Wolfsong's guide to team talks - Fm08

[moj]

I'll try some of this out but I've never really been bad at team talks.

[hiTor]

hats off to you wolfsong...this is brilliant. thanks a ton mate

[Bigwig]

Something I've noticed with the teamtalk feedback is that I don't think it's being entirely truthful.

I find that when a player is 'inspired' at half time they will always be the player who scores a goal, regardless of whether they're a full back or a striker. This leads me to wonder if the player is really 'inspired' or whether he's just motivated and the game asigns him as inspired because he made the difference (hope that makes sense).

Another thing I've found is that sometimes my teamtalk seems to have an effect, but if I don't get the result it appears that it had no effect. Might not be clear so I'll give an example with an experiment I tried:

Playing as Newcastle away to Birmingham and favourites to win. I'm 1-0 down at half time with 1 shot on goal which wasn't on target. I tell the squad they can win the game while swapping a striker and telling my sub I have faith in him. I go on to batter Birmingham in the second half and finish with 16 shots on goal, 12 on target. However, I can't find the breakthrough and the game ends 1-0. I check the feedback and nothing specific is noted for every player.

Decide to tinker and play the game again and a similar thing happened. I went in at half time 1-0 down, although this time I said to the team they could win before going on again to batter Birmingham in the second half. However, I still couldn't find the breakthrough goal and Birmingham scored another and I lost 2-0. Checked the feedback and nothing specific was noted for every player again.

I play the game a third time and again am 1-0 down at half time to a penalty. Tell the team they can win the game but this time and bring on a sub telling him I have faith but this time I don't play well in the second half and the game finishes 1-0 with Birmingham having the best of the second half. Again there's nohing specific noted for everyone.

Play a few more times but can't recreate the 1-0 down at half time scenario so discount those as I want to recreate the criteria as much as possible.

finally I manage to come back to win a game 2-1 form being a goal down at half time. Check the feedback and players are motivated, delighted, inspired etc. with the goalscorer haivng the best feedback.

Now this leads me to one of two conclusions:

1. The effect of the teamtalk is random as proven by players having nothing noted for so many talks then suddenly become motivated for the exact same talk under as close conditions as possible.

2. The talk has the same effect each time, but the feedback varies depending on the result.

I guess it's like a chicken and egg scenario, but I'm more inclined to go with the second option than the first. None are particularly ideal though.

[WoIfsong]

Thanks again guys for the feedbacks. I do not have time at the moment (busy with work -.-) to write more on neutral matches or other interactions but I will certainly keep them in mind and will write them when I have time.

Originally posted by Neil Purvis:

Something I've noticed with the teamtalk feedback is that I don't think it's being entirely truthful.

I find that when a player is 'inspired' at half time they will always be the player who scores a goal, regardless of whether they're a full back or a striker. This leads me to wonder if the player is really 'inspired' or whether he's just motivated and the game asigns him as inspired because he made the difference (hope that makes sense).

Another thing I've found is that sometimes my teamtalk seems to have an effect, but if I don't get the result it appears that it had no effect. Might not be clear so I'll give an example with an experiment I tried:

Playing as Newcastle away to Birmingham and favourites to win. I'm 1-0 down at half time with 1 shot on goal which wasn't on target. I tell the squad they can win the game while swapping a striker and telling my sub I have faith in him. I go on to batter Birmingham in the second half and finish with 16 shots on goal, 12 on target. However, I can't find the breakthrough and the game ends 1-0. I check the feedback and nothing specific is noted for every player.

Decide to tinker and play the game again and a similar thing happened. I went in at half time 1-0 down, although this time I said to the team they could win before going on again to batter Birmingham in the second half. However, I still couldn't find the breakthrough goal and Birmingham scored another and I lost 2-0. Checked the feedback and nothing specific was noted for every player again.

I play the game a third time and again am 1-0 down at half time to a penalty. Tell the team they can win the game but this time and bring on a sub telling him I have faith but this time I don't play well in the second half and the game finishes 1-0 with Birmingham having the best of the second half. Again there's nohing specific noted for everyone.

Play a few more times but can't recreate the 1-0 down at half time scenario so discount those as I want to recreate the criteria as much as possible.

finally I manage to come back to win a game 2-1 form being a goal down at half time. Check the feedback and players are motivated, delighted, inspired etc. with the goalscorer haivng the best feedback.

