Dealing with pressure at the end of the season

As the league seasons in most of europe come to my end, we always find similar situations across the board. A team is in desirable position (be it 1st place, european spot, last place above relagation etc.) and a number of teams are chasing them for that position.

And when it comes down to the wire, I can never figure out who has to deal with more pressure in this situation; the team being chased or the team doing the chasing.....

Im sure that many of you have had to go this situation before in your saves.

Now which do you think is the position with more pressure on it?

Which position have you had more success in getting the job accomplished?

Personally, I've never been able to chase a team down and always fall short.....I hope that you have had better experiences.....

I'd say the pressure is on who's chasing... I mean, they need to win, while the ones being chased can probably live with a draw.

When one of my players "rallies the troops" before a match they usually play very badly

As the league seasons in most of europe come to my end, we always find similar situations across the board. A team is in desirable position (be it 1st place, european spot, last place above relagation etc.) and a number of teams are chasing them for that position.

And when it comes down to the wire, I can never figure out who has to deal with more pressure in this situation; the team being chased or the team doing the chasing.....

Im sure that many of you have had to go this situation before in your saves.

Now which do you think is the position with more pressure on it?

Which position have you had more success in getting the job accomplished?

Personally, I've never been able to chase a team down and always fall short.....I hope that you have had better experiences.....

I had the same problem in my first save. I was leading by 5 or 6 2 or 3 games before the end and Ifinished 2 in the end.

I found out that taking pressure of your players in the final stages of the season will see them finish the job.

I thought it's risky to say 'No pressure' towards the ned of the season, but I tried and it worked in my second season.

So, I really suggest you to take pressure off your players through press conferences and team talks.

So, I really suggest you to take pressure off your players through press conferences and team talks.

It's very, VERY individual and depends on player personality. You have to know your players well, you need to know who plays better when you demand performance from him, who needs to know that you have faith and to who you need to say "no pressure"

It's also connected to opponent and pre-match odds (don't use "no pressure" when you're clear favourite) more than stage of the season.

...(don't use "no pressure" when you're clear favourite)...

The clear favourite talk is "Enjoy the match", but so what? That's what you meant...More to the point, I'd always avoid that like the plague, since I thought it would lead to complacency. Then, once, I thought I'd try it just to see...and it worked a charm. Some of my players were more "focused" and there was no complacency in sight.

As you said, it comes down to prematch odds, opponent rep, and your own player's personalities. I'm beginning to think SI should have "Getting to Know You" from the Sound of Music as FM's theme song...

I strongly suspect pressure is nothing more than a pre-match morale modifier...