Canabary

Well.. as the topic suggest in the most geeky fashion ever. David Villa is not performing at all for me. 50 games and 10 goals? honestly, someone said he is a goal machine.. I have yet to see that. Misses the easiest of chances. The easiest of goals and yet his finishing is 20, he has me as favorite personell, his composure is 17. his decisions is 17 his workrate is 15 his concentration is 18 (I hihghly improved defense training for my strikers in hopes that concentration would help) and there is NO reason why he shouldn't be able to score most chances.

I have played him up front alone, with Adriano, with Aguero with Vela and with Messi. Villa never scores. NEVER. The commentator could go: "And Villa with the ball in front of the box, this has only one outcome, he's going to score" "VILLA MISSES THE TARGET" "HE HANGS HIS HEAD IN SHAME" "That was an easy one and he knows it". These constant comments drive me crazy. I've tried to be supportive. his morale is 20, I have criticized him several time, and he promises to improve. but alas. I figured he needs a year to get into the flow, but no. Still no goals. I have considered to sell him, but I just know that will come back to haunt me!

ehm.. anyway... any advice is sorely needed... Adriano is performing OK scoring 20 goals in 50, something I find acceptable, far from good, but acceptable. Aguero is good backup, but nothing more. At the moment Vela is by far the best striker in my squad. And I want Villa to perform -_- so yeah.. advice?

Benoit2

Drop him and play Agüero as your first team striker. Maybe that will make him think a bit.

If Agüero performs how he should, its no problem to have Villa as a back-up. If after a while Agüero isnt performing well enough, give Villa a chance again, see whether he's realized he isnt an automatic first-pick.

Nero

Hmmm, Villa not scoring - Must admit im baffled.

Since its 50 games, im guessing this in Fm07 - playing Valencia myself with a shortpassing 4-3-3, Villa being the sole striker.

All 3 seasons he has taken the top goalscorer in the league - with Vicente and Joaquin delivering the assists.

I play him with the default striker setting - while the wings are set on individual settings. One reason for his many goals, is my counterattack though - Villa posseses great pace and acceleration, and is therefore right up there with my wingers, which outpaces the backs 8/10 times.

In the more "regular" attacks, he tends to score on rebounds from corners/free kicks, as my DMC and two DCs are in the box taking the infights in theese situations.

But considering your problems, im unsure what you can do - if his rating is high enough, id praise him, seems to boost his confidence in the few slumps he has had for me - rating was fine, just didnt score (wingers and midfielders scored instead).

A thing to keep in mind though - is that i dont find him that great against a solid defense, where you play in a horseshoe around the box, without moving some strong headers in for support.

Still last season he netted 50+ golas in 49 games for me (cant remember if it was 52 or 54).

Canabary

I did that once. Aguero played well, but stopped performing cause of fatigue as he played for some odd reason both u21 and national games =/ Villa still didn't want to change...

I will try the default striker settings again, I tried them once and it seemed to just mess up my attacks totally... but hey, it might work this time =/
His rating is poor to say the least. 6.42, the worst rating at the club. Far bellow any other player in the team.. =/

I can not count the ammount of times I've seen Villa alone with the goalkeeper and he either
A. Blasts it over
B. Totally misses the goal
C. Hits the goalkeeper straight on
D. Stops to think (this annoys me the most)

Thanks for the advice. Hope it works.

WoIfsong

Forward runs normal, run with ball often, everything else rarely = scores for fun.

Or pair him with a targetman with 19+ jumping = scores for fun too.

uzee

well Canabary, can you pleez post a prinscreen image of his attributes. This way i can observe his skils and tell you what to do in terms of giving him instructions.

pleez post a link to a printscreen image of it, it's not hard.

theincrediblehulk

Ok, firstly, take him off the defensive training. Its no good. He starts concentrating on that, he'll lose touch in the other departments. You must be doing something wrong to not have Villa scoring (not offence!!). Even Adriano scoring only 20 in 50 games, there's something wrong. Then there's Aguero who you say is not really playing that well.