Now this leads me to one of two conclusions:

1. The effect of the teamtalk is random as proven by players having nothing noted for so many talks then suddenly become motivated for the exact same talk under as close conditions as possible.

2. The talk has the same effect each time, but the feedback varies depending on the result.

I guess it's like a chicken and egg scenario, but I'm more inclined to go with the second option than the first. None are particularly ideal though.

Thanks a lot for the testing, this is quite important and I'd like to quickly share a few thoughts:

In each scenario of yours, even though the match scores are the same (0-1), I am guessing that the player ratings may be different. If we could see the detailed team talk feedbacks of each match coupled with player ratings at 1/2 time, especially the feedbacks and 1/2 time ratings of the final match (where you won 2-1), then more evaluation can be done and better conclusions may be drawn.

My method has worked consistently for me for the matches during the past 8 years (game time of course . By consistent I mean I almost always get the same feedback/effect for the same things I say(you have faith, disappointing), provided that I said them to the right players (based on ratings).

I do still draw some games or fail to make a come back in some games, as evidenced by my results posted in the opening post. However, I have been getting consistent posivie feedbacks for the team talks, which helped me to draw so many conclusions in my guide.

I have rarely observed inconsistencies between the match performance/rating of the player and the team talk feedbacks. That is to say, I have rarely had team talks that seemed to work as observed from the match engine and yet no effect was noted in the feedback. When my players start their 2nd half, I will be 90% sure about whether my individual team talks worked on him by the 60-70 mins mark. I watch matches in extended mode and I observe the performance of the players whom I said 'you have faith' or 'disappointing' to closely. Another way, as I mentioned in previous posts, is to check their ratings during the 2nd half, if they do not improve, I know that my team talks failed to work and this will be evident from the 'nothing specific noted' feedback after the match. On the other hand, if I see my striker now having lots of shots on target or midfielders creating many good chances in the 2nd half, confirmed by match rating increases, I will simply sit back and enjoy watching the highlights as I say to myself "my team talks has worked, I have done everything possible and now there is a high chance that I will equalise and win". That expectation is proved right 90% of the times, i.e. I do equalise or make a comeback, then the feedback screen confirms the effects of the team talks. In the other 10% of the times, when the match finishes as a loss or a disappointing draw for me, the feedback screen will still say that my players were motived etc.

However, this is not to deny the fact that for me, the 'inspired to a great performace' feedback is rarely seen in a match that is lost; what is usually seen in a lost match is just 'seemed motivated' 'looked delighted' 'fired-up'. I think what your testing can show is that the feedback is related to the match result in terms of the extent of the positive feedbacks. If you lost a game, it is hard to say that a player had a great performance, however that same performance in a match that you won will earn a comment of 'insipred to a great performance'.

A final point is that it is hard to decide whether the same talk has the same effect each time, because the effect is dependant on so many factors as listed in my guide. Take my striker Nazarith for example, roughly 80% of the times I say 'disappointing' to him when he has a rating 6 at home, he gets either inspired or motivated. The other 20% of the times he just continues his poor performance and stays at rating 6 at 60-70 mins, when I substitute him off. Therefore from my experience even though the talks generally has consistent effects, there is a minor degree of randomness in it. What causes that randomness is uncertain to me. I am thinking maybe one of the tips in the game provides an answer, it said something like 'constantly saying the same thing to your players will have a lesser effect in the long run'. Thus we can not say for sure that the talk has the same effect each time.

So I am suggesting a conclusion 3 which is in between your two conclusions, with the help of your work and the game experiences of myself.

The conclusion is (unfortunately) in 3 points:

1. There is consistency in the actual 2nd half performance of the 'individually talked player' and the post-match feedbacks. Although the degree of the positive feedback depends to an extent on the match result.

2. Team talks done following the same method will generally provide consistent results. The team talk effect is not random.

3. But the effect is not 100% the same every time either. There are exceptional cases where the same team talk worked previously and yet failed to work this time on the same player with the same rating. This may be due to the many factors other than rating that influence the effect.

So the conclusion in short: The effect of the talk is not random yet it does not guarantee the same effect each time. The feedback varies depending on the result to a minor degree.

Now this had taken longer for me to write than I thought.. I better go to sleep. Good night and Merry Christmas to everyone!

[WoIfsong]

Originally posted by This field intentionally left blank:

I tried this approach with Liverpool; it was an unmitigated disaster. I don't know whether this was because of inaccurate pre-match odds, or whether highly professional squads require more harsh treatment.

