How do you keep your players performing well in the second half?

I just cannot manage it! I've tried all different combinations of team talks - pleased, thrilled, don't let your performance drop, don't get careless, nothing at all - and none of them seem to be able to keep my team performing anywhere near their first half perfomance. Now, I understand that a team getting comprehensively thumped at half time will most likely get the hairdryer treatment at half time (and I certainly do see an improvement in the opposition, as would be expected), and I'm under no impression a team who are largely coasting wouldn't naturally take their collective foot off the gas a bit, but the difference I see between first and second half performances is far greater than surely anyone would expect (for the record, this effect has been in place in all the saves I've played in 9.1 and 9.3).

Take my last game, for example. First game of the season at home to newly promoted and relatively very poor side. I'm five-nil up at half-time. They're playing poorly, but the goals and chances have largely come from how well my team have been playing - long strings of passing, players anticipating through balls, forwards running past defenders, midfielders closing down and tackling and my defenders stopping all opposition attacks before they've really had a chance to begin.

But then in the second half, it's as though they all suddenly develop chronic laziness. Passes are way off. Strikers stand and gawp at the aerial through-ball they should be chasing. Attackers seem to be under the impression that the offside rule has just been abolished. Defenders clearing up through-balls hoof it out despite having plenty of time. No one really seems to move into space. Wingmen attempt to run through defenders rather than round them. Ball control and strength are largely things of the past. Lone opposition strikers are allowed to carry the ball up the pitch at a snail's pace without any challenge. I had 18 shots in the first half, and I had four in the second, and first managed to test the keeper in the 79th minute. Finished 5-0.

The frustrating thing is that this KEEPS happening to me, I really cannot overstate how much this occurs. If I'm playing well, often a few goals to the good, then I'll play far, FAR worse in the second. The oppostion always improve, obviously, but it's the drop in my team's performance that largely causes me to lose control of the match. It's tiresomely predictable. I've had plenty of games where scoreline will be 4-0, 5-0 at half-time and that's how it stays, or it'll end 4-1 or something like that. Sometimes where I'm playing very well, but haven't managed to completely kill the game off (say, two goals up, when four would be considered safe), I'll concede a very early second half goal (the majority of the time it'll be in the first two minutes) and then I'm left with a nail-biting second-half, and because my team play poorly they can't get another themselves.

So I ask you: is this something that other people are getting? If not, what am I doing wrong? I play with a largely attacking, fast and wide 442 with classic pushed-up wingers or occasionally flat midfield, should I be going a bit more defensive to keep possession and lower creativity? (Which would seem counter-intuitive, to be honest.) Or is it something to do with my team talks? I generally use "for the fans" at the beginning of most games as it never gives any negative responses from my players, but like I say, the performance will drop no matter what I seem to pick. Now, I'm easily the best team in the country in my save, so in the pre-match press-conferences, I will either go for the one above middle ("we have a chance as long as nothing unusual occurs" or "predict we will do well"), or occasionally the top one, both of which will give a positive PR for four or five players. Should I be doing something different here? Is it just my particular crop of players? Or have SI programmed the game like this?

Sorry for the longish post, but I'm getting a bit tired of the performance drop and would like to get rid of it if possible!

I usually change my tactic at half time depending upon the circumstances. If i'm winning then i'll switch to Counter or Defensive (I use a tactical set), and this is especially important away from home. I usually fair very well, from time to time you get the freak result and the opposition will pull it back to 2 - 2 etc but thats usually unavoidable and because the oppositions manager has pulled a Churchill-esque team talk out the bag.

For team talks I just ask my assistants advice and adjust if neccessary, at 1 - 0, i'll always use Encourage.

This happens IRL... it's overconfidence, the fact that they don't need any more goals. It's pretty tough to represent a lack of ambition, or passion on a computer simulation, so the AI tries to do it by any means it can...

I agree that it's a bit OTT, but if you're in a situation where you are regularly 4-0 up at half time then you can't be doing too much wrong...

My suggestion will be this.

If you are leading 2-0,

Those with 7.4 and above ratings, Use Team Talk (Don't get complacent)

Those between 6.9 to 7.4 ratings, Use Individual (You have faith)

Whatever is below that, Use Individual (Disappointing).

My players generally manage to maintain their form in the second half.

I can only translate it into the AI are trying to prevent huge wins as much as it possibly can. Along with what Blanco mentioned.

Thanks for the tip, Impzie - will try it out, even if I rarely have too vast drops if I am "only" 2-0 ahead at halftime.

"Half-time team talks" is one that affect to the performance of players in the second half.

:-? Many times I see a player that plays extremely good in second half then I check the team talk feed back. I often see that player gets Fired up, motivated :-?

i simply put viagra in there lucozades and inject there oranges with speed!!!!

Okay, I'll have a play about with these team talk and tactic suggestions. Just so we're clear, it's not as though my team are always winning by considerable amounts at half-time and I expect the same number of goals in the second half, but I'd expect my Champion's League/World Cup-winning side to not regularly play like Barnet in the second half after playing at close to their best in the first.

Check the Assistant Manager's 'motivation' comments for your players, as well, using the widget in TV view. Often useful for telling which players are over-confident and giving you some feedback on how your half-time team talk has worked.

Have a look at this thread:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=5494&highlight=team+talks

Fantastic ideas that really helped me to get a grip on team talks. They are so important for winning games and turning games around.

It's very important to realize the AI will adjust it's tactics in an effort to counter yours. I will always change tactics at halftime to throw him off...

Well, this all depend on how you like to play the game. If you want the simulation to reflect real life, you come on here and complain about the stupid poor second half performances and the overpowered AI half-time talks (not suggesting that is what you're doing - this is what I've done in the past), which don't at all reflect real life football. If you simply want to get your team to perform well in this game, then you have to micromanage your team's team and invidual talks, subs, and tactics to get them to simply perform at a level reasonably close to their first half level. And even then it still seems like a bit of dumb luck is required to get it right.

This part of the game annoys me more than anything else. The amount of times I've lost 2-0 halftime leads, sat through some of the most boring second halfs ever after going up 4-0 or 5-0 at the break, or watched some semi-pro team turn into Barcelona in second half after playing like the local pub team in the first half is stupidly unrealistic. Yes, sometimes your team should come out flat in the second half. Sometimes the AI should come out fired up and be competitive after a poor first half. Sometimes local pub teams have moments of magic and string together passes like Barcelona. But much of the time the second half performances from both teams will probably be pretty similar to their first half performances. I shouldn't have to always micromanage my team to get out of them something they've already proven in the first half they can do - dominate the game.

Can you imagine Alex Ferguson going into Man U's locker room at half-time leading 2-0 or 3-0 and dominating the game, and feeling the need to make tactical changes, subs, inspired team and invididual team talks, just to get them to not fall apart in second half?

Perhaps not Man Utd but they are an exeption, they have the best defence in world football so I doubt Fergie sees at as a pressing issue to change things.

However, I CAN imagine most teams in the premiership making changes as such, I can imagine Moyes, Sbragia, Megson etc telling their teams to sit abit deeper, slow things down abit to keep the ball and just have abit of discipline to see the game out. Nothing drastic but i'm sure the manager would encourage his team to be abit more defensive minded in their play, dont you think?

If I'm leading well at half time I tend to go to a slow, counter attacking tactic in the second half. A) the opposition will be operating more defensively anyway, so my excellent first half tactic won't work and B) it helps preserve my squad's condition.

I usually get another goal or two whilst restricting the opposition's chances. If I want to turn the screw a bit I'll revert to my original tactic for the last ten mins.

Fining wages in between