Anyone else scared to criticise their team?

Even after a bad performance, I'm worried about laying into my team in case of a huge drop in morale which affects my form drastically for the next 2-3 weeks!

If my team lose which only happened once last season then I criticise then and they become more motivated and morale doesn't drop. Even if my team draw and should have won I tell them off for poor result.if you don't criticise you team sometimes they will think nothing is wrong.

I think a good balance of criticising & praising is key to a successful squad as far as morale is concerned. Sometimes I won't say anything in a full-time team talk and that seems to be good.

Never afraid to slam the team if they really did play badly. Normally I get a good reaction from a slamming. Which leads me to believe that normally I am judging it right. The players know they underperformed and agree with my slamming and are "motivated" and/or "fired up".

I have found recently that saying things "cautiously" can be very beneficial, particularly when you don't have a super positive message to get out.

e.g. I've found that warning against complacency in the second half is much better received when said cautiously, rather than assertively or calmly.

I used to be more assertive, hoping that this would translate into motivated players, but I use caution a lot more nowadays.

Sometimes I will slam the team two games in a row. I've only once had a message in my inbox saying players went to the press because my team talks were erratic.

If they have played really badly then I have no problems with agressively telling them so. It works if you have been destroyed in the first half by a team who you should beat, or if they are just being careless and crap. Has lead to a number of come-back wins for me (or at least better performances). I am also willing to slam them if they get careless in the second half and draw a game they should have won.

It is situational though - like everything else. Use it when it seems appropriate to do so (it usually coincides with me being angry at the team in any case =P). Same goes with telling them you have faith, or praising a team at half time.

Even after a bad performance, I'm worried about laying into my team in case of a huge drop in morale which affects my form drastically for the next 2-3 weeks!

Who was the opponent? What league are you playing in? What are the expectations of the board? What's your league prediction?

In my Liverpool save where I win triples or quadruples and even quintuples I shove every point lost down their throats. In the save where I've decided to take Concord Rangers to world domination I'm more careful...

If my players performed badly, they'll know it. I don't know about morale, but motivation-wise it helps.

I am playing as Barca, the team played really well at 1st half and scored 3, then all of sudden the opposition scored 2 and after lot of fight we managed to win narrowly, even the media said we should have won by big margin. I spoke bit harsh to the team. but to my surprise, my GK Oier Olabazal criticized me in media and now he is not ready to sign new deal with the help. As you all know that already Valdes is leaving and I am loosing Oier as well:(

Scared, no! Tear strips off them even if they draw, unless we're like a low league team after drawing with Barca or something.

I even laid into my Skrill Prem team for shipping 3 goals to Man City at half time. We drew the 2nd half 1-1, so it worked, kinda.

Never be afraid to have a go at them if you think they should of won or played better or whatever. I always lay into them if they perform bad or lose/draw games they should of won. It almost always moticates and fires them up, I also have a go at htem in the press if they deserve it, I fine players if they perform bad or get sent off. I get some complaints sometimes but I ignore them and drop said player if needs be, after a while alls fine again. I am a demanding manager, I demand consistency and wins, if they don't produce it they get criticised. I have put players in the youth team if they constantly perform bad or get annoyed and leave them there for a month or so, when I finally call them back up and play them they rarely play poor again. Along with my tactics, handling my players this way is the reason I am constantly winning trophies. It's the same as in real life

One thing you need to consider before rollicking your players is the overall team and individual personalities. Professionals react quite well to being told off if they haven't performed well. Some 'less desirable' personalities need a shoulder to cry on instead

The way I see it they are "men" so they can deal with it. They play to my demands or they get punished. They all get over it eventually. I wish there was an option when you talk to them so you can tell them to man up

Most of the teams I've managed have been complete masochists. Only responding to aggressive talks, and then having players come to me later and tell me I'm not being strict enough.

Filthy buggers

I use Augsburg and the media predicted us to get slammed every match so I tend not to be too harsh on my players when the lose against Bayern, Schalke and Dortmund. I tend to be calm when telling them how unlucky they are.

But if we lose against Braunschweig, I eat them alive by aggressively telling them I am not happy. It is more of fining them for rubbish performances that I am afraid of. For example, in my save, I fined Matej Vydra 2 weeks wages after a 5.2 performance and he went ape-s**t on me demanding a transfer. So it's not the team talk I would say but disciplinary actions that you worry more.