Sorry to hear that it did not work for you. If you could provide the details of what was said to which players with what ratings, and what the feedbacks and match results were, then I might be able to tell you what I would have done if I was controlling the team talk.

Again just to emphasis, it is great that I am getting all your feedbacks, not just the positive ones(while I love them ) but also ones that show results that are unfavourable or contrary to my own. I do not claim my team talk method to be the only method/best method available but I am confident that it works because of the match experiences of myself.

I welcome suggestions of different methods (e.g. tower's more harsh way) and hope that we can explore them in detail together.

One last note I do not deny the importance of tactics here, I am not a tactical guru but I do at least pause the game 4 times per match to make changes (subs, arrows, opposition instructions for opponent subs/players who swapped positions and changes to counter 4-2-4). Or else I would be calling football manager 08 'team talk manager 08' instead.

[This field intentionally l]

In away games where the odds are very close, or the opposition are slight favorites, if loosing 1-0 at half time, most players with a 7, saying "you can win this" results in large loss e.g. 5-1, and players reacting by losing confidence and ending with 3 or 5 ratings. I saw this 3 times in about 10 games. I think they need "disappointing" even if they are a 7.

[WoIfsong]

Originally posted by This field intentionally left blank:

In away games where the odds are very close, or the opposition are slight favorites, if loosing 1-0 at half time, most players with a 7, saying "you can win this" results in large loss e.g. 5-1, and players reacting by losing confidence and ending with 3 or 5 ratings. I saw this 3 times in about 10 games. I think they need "disappointing" even if they are a 7.

To be honest this has never ever happened to me. I do not quite understand why players would lose confidence if they are told they can win the game. And I have tried 'disappointing' away a lot and for me that is when I see lots of 'lost confidence'.

If you could upload a few screenshots of the bad reaction and if you could tell me what was said in pre-match talks, that will be appreciated. Cheers.

[Dirty_ACE]

Originally posted by This field intentionally left blank:

In away games where the odds are very close, or the opposition are slight favorites, if loosing 1-0 at half time, most players with a 7, saying "you can win this" results in large loss e.g. 5-1, and players reacting by losing confidence and ending with 3 or 5 ratings. I saw this 3 times in about 10 games. I think they need "disappointing" even if they are a 7.

This has never happened to me either. Whenever I'm down by a single goal at the half I always tell them "We can win this" no matter what team I'm managing and it almost always seems to get better results, however, there are occasions when it tell them "Where's the passion lads?" and it also lights a fire under them.

[Saumyajit]

The scheme really works. Just a couple of points/clarifications.

1. Even in an away game, if in the first half performance is awful, the disappointed/angry talk works better than the standard "be more encouraging in away games" philosophy. Here I am talking about away games against weaker or equal opponents, not opponents who are much strionger than you.

2. I still have not figured out when to use "wish luck" and when "you can win". You can win has demotivated a few players at times, and I have a team that is very determined as general personality.

3. Still have not figured out pre match manager comments. All teh games in point 2 was when the opposition manager had made some comments before the match, and when this happens, I have not been able to figure out what to do. Maybe positive/neutral comment in away matches and negative in home matches??

[ianmforbes]

Greatest Post, Ever.

[Easyone]

i have found that in 2008 my team talks have a lot less effect, when i say stuff it doesn't really make difference while on 2007 once i was as Atletico Madrid 3-0 down to Real Madrid in the Bernabau at half time, i told every player they could make the difference and won 3-4 in the end, tried the same idea 2-0 down at half time as Leeds losing to swansea and got murdered 5-1

[Andrew K]

Interesting read.

When I look back at my feedback I sometimes get the following from a half-time talk "Looked delighted, seemed demotivated". His in-game performance drops during in the 2h. What is happening? The demotivated part is obvious, but why the "Looks delighted"? A sign of a two-faced player?

[Powermonger]

Originally posted by Andrew K:

Interesting read.

When I look back at my feedback I sometimes get the following from a half-time talk "Looked delighted, seemed demotivated". His in-game performance drops during in the 2h. What is happening? The demotivated part is obvious, but why the "Looks delighted"? A sign of a two-faced player?

I've seen this when I used 'Wish Luck' on a player, it seems to be rather conflicting set of responses from the player.