Those 3 are probably 3 of the best in the whole game (along with Vela I suppose). Put him on "run with ball" and "forward runs" often and if his "long shots" are more than 15, then that too often. Otherwise play him next to a TM and ask the TM to hold the ball up.

Also, who do you have behind him? Try to have a CM not a CAM behind. And see if giving Villa a "free role" helps. Somethings gotta work. Villa not scoring is not heard of on FM07!!

Canabary

I could do that.. but I'd rather just do this and make you read

Striker – David Villa


| Personal Details | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Nationality | Spain | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| International | 20 caps / 9 goals | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Born | 1.12.1981 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Age | 25 years old | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Position | ST | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Preferred Foot | Right | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Height | 175 cm | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Weight | 70 kg | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Value | £24,000,000 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Basic Wage | £24,000 per week | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Contract Expires | 30.6.2011 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| Technical Attributes | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Corners | 11 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Crossing | 9 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Dribbling | 17 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Finishing | 20 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| First Touch | 16 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Free Kicks | 12 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Heading | 12 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long Shots | 16 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long Throws | 9 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Marking | 6 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Passing | 15 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Penalty Taking | 19 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Tackling | 11 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Technique | 19 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| Mental Attributes | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Aggression | 12 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Anticipation | 15 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Bravery | 13 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Composure | 17 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Concentration | 15 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Creativity | 16 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Decisions | 16 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Determination | 17 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Flair | 20 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Influence | 9 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Off The Ball | 16 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Positioning | 8 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Teamwork | 12 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Work Rate | 14 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| Physical Attributes | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Acceleration | 17 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Agility | 18 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Balance | 10 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Jumping | 14 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Natural Fitness | 14 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Pace | 17 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Stamina | 16 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Strength | 11 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| Other | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Goalkeeper Rating | 2 | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Condition | 77% | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| Statistics | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Yel | Red | Tck | Pass | Sh Tar | Fouls| Fls Ag | Av R |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Non Competitive | 4 (1)| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 3 | 11 | 6.80 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| League | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.36 | 70 % | 54 % | 7 | 14 | 7.00 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 50 % | 75 % | 2 | 3 | 8.00 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Continental | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.22 | 77 % | 72 % | 6 | 15 | 7.40 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| International | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 6 | 14 | 7.25 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Overall | 13 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.27 | 71 % | 66 % | 15 | 32 | 7.23 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Note that after I posted this post and got the first replies, I tested the counterattacking and default striker method with Villa. This caused him to score 6 goals in the next two matches and get a 10 rating in the four next games, causing him to improve his stats GREATLY. Thanks guys ^_^

Canabary

Hmm yes it must be the training plan... this worked for ManUtd before. and I've won the quadrople with both Saha and Rooney avraging at 40 a season. so no. Villa misses longshots like the day is long. Adriano began to play better as I got Villa going.
Forward runs often gets villa in offsides more often than not. Adriano enjoys forward shots so that's a winner. Behind him I have the masterful Van der Vaart. Who is getting 8 ratings pretty much every game so yeah.. that's not it
Vela is amazing played 8 matches so far and has 10 goals. Beat Barcelona for me with two late goals. Aguero is OK, as I said. I do suspect this is because I'm not to sure what settings I should give him, as he's pretty much an all arounder. Adriano scores 20 in 50 because Villa took most of the chanches and missed most of the time. He was still elected fan player of the year though. (something I believed should have gone to one of the defenders but ok..)

Anyway. Thanks to everyone who replied it seems Villa is starting to play well again and his Hatrick against Arsenal and amazing 5 goals against Monacco clearly proves this (I tied with Monaco -_-) Adriano and Villa are finally performing well together and even Adriano is improving with Villa So yeah. I hope this will be a winner. Thanks for all the help. Much appreciate it Also... defensive training for strikers is pretty important.. without concentration they'll mess up with offsides etc more often than they would normally. Owen needs a medium defensive training to just function to be honest... =/ Anyway... it seems to be working well.. so thanks

Bluenose_92

Villa is a genius for my Valencia Team on WeeGiE, I got Zigic or Morientes winning the headers onto him. Unfourtunately when I lsot both of those i brought in Borriello who is on the same goals as villa