Jimbokav1971

Height was originally in the game as a purely cosmetic feature.

Then it was removed.

Now it is back and we have been told that it acts as an indication as to where the relative strengths of a player may lie.

What I mean by this is that a player who is 6'6" is probably going to be better suited to a position that uses his height, (such as centre-half or centre-back). It doesn't mean for 1 second that his heading or jumping ability will be good at all, it just indicates that he will probably be better in these areas than he is in areas such as technique and dribbling. Conversely, a player who is 5'2" is unlikely to have atributes of the like of heading and jumping as his personal areas of strength. It doesn't mean for 1 second that his heading or jumping ability will be poor, it just indicates that he will probably be poorer in these areas, than he is in areas such as technique and dribbling. It is an INDICATION, (nothing 100%).

There have been some comments I've read about Fred's, (Regens), having poorly distributed attribute ratings for their relative positions. I must admit that I haven't noticed this myself but I have been keeping a close eye on GK's in my N.Ireland save. Obviously the relative low ability levels of the players playing in the N.Irish structure should not be ignored, but I would still expect GK's in a structure such as this to be of a certain size.

As some of you may know I have a certain GK in my squad, (real player not Fred), who has scored loads of goals for me, (56 I think now), but I have just noticed that he is only 5'9" tall. Now he doesn't just score goals. He's also kept over 100 clean sheets in about 250(ish) games. SO even ignoring his freek goal-scoring ability, he has some level of goal-keeping ability.

I think that 5'9" is basically too small for a GK at any level. With that in mind I looked at 100 top rated players in my Division, (N.Irish Premiership), ranked by match rating.

Of these 100 players, only 6 are GK's.

Mosside "Super real" GK 5'9". Strength - handling. Weakness - Command of area.

Glentoran "real" GK 5'10". Strength - handling. Weakness - Command of area.

Crusaders "real" GK 6'3". Strength - aerial ability. Weakness - position.

Portadown "Fred" GK 5'9". Strength - kicking. Weakness - Aerial ability.

Limavady "Fred" GK 5'8". Strength - reflexes. Weakness - Command of area.

Ballymeny "real" GK 6'0". Strength - kicking. Weakness - Positioning.

I know it;s hard to see at a glance if there is an issue, but I would just ask you to do something similar in your game and see what you find.

If we are in agreement that for outfield players at least, height is an indication of a relative strength in certain areas, it would seem to also be the case with GK's. This in itself is both to be expected and pretty realistic if you ask me. What is NOT realistic though, is the number of Fred GK's being produced, whose height does not allow them to develop normal GK skills as areas of strength.

This is how it looks to me at the moment but I would appreciate anyone else looking at their save and posting their findings.

postal postie

i've found outfield players have better' aerial abilities' when their taller

i'd presume the same of keepers. i always go for tall keepers.

turnip

Serie C1/B (random players)

6. Pistoiese - 6'2"; strength - Reflexes; weakness - Tendency to Punch

21. Sambenedettese - 5'11"; strength - Handling; weakness - Kicking

31. Taranto - 6'3"; strengths - Throwing, Rushing Out; weakness - Tendency to Punch, Communication

37. Sorrento - 6'2"; unknown

39. Salernitana - 6'2"; strengths - Kicking, One on Ones; weakness - Aerial Ability

40. Valle del Giovenco - 5'11"; strengths - Communication, One on Ones; weaknesses - Tendency to Punch, Throwing

55. Frosinone - 6'2"; strengths - Aerial Ability, handling (and awesome physical stats, I should say); weakness - Communication

71. Perugia - 5'11" (on loan); strengths - handling, Reflexes; weakness - Rushing Out

76. Giulianova - 6'0"; strength - Handling; weakness - Aerial Ability

78. Gela - 6'4"; strength - Command of Area (jumping 20, Strength 18); weakness - Rushing Out (Aerial Ability 9)

90. Potenza - 6'2"; strengths - Aerial Ability, Command of Area, Reflexes; weakness - Rushing Out

arrogantio

Goalkeepers in FM baffle me

I've never understood whether Aerial Ability is more to do with the ability to rise up into the air claim the ball (should be affected primarily by jumping), choosing when to claim crosses (which should be affected by Command of Area and a whole host of mental factors) and/or not losing control of the cross when it comes (which should be significantly affected by Handling/TtP). Some of these aspects related to goalkeeper's ability in the air would be linked to height, others not.

Even if height isn't linked directly to goalkeeping stats other than jumping it's still a significant and presumably fairly easy to recify cosmetic flaw to be producing significant numbers of goalkeepers 5'8" tall.

Kill Rock Stars

i wonder if they have a height set for them in the starting game database - if not, the game might be generating a height for them, using the same flawed logic that produces too many short regen keepers

Juventino10

I've noticed the small goalkeepers as well. I remember having a GK i coached at my former high school, he was unbelieveable, great hands, but when he went to an academy session, he was sent hom ebecause he was too small (5'10)

I have several regen goalkeepers at my JUventus savegame, even smaller than he is (5'7 in some cases) and just shudder. If the "general consensus" want big goalkeepers, then surely it should be modelled no?