One match my team won 5-0 and somehow my full time team-talk didn't take (I'm sure it was a bug) and the computer thought I said nothing. When I got back to my squad screen I had a mutiny on my hands as they players all thought I didn't give them enough credit. Moral of the story is to make sure to praise players when they deserve it.

[karena]

Im confused by one of the Team Talk Effect: 'Seemed demotivated, Looked delighted', is this a positive or negative effect ?

btw: Its an excellence post

[EA_mon_hello2]

Originally posted by karena:

Im confused by one of the Team Talk Effect: 'Seemed demotivated, Looked delighted', is this a positive or negative effect ?

btw: Its an excellence post

Basically it means their morale went up but they felt like they were on top of the world so they dont have to try anymore, they got complacent.

[Mad7-Gate7-Olympiakos]

Great post Wolfsong, thank you for the advice

[Saumyajit]

Just want to add a bit from my personal experience after trying these team talk suggestions.

I am playing with Juventus in 2011-2012, squad personality is very determined.

Initially when I had implemented Wolfsong's scheme I found that in many matches, I was winning because of my 2nd half performance. The first half performance tended to be a little flat, I would sub a few players, give the "I have faith" or "you can make a dfference" talk, and would win based on the improved second half performance. This got me thinking that the pre match team talk might not be working as well as the half time ones.

After that I started using the Ass Man suggestion for pre match talk, and Wolfsong's scheme for half time and post match talk. This gave me better results. I was dominating weaker teams or matching strong teams in the first half as well, rather than just the second half.

For information, my Ass Man is Christian Damiano, he is the Ass Man that Juventus start with, and his stats are good but nothing extraordinary, although I can't recall them at the moment. I am actually thinking of employing a better one from next season.

[360waver]

How do you check the effectiveness of your team talk

[WoIfsong]

The team talk effect can be checked under 'Assistant Advice' - 'Get teamtalk feedback'. Assistant Advice button is located at bottom left hand corner on your team's page (not the manager overview).

Once again glad to hear the feedbacks.

On the point of 'Seemed motivated. Looked delighted'. It is an occassional effect from saying "We can win this!" or "Wish Luck!". The result on performance is indeed mixed for me, sometimes the player who has a 'Seemed motivated. Looked delighted' for pre-patch team talk has a 6 by 1/2 time, sometimes he scores and has an 8. I have always thought the effect is meant to be positive but as I said, the effect is actually mixed.

I have tried using 'don't let your performance drop' more often. I have got no effects for all away games, but in home games when I am heavy favourite and when I have said "we can win this!" for pre-match team talk, and when leading 2-0 or 3-0, the use of this talk at 1/2 time sometimes have 1 or 2 players 'gained focus', which is quite useful indeed.

As for using Ass man's suggestions for team talks, I have tried it but for me, my ass man tends to say a lot of "for the fans!" for away games combined with a couple of 'pick up where you left from' when morale is high. He also tends to say 'i expect a win' at home a lot more. I have found no effect for his talks. Also using 'For the fans!" too often will mean that your players will not react to the same repetitive team talk when it comes to the big derby matches, so I tend to save it for home derby matches only.

For neutral matches, I tend to use the away framework, thus not as harsh as home talks. 'Disappointing' gives less frequent positive effects than in home matches. "You have faith" and "You can make the difference!" are again our friends here. For international competitions, "you have faith" has less effect according to the feedback screen, however it does guarantee a good performance anyway for me. My Drogba scored 10 goals in World Cup 2010 and helped me to win the cup with Ivory Coast and I say 'you have faith' or 'you can make the difference!' to him a lot.

[Powermonger]

I've also found pre-match teamtalks to be less effective them half-time ones, I'll have to experiment a bit more.

What have people's results been like when using pre-match press comments in terms of team performance? Most times I use 'No comment' but occasionally I've used the 'Team X should be underestimated but we are in good form at the moment' and sometimes it fires a few of my guys up but other times they get all insecure. I haven't really seen this translate though into their peformance on the field.

[Orpheus]

Originally posted by Powermonger:

I've also found pre-match teamtalks to be less effective them half-time ones, I'll have to experiment a bit more.

What have people's results been like when using pre-match press comments in terms of team performance? Most times I use 'No comment' but occasionally I've used the 'Team X should be underestimated but we are in good form at the moment' and sometimes it fires a few of my guys up but other times they get all insecure. I haven't really seen this translate though into their peformance on the field.

