My best players randomly tank important games. How does the system work?

So this season i've had a very strange problem. I have a 200%+ level striker who has been amazing for me, scoring 28 league goals by the mid-season mark. He has also generally been strong in Champions League and the Cup.

This week, I had knockout matches in both competitions. Inexplicably, my 200%+ striker **** the bed in BOTH matches, ending in the 5's, despite being completely statistically dominant vs his defenders. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is the case. Morale was maxed along with max win bonus too. I've also partnered him with a second striker so he wouldn't be isolated up top, but he still played like someone who didn't belong.

Has anybody had this problem? Is this expected from the simulation engine? I'd chalk it off to a bad game but this happened twice this week. Completely nonsensical.

Make him AMR/AML and you are good. Then you see a LOT of goals ;) ST don't score goals, AMC/AMR/AML does at the moment.

Agreed. For some reason this season I can't get any worthwhile productivity out of my strikers. Even 2 strikers against a weaker opponent with a 3 back line. My AMR/AML are going to war on fools though. It inexplicable how this works. Last season my lone striker was making it rain,

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Originally Posted by k1tb

Make him AMR/AML and you are good. Then you see a LOT of goals ;) ST don't score goals, AMC/AMR/AML does at the moment.

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That doesn't seem true at all. This striker that I mentioned above who had terrible matches, let me give you his stat line so far this season:

League: 29 goals in 18 matches
Champions League: 8 goals in 9 matches
Cup: 10 goals in 10 matches

That is excellent. And yet somehow, against defenders in the 130%-150% range, his 200%+ skill set causes him to suddenly have games so awful it seems like all the training I give him is useless.

In contrast, my other striker is in the 150%-160% range and played just fine in both matches. My head hurts.

With this kind of % that your player is, these stats are low.
In my opinion you are "holding him back".
Buy a good striker and if you have greens, make your star player AML/AMR.
Then like after 10 matches post the result in here. I'm 100% sure that he will score more goals in 10 matches than he has done in league 29 goals in 18 matches.

The other case could be that he is not a "big games player". He fails in important games, so it's the right time to give him a new position and then see, what he can do.

You have nothing to lose? Don't you ? :)

Look at my AML/ST/AMR stats in this season.

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You mentioned "Big Game Players". Has anybody actually observed that the game engine makes certain players fail in important matches more than other players? Is that really a thing?

Also, k1tb here is my striker...his crossing and fitness is low because he is specialized. You are sure he can play well out wide?
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Why not? I think crossing is not so big deal, but also I'm not 100% sure...Fitness could be better, but...

Well here are my best goal scorer skills and he plays as AMR. Today I used him as AMC and bang: 4 goals. ( 4-1-2-1-2 ND tactic )

The only bad thing with him is that when I bought him, he was CK specialist...I wish that he could be FK specialist. :D

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Is your striker a bubble boy? That incredibly low aggression and fitness could be preventing him from getting on the ball. He may be able to dribble and finish but if he is mincing around the box afraid to get the ball it may be your problem.

My ST played for a 5.x rating, next match was back to form with MoM and a hat trick. Happens to everyone, no explanation available...

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Originally Posted by CobhArsenalFC

Is your striker a bubble boy? That incredibly low aggression and fitness could be preventing him from getting on the ball. He may be able to dribble and finish but if he is mincing around the box afraid to get the ball it may be your problem.

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What about this 1,should I improve his grey skills to score more goals?Attachment 78148

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Originally Posted by madflo19

What about this 1,should I improve his grey skills to score more goals?Attachment 78148

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And BANG! Here is the Legend! :D Picture says more than words could ever do :D

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Originally Posted by CobhArsenalFC

Is your striker a bubble boy? That incredibly low aggression and fitness could be preventing him from getting on the ball. He may be able to dribble and finish but if he is mincing around the box afraid to get the ball it may be your problem.

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Cobh, he is an out and out striker, for which aggression and fitness are listed as unimportant skills. My understanding is that aggression is a purely defensive physical stat, and fitness is more required of wingers than strikers. Did you find some info somewhere that suggests otherwise?

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Originally Posted by k1tb

And BANG! Here is the Legend! :D Picture says more than words could ever do :D

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If his striker was a car


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Originally Posted by Stephen Lam

Cobh, he is an out and out striker, for which aggression and fitness are listed as unimportant skills. My understanding is that aggression is a purely defensive physical stat, and fitness is more required of wingers than strikers. Did you find some info somewhere that suggests otherwise?

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I dont have anything definitive but I have found that I get more productivity out my striker when using the condition bonus with counter attacking football. He seems to muscle into space behind the defence more. Of course the visual cues dont really mean anything as its not an actual depiction of play but i dont get the same visuals when I dont use the conditioning bonus (Which you know boosts the fitness)

You can also try to change position where he is playing. There are 3 ST slots. Try to put him left and right also, not in the center. I have read, that sometimes changing striker position made him score...but I'm not sure.
But yet, you have nothing to lose :D

When your Players are in bad Form and can't score from attacks,then it's time to count on freekick and corners,make sure to have the right players for that

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Originally Posted by CobhArsenalFC

If his striker was a car


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....say what?! lol
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Originally Posted by LeManiaque

My ST played for a 5.x rating, next match was back to form with MoM and a hat trick. Happens to everyone, no explanation available...

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Right! You can't just expect your boy to shine every match.

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Originally Posted by lucker88

Right! You can't just expect your boy to shine every match.

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Yes but the problem is it isn't just one match. It's multiple matches in the same time period. In the case of one opponent, It's EVERY match i play against him.

We have the same starting 11 quality but every time his team scores in the 7-9's and my team scores in the 5-7's. He doesn't even ATTEND the matches and it's the same result. EVERY. TIME. He plays a 4-3w-1-2 and I keep trying different things against him.

I've now tried two strikers. one striker with a winger. Two strikers with a winger. Long passes. Short Passes. Hard defending with counters. Normal stance. Attacking. Normal tackling. Hard Tackling. It doesn't matter. It's a **** result every time.

The irrational part of me wants to scream that the game is rigged. The calm side of me wants to figure out how to deal with this but there don't seem to be any solid answers.

The only thing left i have to try is to take my dedicated striker and put him on the wing (but then who do i play as striker?). Try anything right?