A view on teamtalks/press conferences

Trying to go undefeated in my 1st season, in my first attempt at it, I went 29 games without a loss just using

B4 kickoff: ' NONE ' at home and ' We Can Win This ' away.

HT: If only drawing, 'We Can Win This' whether it is home or away, though sometimes 'we only need 1 goal' is available.

If winning by 1 goal 'don't get complacent'

If losing, 'We Can Win This'

Only exception was once when I was 0-1 down at HT against some rubbish near the bottom of the table, I noticed something like 'Where's The Passion Lads', used it and won 4-1.

At FT, I always used 'Sensational' wherever available, no matter what individual performances had been like. Or if it wasn't available, then the best one that was offered.

Individual talks were NEVER given. What manager IRL takes each player to the side in the dressing room and tells him how to go about the match ? They would need HT's that were 2 hours long to do that, by which time when they came out for the 2nd half, all the fans will have gone home

2nd try at going undefeated (in the same division as I started the season again from match 1), I used prematch and HT 'suggestions' based on a poster who had done a large analysis of this and that and lost 2-1 to utter dross in just the 3rd game in and hardly got a look in all game.

So what I would say to those of you wondering about tealtalks/press conferences etc is :

NEVER pi** off your players with teamtalks/press conferences that are obviously destined to fail, either b4 kick off, at HT or FT. These are the ones such as 'I expect a win' 'angry' 'disappointed' etc etc. There is NO such thing in FM 2010 as an EASY win, so telling your players that you 'expect a win' 'expect a performance' 'pick up where you left off' ' etc just adds pressure on their little shoulders.

Same even with a game you are favourites to lose 'no pressure' 'go out and enjoy the rest of the match' 'enjoy the game' etc, just tells your players they AREN'T gonna win, and so ofc they get absolutely blasted. You are probably more likely to get a win (or draw) in these situations just by using the 'none' teamtalk at start/middle of match etc. Don't forget, it is said that the AI can't distinguish the real player from the computer one. Therefore the hot favourites to win the match may well be very complacent about it come kick off, HT, making it easier for you to win/come back.

All the profanity in the world isn't gonna motivate your guys if it is 'time' for a bad performance team wise. Remember you CANT win every match in your FM 2010 career, no matter what you do.

Certain countries have vastly differing styles of play in their league. E.g Italy seems to be more defensive minded than for example England, so rather than a teamtalk helping to break the defense down, you are probably gonna have better luck at it by playing something like a 3 central defender, 2 central midfield, 2 attacking midfield widemen, and 3 central attackers formation instead.

And I base that purely upon the visible fact that if you play with 4 men 'supposedly' lined up in the midfield slots and that even if you give your widemen an 'attacking' mindset, they will ALWAYS line up with the 3central defenders instead of across the middle with your other two midfielders, meaning you are actually playing 5, 2, 3, which is a defensive formation (at least imo).

Also, CONSISTENCY attribute is far more important than a teamtalk. If your star striker is only on a 2 or 3, I can't see any teamtalks that are gonna get him to score 2 times when you really need a performance from him. Same goes for any of your other players. E.g NO teamtalk is gonna stop your defender conceding a penalty if he has a high 'dirty bastard' attribute.

As far as I can see, many of the team as a whole/individual teamtalk options, are there as red herrings, and selecting them just increases the likelihood of your players having stinkers. Maybe it 'lowers' their consistency attribute for the duration of the match.

Same with the prematch/postmatch press conference. If I was ultra positive in every way, my players were pleased etc. If I was negative, then sure enough they would play badly. 'Go out and attack from the kickoff' got me the best response EVERY time, whether I was the favourite or not for the match.

Therefore I would advise NEVER to use your asst manager (no matter how good he may seem) for your talks, as put simply he can't be trusted to say the correct things all of the time, and that WILL cost you.

OFC a tier 7 team isn't gonna win the FA Cup, but when I lost in the qualifying rounds, I said in the post match conference that I was displeased at going out (or whatever it was) because I felt that it was a competition that we could win. Now don't get me wrong, I know that 'seems' a negative comment, but surprisignly it said my players had greeted the response in a positive manner (Don't ask me why).

And last but not least. People, it IS only a game, not rocket science :D