Like in real life, it's 50-50. Sometimes the players are fired up, sometimes they curl into a corner and recite soliloquies from "Hamlet."

I only use it sometimes for rivalry matches, but it's a rarity.

I think it's better to be Anti-Mourinho in this version.

[Guest]

Thanks Wolfsong, a great post, and I believe it has improved my results significantly. I am playing (now) as MK Dons in League 2 and things are going pretty well, pushing for a playoff place. The response of most of the players has been pretty much as you described. In one pre-match team talk, I had the demotivated but delighted approach - I agree with your other poster that this is down to complacency, thinking "another easy win coming up".

However, I have one issue - one of my players gets feedback from the "AssMan" of "Didn't seem to be listening". His morale is "very poor" or "poor" despite a run in the first team and generally decent 7 performances. His morale inclines me to drop him for slightly weaker players but who are better motivated. Individual attention seems to work, but most of the time he's not listening. This infuriates the hell out of me and I am inclined to put him on the transfer list. Does anyone else have experience of this?

[nick1408]

G'day Wolfsong. I have followed your advice pretty closely but only the away talks work really. Whenever i give the home talks pre match - especially "You can win this" it seems to gaurantee a half time deficit. Most times I can turn this around but this isn't a real good way to play. I am playing as Everton. Is there something else that could work for home games?

[bRAzIL]

People actually do teamtalks?

I have never bothered with any of the media/teamtalks. The only think I ever ever do is say I am pleased when we win and thats as far as I go with team talks.

A pointless part of the game imo.

[WoIfsong]

Hi guys, I have just had my first ever "Seemed DEmotivated. Looked Delighted" and it was in the champions league final -.-

Costed me the title of course.

So yes thanks for all your help, we now know that "You can win the game!" sometimes has this negative effect. I think this occurs only when your players are of very high quality and you are on a winning streak. Before I had this I was on a 31 games unbeaten run with Roma...

To Melv22, is the player a new signing? Or does he make it into your 16 man squad or 18 man squad regularly? For me even if I only play a player once per 5 matches, he is happy as long as he stays as a sub in every game.

Nick, have you checked the feedbacks for 'you can win!" ? If it says 'seemed demotivated' for a couple of players then you have experienced the same as some others did. I think the effect is also related to squad personality, but I am not exactly sure of the details.

[Saumyajit]

From my experience for my highly determined Juventus squad, the assistant advice for pre match talks work much better than "you can win" and "wish luck". The assistant mostly gives "for the fans" or "expect a win" and I think it is more suited to a determined and successful bunch of players. For half time it is Wolfsong's combination that works though.

And I also feel that even if the assistant feedback say that there was no effect, there is some effect on every player for a teamtalk. I assume that the assistant only points out cases where there is a drastic chnage, but even for other players, every teamtalk makes them play a little bit better or a little bit worse.

[North Bank Highbury]

Great thread, very helpful

[inkognieto]

im giving it a try! Great post!

[OugaBagga]

brilliant guide it urned round my season with leigh i was botton of the league about half way through the season and i managed to sneak a playoff place at the end and i won the playoffs and got promoted to the confrence

[Benoit2]

"You can make the difference" shouldnt be used just for attackers, it can be used for defenders just as well.

I just had a half time (1-1) where everybody had a 7 bar the goalie who had a 6 and everybody was on superb morale bar my left-back who was on very good. I told those two they could make the difference and the feedback said the goalie seemed motivated and the left-back was happy.

[WoIfsong]

Originally posted by Benoit2:

"You can make the difference" shouldnt be used just for attackers, it can be used for defenders just as well.

I just had a half time (1-1) where everybody had a 7 bar the goalie who had a 6 and everybody was on superb morale bar my left-back who was on very good. I told those two they could make the difference and the feedback said the goalie seemed motivated and the left-back was happy.

Yes thank you, "You can make the different" or "You have faith" can motivate GKs too, I forgot to mention that. It has been a long time since I needed to say those to my GKs because I've been using Roma instead of weaker teams for too long.

However, 'happy' does not have much effect on performance, it is more related to their relationship to you. So while it does affect defenders, I tend to avoid saying it to them, because saying "you can make the difference!" to too many players at 1/2 time will see less of an effect. I personally like to save those for my strikers, and GK if I am a weaker team and I expect a lot of shots from my opponents.

