 games was a half chance for my RB who actually aimed for a corner and his finishing is single digits!

So of course we all are aware that CCC is an expected goal really and either a bad play or great save could change that, half chances are good chances that you expect a good player to do well with but can understand him not scoring, a goal from neither of these is fantastic play, a fluke or just something unexpected. A compilation of stats from the four games West Ham:Barnsley, CCC 7:4, HC 1:11, Goals 7:2. A bit more broke down, Goal from CCC 3:1, Goals from HC 1:0, Unexpected or own goals: 4:1. What are these conversion rates boys? I expect my team to have a rough time because they're young and we're a small team in a big league but my front three got a lot of these chances with Finishing/Composure of 13/12, 12/13 and 17/15. Also, can we maybe look into the AI and half chances as well here because it seemed here like they didn't create near enough or were so confident that they passed up a half chance in order to get a CCC or something.

Shots from stupid angles are still there, I get that decision making has an impact and player traits of course but there are some instances still in this game where a player shoots basically from the byline or when there is a very clear passing option available and their chance of scoring alone is minimal, like sometimes the pass is so clear that Stevie Wonder could pick them out.

Headers, don't know why but they are also atrocious, rarely do I see a good header from a player with good heading. In game 2 Yarmolenko with his 12 heading however scored 2 and his first one was an absolute champ of a header from a solid 10 yards at least. Way too many good headers just lift it miles over the bar, needs fixing, even if it's at the keeper or looks to be a close effort, also happens defensively but there are so many defensive headers in a game you expect it.

Crosses, just don't seem to be done the way you ask, tried changing it during the games at times to see if anything happened but 9/10 just float it over to the back post, now my players aren't the best crossers but I'm fairly certain they know the difference between a low or whipped one and a lofted one...

Errors that lead to goals, maybe it was just this fixture that really wanted it to be a contentious issue, who knows but my lord it was awful. The only goal of game 1 came from a terrible error from the RB just dawdling in his own box, late in that game a bad pass put a striker clean through on goal (which of course he didn't score), game 3 saw an amazing own goal header, a peach of a finish and game 4 saw an error at the end that was basically a carbon copy of the late one from game 1. These were just the ones that led to good chances as well mind you.

Finally, only one incident but it was really bad to watch, the game 4 error at the end of the game led to a goal, nice to see a 1v1 be put away but the manner it happened... the striker runs 2cms past a keeper that is rooted to the spot seemingly and then takes a good few seconds to realise what just happened and dives backwards to try and catch the guy tapping it on the goal line.

 

So I do feel like there are definite improvements and I like watching the matches more ... but only whilst the ball is not in and around the box because then it's a bit poo xD

West Ham v Barnsley 1.pkm West Ham v Barnsley 2.pkm West Ham v Barnsley 3.pkm West Ham v Barnsley 4.pkm

[Football Manager 2020 Feedback Thread]

1 hour ago, 2feet said:

Watch Salah's season from 2017-18, when he broke the premier league top scorer record and scored 32 league goals.

Whats shocking is how many absolutely sitters he missed.

And did you see the World Club Cup Final? Firmino, with the ball 10 feet in front of goal, the goalkeeper sat on his arse, he's a world class striker, and what happened? He hit the post.

Im not an FM expert but when you watch a professional game and really make a note of the number of times you would expect a striker to score in a situation and yet he doesnt, its really surprising actually how often it happens.

 

This is a bit misrepresentative. Although it seems Salah missed a lot of opportunities that season he actually scored 6/7 more goals that season than his expected total of around 25 from the quality of chances he was given.

ThomasJefferson is bang on with the 1v1 side of the match engine. Although I am very glad that keepers make more of an impact now some of the saves they make are insane for how often they pull them off. They need to fix the percentage of wonder saves from 1v1 opportunities for sure. Kills me when my Striker goes 7 matches without scoring yet has had around 2/3 1v1s or pull backs for a clean shot in a relatively open net yet the keeper flies across the net to pull it out of the air.

 

Then you compare it to a goal where your winger with 8 heading trickles a cross into the keepers feet and he fluffs it into the net. Some serious problems with mostly the keepers for me. 

 

As as well as that I feel that - as I’m sure many have said already - balls over the top are far too frequent and apparently easy to pull off. If you have a team playing the offside trap and have top marking, off the ball, concentration etc and they can’t manage a single offside and then play a low defensive line instead to find it makes no difference and the opposition still just hoof it over your statuesque defenders you have to wonder wtf is the point of setting up your defensive philosophy in the first place.