Tips needed for motivating players into a comeback

[Bunkerossian]

Might or might not be appropriate for this subforum, but what I'm seeking is instructions on what to do if the opposition, who are supposed to be the underdogs, take the lead against the run of play. I have been very unsuccessful at overturning such situations into wins- the opposition GK's confidence shoots up, and my players are simply shell-shocked nearly every time it happens. The goals themselves are mostly due to a massive blunder from a player (passback to the GK that gets intercepted, a shot that bounces off the GK into the net....), and not so much the tactics, I feel.

[summatsupeer]

Usually one of the "Unhappy" comments with Aggressive / Assertive / Calm tone.  I typically have a Determined team and try to get players who are professional & can cope with pressure so there heads shouldn't drop and will accept critical feedback.

If its against the run of play then i'll usually stick with my team and see how we do in the first 5-10 minutes after HT. 

If we're playing bad (players seem to of lost all ability to control/pass the ball) then i'll make changes at HT and give the replacements who hopefully are in better form more time to change the game.  If there are too many players doing badly to replace then i'll make tactical changes to try and limit the mistakes, typically by lowering mentality to make the team play a bit safer or making the team shape more structured to make deeper players a bit safer and the team more disciplined.  Though I typically have done these tactical changes before HT to limit the damage before I can kick things at them .

[Cougar2010]

Well first step is to identify where the first half performance of your team falls:

A) Played well are are unlucky to be behind or

B) Played poorly and deserve to be behind.

With A I would lean more towards encourging while with B I would lean towards unhappy.

 

As summatsupeer has said above though for demanding team talks to be effective you need professional/determined players who can cope with the criticism.  If you have players that don't like critism then shouting at them won't help.

[Bunkerossian]

Would any immediate team talks during the game be of particular help?

[summatsupeer]

2 hours ago, Bunkerossian said:

Would any immediate team talks during the game be of particular help?

Wouldn't hurt unless you say something silly.  Won't make a huge difference, but then everything you do to help can add up (marginal gains).

[Rashidi]

If you are entirely certain its not the tactics, then, you should be trying to play a bit more defensively than usual. You want to get a few results that are grinds. You don't want to concede thats your first priority. And to do that I usually reduce my mentality and play a bit more structured. Once they have a few results under the belts I tend to be a bit more willing to go attacking.

 

As you can tell by this, I only play one way, which is to use Mentallity/Shape as a switch. I do not change roles/duties.

[Bunkerossian]

2 hours ago, Rashidi said:

If you are entirely certain its not the tactics, then, you should be trying to play a bit more defensively than usual. You want to get a few results that are grinds. You don't want to concede thats your first priority. And to do that I usually reduce my mentality and play a bit more structured. Once they have a few results under the belts I tend to be a bit more willing to go attacking.

 

As you can tell by this, I only play one way, which is to use Mentallity/Shape as a switch. I do not change roles/duties.

this can occur any time in the season. The most irritating part is the team not picking themselves soon enough up after conceding a goal.

[alanschu14]

7 hours ago, Bunkerossian said:

Would any immediate team talks during the game be of particular help?

I can't confirm if this is the sole reason and obviously many things at play, but I have seen some shifts in possession and occasionally goals (and also fouls...) with some "Aggressive -> Demand More" if the team isn't playing great and down a goal or tied.

2 hours ago, Rashidi said:

You want to get a few results that are grinds. You don't want to concede thats your first priority. And to do that I usually reduce my mentality and play a bit more structured. Once they have a few results under the belts I tend to be a bit more willing to go attacking.

I literally did this my first foray into EPL.  With only 1 point after my first 5 games, I shifted most of my roles to defensive/support and moved my mentality down to Defensive.  My hope was simply "if I can get some draws, we'll get some points."  First game was a big upset against Everton!  Ended up going undefeated for 8 or 9 games with 4 wins and effectively turned my season around and I avoided relegation!  (monnneeeeeeeey! haha)

[AFCBeer]

9 hours ago, Cougar2010 said:

Well first step is to identify where the first half performance of your team falls:

A) Played well are are unlucky to be behind or

B) Played poorly and deserve to be behind.

With A I would lean more towards encourging while with B I would lean towards unhappy.

 

As summatsupeer has said above though for demanding team talks to be effective you need professional/determined players who can cope with the criticism.  If you have players that don't like critism then shouting at them won't help.

Do players in FM actually know if they  have been unlucky or not?

Even if they do *think* they have been unlucky does that actually mean they *have* been unlucky? (and vice versa)

I'd actually be quite interested to know if anyone has actually proved this one way or another. I've often used the "unlucky lads" team talks only to be met with confused reactions from my players. Although that may more be a result of their professionalism, ambition and determination as opposed to an evaluation of how unlucky they feel they have been.

[Cougar2010]

Just now, AFCBeer said:

Do players in FM actually know if they  have been unlucky or not?

Even if they do *think* they have been unlucky does that actually mean they *have* been unlucky? (and vice versa)

I'd actually be quite interested to know if anyone has actually proved this one way or another. I've often used the "unlucky lads" team talks only to be met with confused reactions from my players. Although that may more be a result of their professionalism, ambition and determination as opposed to an evaluation of how unlucky they feel they have been.

I don't know but IMO they don't know they have been unlucky in the same way we view it as users.

They may be aware of the match stats but in general I think its more down to individual performances.  I haven't noted all results but in general terms if the players have played fairly well & I go with unlucky I tend to get grey/green responses such as "Nodded in agreement", "Calm", "Motivated" etc.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

^Only time its backfired for me is when used improperly. Ambitious players tend to flip their lid if you say they're unlucky sometimes, as apparently they want you to kick them up the butt about it. 

[HUNT3R]

Given that FM users are very keen on high Determination (because that's apparently the holy grail of attributes), there shouldn't need to be much of a focus on a simple team talk to turn round a match. They will be determined/motivated to do something about it themselves. It's in their nature/personality!

What Cougar said is important. Work out if there is an issue or if you were just unlucky in the first half. Also know that the opposition has scored against the run of play, so they will now sit back a lot. If your setup struggles to break down packed defences, it's time for plan B.