[phenomx3]

I never honestly thought of team talks as changing the game I just let my ass man do the business and rely on me being more tactically adept then the computer.

But Wolfsong, your team talks really are fantastic and make all the difference.

I have a question though. I was playing as Chelsea away to Arsenal in the carling cup. I am miles away odds on favourite. After dominating possession and having a high pass completion percentage and lots of shots on goal, I find myself 2-0 down. Every player is stil pretty highly motivated (good-very good) and only my DMC and MC are on 6's. Everyone else on 7.

What would you recommend to say to the team?

[Al Bundy]

Originally posted by phenomx3:

I never honestly thought of team talks as changing the game I just let my ass man do the business and rely on me being more tactically adept then the computer.

But Wolfsong, your team talks really are fantastic and make all the difference.

I have a question though. I was playing as Chelsea away to Arsenal in the carling cup. I am miles away odds on favourite. After dominating possession and having a high pass completion percentage and lots of shots on goal, I find myself 2-0 down. Every player is stil pretty highly motivated (good-very good) and only my DMC and MC are on 6's. Everyone else on 7.

What would you recommend to say to the team?

I would go:

We can win this! (team talk)

DMC and MC : I have faith!

Strikers: I have faith!

[PoopyPants]

Thanks, just made me won 4 - 1 against ManUtd

[Benoit2]

Originally posted by WoIfsong:

Yes thank you, "You can make the different" or "You have faith" can motivate GKs too, I forgot to mention that. It has been a long time since I needed to say those to my GKs because I've been using Roma instead of weaker teams for too long.

Im Chelsea

The only reason I told that to my goalie and full-back though, is because they were the only ones with either a different rating or morale, so I had no need to tell my forwards something.

Originally posted by phenomx3:

I never honestly thought of team talks as changing the game I just let my ass man do the business and rely on me being more tactically adept then the computer.

But Wolfsong, your team talks really are fantastic and make all the difference.

I have a question though. I was playing as Chelsea away to Arsenal in the carling cup. I am miles away odds on favourite. After dominating possession and having a high pass completion percentage and lots of shots on goal, I find myself 2-0 down. Every player is stil pretty highly motivated (good-very good) and only my DMC and MC are on 6's. Everyone else on 7.

What would you recommend to say to the team?

Depends on what you said pre-match. If I expected victory, I would be angry or disappointed. If I told them I could win this, either dissapointed or encourage. (both can work with Chelsea). If I wished them luck or told them no pressure, I'd tell encourage them.

[Elim]

Before reading the guide I rarely used individual team-talks at half-time unless there was an particularly outstanding or poor performance, but the amount of games I'm turning around now is incredible.

The defeats have become draws and the draws have now been elevated to wins.

An excellent thread.

[Ramzinho]

Well i have a question, If i am barcelona and i'm playing celta for example celta lies in 17 place and i am first.

First half ends 4-0 For me at home i tell players i am plesed..

They end up to finish the game in 4-0

How can i boost them on to continue the show. I use my made tactic and it's on this forum and i am on my 7th season with barcelona.. Any ideas.?

[Guest sec]

Wanted to post a reply to give a shoult out to Wolfsong, cause these tips are amazing.

Playing a pretty standard 4-4-1-1 with players mostly on the default role setting, I managed to go undefeated all season.

I play with AaB in the Danish Premier Division, and was tipped for 3rd place, I managed to sign a few players to strengthen the squad, but i did not expect to break the dominance of FC København.

I ended the season undefeated in the league with 33G, 20W, 13D, 0L. 79 For, 34 Ag. 7 points clear of FC København and 18 points clear of 3rd place FC Nordsjælland.

I was knocked out of the toto cup by Hamburg SV, and lost the quater final of the Danish Cup, a loss that came after the winter break.

So all in all, I am very impressed by these tips. I had no idead team talks would have such a huge effect.

[teeyougee]

Yet again your guide has helped me.

I was drawing 0-0 at home against Athletic (I'm Barca).

3 players were on a 6 (Eto'o, Messi, Iniesta), 1 on an 8 (Ronaldinho), rest on 7s.

I told the the three on 6s that I was disappointed (Eto'o & Messi morale "Superb", Iniesta "Very Good"). I told Ronny I had faith.

Eto had 5 shots in the 1st half btw. 2nd half he took 3 shots and scored 2. Messi & Ronny assisted 1 each.

