Half Time Morale Dives

[stevie_boy]

Hi folks,

Has anyone noticed a dive in team morale at half time?   Even if my players are playing well and have a good scoreline, morale seems to take a dive.  Team cohesion, dressing room atmosphere and managerial support are all "very good".  Its confused me as to what team talk to give at half time.  Really confused why this happens. Am I missing something?

Only point I could make is I rarely get any sort've feedback from my players after my pre-match team talk anymore. Maybe I'm using the same team talk ( or team talks in general) too often?  My assistant often tells me not to say anything because I would over complicate the situation.  Is this where a potential problem lies or are these two separate issues?   

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Stephen

[MrPompey]

Whatever "team" half time comment I make it can be vastly improved by speaking to each of the Defensive, Midfield and Attacking groups of players saying "I have belief in you...."

It will  also be linked to the amount of respect your players have for you. If you are new to the club with little history then don't expect the players to be awed by you and believe everything you say

[HUNT3R]

26 minutes ago, stevie_boy said:

Maybe I'm using the same team talk ( or team talks in general) too often?

Saying the same thing does lessen the effects of what you say. Have a look at the team talk feedback screen to see what your assistant observed.

[MrPompey]

1 minute ago, HUNT3R said:

Saying the same thing does lessen the effects of what you say. Have a look at the team talk feedback screen to see what your assistant observed.

haha that Double post of yours Hunter is ironic

[HUNT3R]

Just now, MrPompey said:

haha that Double post of yours Hunter is ironic

I'm not following?

[stevie_boy]

5 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

Saying the same thing does lessen the effects of what you say. Have a look at the team talk feedback screen to see what your assistant observed.

For instance, I normally take charge of a high reputation club ( for the league) like Rangers, Man Utd, Barcelona etc.  I often use " I expect a win"  so my players don't become complacent against the smaller teams.  Is there something I'm doing wrong here if I'm using that ( or another version of it) for each team talk?

[MrPompey]

you posted them same thing twice saying "saying the same thing does lessen the effect"  - that was the ironic bit

It appears one of these posts have now been deleted. It just made me laugh at the time!

[HUNT3R]

Just now, stevie_boy said:

For instance, I normally take charge of a high reputation club ( for the league) like Rangers, Man Utd, Barcelona etc.  I often use " I expect a win"  so my players don't become complacent against the smaller teams.  Is there something I'm doing wrong here if I'm using that ( or another version of it) for each team talk?

As I said - just don't keep repeating the same thing every match. If you do it, you'll see players paying less and less attention to that talk, because they're always hearing the same thing. You will see this in the last match team talk feedback screen.

[The Dude]

40 minutes ago, stevie_boy said:

Has anyone noticed a dive in team morale at half time?   Even if my players are playing well and have a good scoreline, morale seems to take a dive.  Team cohesion, dressing room atmosphere and managerial support are all "very good".  Its confused me as to what team talk to give at half time.  Really confused why this happens. Am I missing something?

 

Interestingly, I find it easier to get a positive reaction at half-time than at pre-match.  In real life, football managers often say half-time is where they 'earn their corn'.  So you probably are getting something wrong.  

Some of it will depend of the AI 'psychology' of the players.  It could be that your players want to be challenged, rather than praised for example (or vice-versa). 

I find if I'm losing or if I'm drawing a game I should be winning, I can get the players fired up by saying I'm not happy with their performance.  If I get all greens on that, I'll not bother drilling down to further team talks. 

Whenever I drill down to give further talks, I make sure I never criticise the defence (they get angry and stroppy), and never criticise strikers (the lose confidence), but I will usually criticise the midfield with "I'm not happy with your playmaking efforts" or "I'm not happy with your attempts to control the midfield", and they get fired up.  

[HUNT3R]

Just now, MrPompey said:

you posted them same thing twice saying "saying the same thing does lessen the effect"  - that was the ironic bit

It appears one of these posts have now been deleted. It just made me laugh at the time!

Nope. Nothing was deleted! Must have been a glitch on your end. It didn't show here and it was definitely not deleted. Thought I'd gone crazy for a second.  

[The Dude]

3 minutes ago, stevie_boy said:

For instance, I normally take charge of a high reputation club ( for the league) like Rangers, Man Utd, Barcelona etc.  I often use " I expect a win"  so my players don't become complacent against the smaller teams.  Is there something I'm doing wrong here if I'm using that ( or another version of it) for each team talk?

I have never had a positive reaction to "I expect a win'... and don't use it any more. 

