Tips for team talks in European competitions (in particular, games over two legs)

[crouchaldinho]

Does anyone have any hints and tips for team talks during European games in the knock-out rounds, which occur over two legs?

In particular, it is the second-leg talks that often confuse me. I'm never quite sure whether to treat my team talk as if this is a separate match or if it is linked to the first leg and therefore more like a 'half-time' team talk.

Then there is a difficulty with the second leg half-time talk. Am I treating this with the tie as a whole in mind or with just this leg? For example, if the team have performed excellently on the night but are drawing or losing overall, what angle am I looking at basing my talks on? Well done lads or get out there and score me some more goals for goodness sake! :confused:

It's sort of similar for the first leg talks, in which I nearly always treat the talks like a normal game, so if I expect to win, lose or draw, I alter my talks accordingly as I would do with an ordinary one off match. Maybe I actually need to have the bigger picture in mind.

It seems that I have underachieved in Europe quite a bit in my current save and I wonder if my team talk approach is part of the problem. The real issue is the ambiguity of the talks and whether I'm treating each leg as a game in its own right or whether I should be adjusting my talks and, effectively, giving a 'half-time' talk before the second leg! Sometimes the options presented leave me a bit perplexed and I find more than one angle with which I could approach the team talks (depending, for example, on what I see as the result of the tie so far and what needs to be done according to that, or the individual game itself and what I expect from it on a singular basis). It seems perhaps I often pick the wrong one!

I hope this makes sense. Any tips appreciated. Screenshots with examples of your own successes with team talks in Europe definitely encouraged!

Thanks.

[SFraser]

The best way in my opinion is not to try and second guess the game but handle them like you would imagine handling a European Cup Knockout Second Leg.

Basically you have to balance the immense pressure of the tie with the need to get a good result, which makes for a very difficult set of teamtalks. It's not supposed to be easy to get your players into the perfect frame of mind for such important games.

What I do is try to imagine how my players would approach the match, how do they think the tie should go? Do they think this home match with a 2-0 aggregate lead should be a walk over? Then you have a real risk of complacency and you should be demanding performances from your players to finish the job. Are you 2-0 down playing away from home against the favourites? Might as well demand a performance there too. Is it 0-0 and you are away from home? Then you need to mix it up a bit, make sure your less mentally strong players do not buckle while you get the best out of your strong characters, and keep the away goal in mind. A score draw will see you through.

You could even go for the less obvious approaches. If I am playing the away leg first then I will pick my strongest team and go for the win. A win away from home is a huge advantage, a draw is a great result, a score defeat is still quite useful. So long as you don't get hammered you can possibly repair any damage in your home tie. For me the away leg is crucial, it's a leg I will always try to win and I will challenge my players to win it. And the home side is likely going to try to win the tie too, so there should be more space for my side to create chances.

It's a battle of wit and nerves.

[heathxxx]

Picture the scene...

4th Qualifying round of the EURO Cup. My Granada CF side are in Europe for the very first time. We're drawn against Turkish side Ankaragücü. Away in the first leg, but our side is much better than theirs and as such, I went with "expect a win". Goalless at half-time and my side is feeling the pressure. I still think we should be winning the game and am quite harsh with my team and "angry". Basically, this approach failed and we ended up losing 1-0.

Basically, I underestimated my opponents and likely placed too much pressure on my own team, overestimating their capability and forgetting how monumental a tie this actually was for the club. With the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have used either "we can win this" at the start as a lower pressure option, or even "no pressure" in an attempt to remove any pressure from those who might have been feeling any. With the goalless score at half-time, I probably should have gone with "encourage".

Second leg we were definitely under pressure to quickly get into the game. I didn't want to add more than necessary, so went with "we can win this". A goal up in the first half and with the tie level overall, I opted for "encourage". We managed to get the winning goal and although we were all over them in the second half, outplaying them in every department, I was constantly wary that all it would take was one break and goal from them to change the tie. Certainly a nail-biter against a side I thought we should have been beating comfortably.

[SFraser]

Picture the scene...

A baying, roaring, angry Turkish crowd in a tight but packed stadium, with flares going off and drums banging and metal rattling and banners saying "Welcome to Hell". The manager demanding you win, and tearing into you at half time.

I'm surprised some of your younger lads didn't give up football altogether after that

[Vanya]

In the first leg, I give a team talk as usual, as if it were a unique match, following WoIfSong guide. In the second leg, I say nothing in the pre-match talk. Never. If any, I can say pick up to at most 4 players if this option is available. Players usually do a good first half. However, in the half-time talk, I give them a talk according with that they have done in the first half and considering which kind of talk I would have given in pre-match if it had been independent match following again WoIfSong guide. This means that, for instance, if we are drawing a match we should win, I would say disappointing even if we won 0-5 in the first leg.

So, in the second-leg, pre-match talk, nothing but pick up to at most 4 players if available. Half-time talk, forget it's a second leg and behave as if it were unique match.