Striker Form and how to preserve it

[CybrSlydr]

Here's a screen for ya.

And another.

[bigeastbumrush]

Look at your Ball Retention possessions won/loss. It's terrible.

[zanner]

Ya and all the ground you're covering as a St? Hell, play it like a sim and not arcade game wanting to sprint, take on anyone and everyone, and spam tackles.

Judging from those screens, especially ball retention - I'd probably have you at the end of the bench to never see playing time because it's called being a BALL HOG.

I think the form is A LOT better, and I'm playing as a striker. My goal and two goal games I'm around 7 to 9 in form -- But then again, I pass the ball, try to keep the ball when I get it. And I don't call for it unless I'm open or have the break. Also, I don't tackle unless I legitimately have a shot at it and as a Striker I'm not going to sprint both end of the field. I rarely if ever get close to my own goal, I'm either stuck at the half line when my team is on D or attacking the opposition penalty box. Seems to work for me.

[CybrSlydr]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigeastbumrush

Look at your Ball Retention possessions won/loss. It's terrible.

Of course it's terrible - defenders can just walk up to you and take it away. How are you supposed to keep that from happening?? I can't maneuver away as they just stick their feet in and bam - the ball is lose or they take posession. I lose maybe 5-8 balls by trying to create space. The rest are in the buildup in the attacking 1/3rd. When you have 3 defenders on you, how are you supposed to get out of that?

Then there's the fact that when your teammates pass it to you, your guy just stands there while the defenders run to you and steal the ball.

I never call for the ball, they just pass it to me.

Quote:

Ya and all the ground you're covering as a St? Hell, play it like a sim and not arcade game wanting to sprint, take on anyone and everyone, and spam tackles.

I don't spam tackles - as you see, I WON two tackles and lost 0. I also made a point to not press it - so through each of those two games, I hit the standing tackle button perhaps 5 times through all of it.

Sprinting around everywhere? I'm holding LB when I'm not on the ball, that's where the computer is placing my guy. If I camp out near mid-field and wait for them to regain posession, those chevrons pop up and my form starts decreasing as well. I finish games with over half my sprint bar still full every game.

[nas7ybuttler]

It looks like your guy is trying to cover a bit too much of the field, but if reducing the area of the pitch you cover brings up the chevrons, I can't imagine your form should dip. Your possession stats aren't great, but then again you're a striker trying to create openings so I would expect your possession stats to be much lower then say a center back. I would hope that they are weighting that aspect of the game accordingly, since it is a much bigger deal if your center backs are loosing possession then it is if your striker loses the ball on 1v1 with the keeper.

At this point, I would say you should try and contact someone on the EA forums because I don't see anything terribly wrong with what you're doing. If you do, make sure to include those pics. Let us know what you find out.

[CybrSlydr]

Thanks. I posted over on the EACH forums. Let's see what they have to say.

[CybrSlydr]

Another pic.

[ragnarok1978]

Possession won/lost is a key factor. You're loosing the ball 20+ times in a match - if you we're the commentator or a manager, would you grade yourself high?

Also, out of 28 passes you only have 1 key pass as a striker yet complete ~85% of your passes? You need to stop passing it backwards safely and take more chances helping with the build-up. A key pass is not necessarily a pass into the box, but helps keeping the build up progressing forward. As a rule of thumb, try and pass the ball forward in the last 1/3rd of the pitch, not sideways or backwards (sideways sometimes count, if you're close to the box and the pass leaves the receiver open to forward progression).

You need to stop wanting to create something every time you have the ball. Use the left trigger more to face the ball carrier and receive the ball while keeping it under control and shielding it, if you have a defender on you (Receiving the ball running normally or while sprinting, especially before your player has good ball control, means you will loose it A LOT). The use of the right trigger makes me shield the ball more and get it under control better because I face the ball carrier and know the pass is comming = less possessions lost.

Personally I play a target man striker. To me it's very effective to adopt a "play with the back to the goal" strategy with the right trigger in the build up, and then try and find open spots when the build up reaches around the penalty box. I score a lot from being placed in the right spot at the right time. I don't have the acceleration to beat an offside trap or loose someone off a dribble, but I do have the strength to out muscle them when shielding the ball, which sometimes make the trip or sag off, leaving space for me to run into for a shot on goal or a pass to an open teammate.