The Two Slumps Theory

I have been playing top 11 since April and I have enjoyed myself until around the end of the King of The Hill challenge. It seemed as if simulations would make a lot of sense and do well enough in simulating an actual experience as a footballing manager. Sure, I experienced some upsets but they made sense- my team had a bad day or their goalkeeper had a very good one and I would also have a fair share of amazing 10-0, 8-0 results due to my tactics. But I have noticed a change in that and reading some of these posts I'm not the only one. It seems now that the game goes out of its way to make something happen, something I thought I was just imagining, but now after the last couple of seasons I know must be true. I believe this game, among all the numbers that goes into its dice rolling, has some sort of rule that a team must experience a slump in form twice a season.

I've noticed for the past seasons since King of the Hill that the game has forced my team into a slump twice. Yes, forced. I say forced as the simulation that I am watching just does not make sense. My finishers all have shooting and finishing in the 100%'s but you would not figure that if you watched my matches. Many times during these slumps my team will just not work. The simulation will show us doing a strong counter-attack, working around the goalkeeper, and then just missing. Just plain not shooting it into an open goal. Or it would show a corner kick that lands on the head of one of my attackers (or high heading % defenders) and the ball will go wide or into the goalkeeper. Every. Time. The end of the game stats would show me dominating possession sometimes 70-30, have more shots on goal, have more shots on target, have less fouls, and 85% pass completion (which is what I think the max is) just no goals or not enough goals to get a result. And my team would have a period where they simulate like this twice a season. I've noticed it always happens to my team toward the middle of the season where the QF's of the cups are being determined and toward the end of the season where the SF's of the CL are being determined. Some slumps are worse than others but I notice a distinct drop in quality during these periods every season.

This is just my theory based off of my own experience, but I have no other reason to why my team acts this way. Most seasons I end with a high goal difference with high goals scores and low goals against meaning my system is good for both attack and defense, but there are always periods where it seems my team just can't score and then falls to a cheap free-kick/penalty kick or counter attack. Why else would top 11 program a striker with 145% finishing completely missing open goal opportunities? How else would you explain the moment where a 4 star goal keeper going against 6-7 star attackers ends up with a clean sheet and a 9.8 rating? I don't know, maybe it's just the biochem major in me trying to find a scientific reason behind these unbelievable moments in my seasons but it's what helps me cope with watching the top scorers in my league (my striker, winger, and amc are top 3 goalscorers) get all of their shots blocked or miss silver-platter goal opportunities.

You might be right here. I too have experienced a specific deform period for my team. It literally happens during Cup semis and CL quarters & semis. My attackers just can't score. Maybe Nordeus is trying to link it to reality and this is little painful to watch.

Honestly, if they have done this always, they hid it way better before. I want to break my phone in half when my striker (7 stars, 121% 70 quality- Passing: 126% Dribbling: 138% Crossing: 133% Shooting: 133% Finishing: 148%) is wide open off of a counter attack or his own dribbling and he just shoots it wide, over the net, or into the goal keeper. Especially when the GK is like 4.5 or even 3-4 stars... oh and his special attribute is one-on-one scorer. I am attack-focused team so if we aren't finishing we will most likely lose or draw. If you want me to lose, fine, at least make it look pretty. Don't show me all the obvious opportunities I'm making and just plain missing and then at the 75' their first free-kick goes into the net (on my 7 star goalkeeper...). Before that we had 8 free-kicks, all taken by a specialist, and all of them go wide or into the wall. **** i'm ranting, didn't want to do that.