[stevie_boy]

7 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

As I said - just don't keep repeating the same thing every match. If you do it, you'll see players paying less and less attention to that talk, because they're always hearing the same thing. You will see this in the last match team talk feedback screen.

What team talk would you use instead to prevent your players becoming complacent?  I always felt that works best for me, until it stops working.  I normally do well in my first season up to new year, then everything falls apart.  I think it must be related to my team talks. 

[HUNT3R]

Just now, stevie_boy said:

What team talk would you use instead to prevent your players becoming complacent?  I always felt that works best for me, until it stops working.  I normally do well in my first season up to new year, then everything falls apart.  I think it must be related to my team talks. 

The only other one would be For the Fans to remind them to do a professional job. If you feel you have to use "expect a win" every match, then I'm wondering if you're not handling the half time and full time takes badly?

[MrPompey]

"I believe in you..."    I am halfway through season 2 and its still working fine

[stevie_boy]

I almost always get a positive reaction

6 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

The only other one would be For the Fans to remind them to do a professional job. If you feel you have to use "expect a win" every match, then I'm wondering if you're not handling the half time and full time takes badly?

I almost always get a positive reaction from my half time and full time team talks. Players gain confidence, seem motivated, are fired up , look delighted etc. 

[HUNT3R]

Just now, stevie_boy said:

I almost always get a positive reaction

I almost always get a positive reaction from my half time and full time team talks. Players gain confidence, seem motivated, are fired up , look delighted etc. 

This isn't necessarily a good thing though. If confidence is sky high, do you need to boost it more? That creates complacency.

[stevie_boy]

4 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

This isn't necessarily a good thing though. If confidence is sky high, do you need to boost it more? That creates complacency.

I'm always hard on my players when not getting the result we should be getting at half time or full time. "Disappointing" is the type of response I give assertively.  I will always calmly praise the team when we win. 

[MrPompey]

Unlucky helps when on a bad run else constant berating destroys morale further

[stevie_boy]

7 hours ago, HUNT3R said:

Saying the same thing does lessen the effects of what you say. Have a look at the team talk feedback screen to see what your assistant observed.

My feedback only for the pre match talk will say “nothing specific noted”, “listened keenly “ etc. Occasionally I get instances where a couple of players gain motivation or confidence. I get better responses from my players at half time and full time

[RWClarke]

I'm having similar issues with motivation myself. I am struggling big time to start matches well or get green team talks pre-match, which is starting to show in the number of goals I've conceded early doors. However, a "demand more" shout after 10 minutes (or usually earlier, after the inevitable goal conceded on 3 minutes or so) will work wonders, and then shouts for the rest of the match and half-time will run perfectly. It's starting to feel like I need 10 minutes of play or a goal in the net to get anything from the players mind!

[The Dude]

8 hours ago, RWClarke said:

I am struggling big time to start matches well or get green team talks pre-match, which is starting to show in the number of goals I've conceded early doors

This is pretty common in the game. It's an area SI really need to look at.  FM18 was fraught with problems, and FM19 is actually worse, unfortunately. 

[silverboot81]

I have noticed that sometimes no-talk works better than any talk in both pre-match and half-time.

[ZoDiAC_]

No. Half time is when I either resurrect my team or when I demand they do more. I cannot fathom saying nothing - it's like throwing away one of the more directly powerful ways to address your whole squad.

I have some sort of sick exploitation of Liverpool's mentality going on. We might be winning by 2 or 3 to nil and I'll ALWAYS say I'm not happy or want to see more.

And they always get fired up.

As to how to get them to this point? Think about what effect, positive or negative, an option is likely to have - put yourself in the shoes of a footballer who wants to do better cause they almost all do - and make sure to choose the right tone for the intent, eg. "Passionate: I believe you have got what it takes".

Remember it is a squad game. You're not just talking to your primadonna striker. The shouts system is great for getting the best out of players (I "demand more" and "show some passion" and barely anything else)

And another note on morale. Playing time seems to cure almost all psychological ills and grievances (don't worry about losses for the players' sakes as long as you remember you can confront them about poor or praiseworthy performances). I've even had players who handed in transfer requests change their mind just because they're being used. After they stop talking to me - which probably helps

And if a player breaks out from the pack negatively - and it's not something you can otherwise do something about, which is a short list - consider asking if they're really right for the club. The whole dynamics layer has a huge effect on how their morale develops and it is naive to think the only factor in a transfer is footballing ability.