End of match:

Eto'o - 9 (MOM)

Messi - 8

Ronaldinho - 8

Iniesta - 7

I won 3-0.

Thanks yet again for the guide. I've lost 1 home game since the start of the game (I'm in season 2, December) and that loss was the usual oposition goalkeeper turns into a monster and saves 30 shots.

[Dirty_ACE]

Is it me or does telling a player that has a 6 at half time that you have faith in him also helps? I've done this a few times instead of telling them I was disappointed and got some very good results. I've noticed the "disappointed" talk works better with players who have a professional personality and the "I have faith in you" talk works pretty well with determined/resolute/resilient personalities.

Just to add, I'm also playing with Barca and players like Eto'o, Messi, and Ronaldinho have determined personalities while Iniesta and Xavi are professional and I applied the half-time talks exactly how I described above and it seems to work also.

[teeyougee]

I'm following the guide. I only ever tell a player I have faith when they're playing on a 6 IF I'm playing away, or if their morale is low. Otherwise I say disappointed.

I haven't noticed that ("disappointed" talk works better with players who have a professional personality and the "I have faith in you" talk works pretty well with determined/resolute/resilient personalities).

Thanks for posting it, I'll test it out

[teeyougee]

I tried out what you said about if you're drawing at half time, sub on a striker and tell him he can make the difference. This was the 1st time I did it.

I was drawing 1-1 at HT. I subbed Pandev on, and he scored on the 47th min, then 61st. He looked fired up the whole half. He got the MOM too

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(Can you see the image? ^ Because I can't)

I now have a run of 22 consecutive wins.

This season I have won 33, drew 1, lost 1.

I lost 1-0 at home in a game I should have won like 5-0.

I drew my 1st game of the season away to R.Madrid 2-2, in the Spanish Super Cup.

I have to say, my great form is mainly thanks to your guide. Ive turned so many draws and losses at half-time into wins by full-time.

[Powermonger]

Just a tip too for those that use media comments before matches. When using a media comment, and you get a player responding saying they don't feel confident or nervous about the upcoming match, use the no pressure individual team talk for them and they perform much much better.

[Saintjonny]

This thread should be pinned for everyone to get the benefits. I would say using the guides given by all the posters you will achieve 95% of what is suppose to be the outcome. The other 5% is where people forget what the guide is saying!

Its brilliantly thought out and well laid original post - did get a bit lazy when it came to away matches - but you did say its almost the same as the home matches.

SO, all in all an excellent post and probably should be in the hall of fame for the work & research put into it. And not just that but the fact its so damn accurate!!

[Decker]

this is an excelent post, wolfsong and everyone contributing to it have made excellent findings too making it a top thread.

It works perfectly fine with '07 i'm playing and has made sense of what is an equally crucial part of the game as the tactics, which beforehand i was foolishly ignoring.

What is truly impressive is how Wolfsong managed to link it to the match odds - would never have struck me in a month of sundays but once pointed out is patantly obvious - why else have it? So you can go down to the bookies and back the opposition to make up for your financial deficit?!

[Frankie 7]

This is a excellent guide and would be very useful across the scene. I would love to use this as a guide on my website. Of course with the writers consent only.

I have noticed that team talks do play a big part in your team's morale. I used to let my ass man just take care of that side of things but now i am trying to learn and do this myself.

I'll follow this and see where it leads me.

Thanks again.

[WoIfsong]

Thanks for all the replies once again. You guys have really contributed a lot in making this a valuable thread.

Feel free to use this guide on your site, Frankie.

Ramzinho I encounter that a lot of times too, if I really want them to score more in the 1/2 half, I'd say 'you have faith' to every player that's got a 8+ (usually that's most of the players if you are leading 4-0 by 1/2 time). However, I generally don't do that because a 4-0 score is usually good enough for me

[Dirty_ACE]

If you're up 4-0 by half time you might also try telling your player that they can relax as the result is secure. I've done this a few times when I was up 2-0 or 3-0 and usually the players would score 1 or 2 more goals in the second half.

[Powermonger]

Anyone else have problems with poor first-half performances? I just can't seem to get my team motivated enough.

[teeyougee]

Yeah recently I always end up losing by half time with Barca. But I always pull it back to a draw/win with the help of this guide

I wanted to know if "for the fans" only has an effect for home games. Because I just played Madrid away, and it had no effect (though I won 3-0)