Teamtalks - if you are clueless ...

[Bubbabaytuna]

That I disagree with. Both in real life, as well as the game.

Of course you dont make a mistake on purpose, but you still made a mistake. Could be a lapse of concentration, something else I dont know. But fact is, you screwed up. When you screw up, people have a right to be disappointed. So when my players screw up, Im disappointed and Ill tell them that. They're not kids. Im not going like:

"Ah poor boy, you screwed up. Well, doesnt matter, just carry on the second half".

I'll only do that if their morale is poor. If their morale is good, then I want them to redouble their focus and make up for their error by working twice as hard in the second half. If they cant deal with that kind of pressure, then I dont have a place for them in my team. I hate players with low determination who cant handle pressure

Im sure "you have faith" can help, certainly for lower determined players, but telling them Im disappointed often does the trick for me and gets them back up to a 6,5+ rating, without a goal or assist.

Disappointed can certainly work in some cases. There's a reason why we have the option to use it.

However in my situation managing lowly San Marino, I do not have the means to easily replace a player of a certain quality. In the case of my defender who made a mistake, his stats were looking fine and telling him I had faith worked. Perhaps he is a mentally more fringe player but by using that particular team talk I got him to perform again. Now that I know this, I can keep using him and get the best out of him. Also shifting players and bringing in new faces requires me to get to know how they react to different situations, it also has an effect on team gelling and all sorts of variables.

In the end though, there are different roads leading to Rome and if you find something that works, stick to it. But I will rarely use disappointed as a team talk. The only time I would consider using it, is when a player is "having a bad game" but, I could be wrong of course, that doesn't seem to be much of a motivation more like it is a fact. So if they have that "motivation", more often than not I'll just substitute. Everyone has a bad game some time. That's football.

[SFraser]

The whole crux of the Teamtalk issue is not choosing the right Teamtalk for the match, but choosing the right Teamtalk for the the player. You wouldn't tell a young player that cannot handle pressure that you are disappointed in him even if you are disappointed, but you would tell an aggressive high pressure player you are disappointed in him even if you are not so long as it gets the right reaction. That's why "Pleased" when you are 2-0 up at halftime is such a legendary bad choice, it might be the truth but it tends to make alot of players take their foot off the gas.

The game doesn't come with hundreds of thousands of players that all react exactly the same to each teamtalk or to each set of match odds. Every different personality reacts slightly differently to each teamtalk and each set of match odds. A Jovial personality will react completely differently to the exact same match odds as someone that is Iron Willed or is a Leader and they will react differently to someone that is Ambitious. All of these players will then react differently to the same Pre-Match Teamtalk, the same in-match events and the same Half Time Teamtalk. You only see big differences in reaction with players that have big differences in personality so with 11 players you will always get a bunch of players that are quite similar and react similar to the same events. This does not mean that the game works by matching Teamtalks to the match or to ratings or to motivation levels, you just end up playing that way because you get into working with the average of your clubs personalities all the time.

Once you realise that Teamtalks are aimed at getting the right reactions from Personalities based on how those Personalities are viewing the game and how those Personalities react to your choices, then you will be able to handle those players that respond differently to the average of your team. If you think Teamtalks are aimed solely at Motivation levels or Match Odds and nothing else you will never be able to properly handle personalities that do not fit into the average of your club.

Just imagine that you are dealing with 11 individuals and you are trying to say to them whatever will get them into the right frame of mind. One guy might get angered and worked up while another guy might get deflated and discouraged and a third guy gets focused and concentrated all from the same Teamtalk. If 9 out of 11 players react the same way you get conned into thinking you are not talking to 11 individuals.

If you want to get good at Teamtalks, pay attention to the personalities of your players, watch how they behave and react to different situations, watch how they react to what you say and under what context, take notes on their attitude and reaction to different teamtalks under different situations, and then start pushing their individual buttons.

[col_nufc1]

Brilliant post Bubbabaytuna it has helped me a lot as my players were unhappy with the way i talked to them during match days but now there all happy and team morale is high .

[transferking]

what would you say to Liverpool's youngster (Crisetig), who makes his first appearance in main team (starting 11 in Cup), scores 2-0 goal and becomes complacent immediately after this?

[SFraser]

what would you say to Liverpool's youngster (Crisetig), who makes his first appearance in main team (starting 11 in Cup), scores 2-0 goal and becomes complacent immediately after this?

The lad is obviously cocky so "Angry" and bench/reserve/youth for his next game depending how high up he has climbed in the club. Transfer listing players makes them want to fight for their place in the team but they also have a habit of disliking you.

Over the long term however it seems clear that this guy is in need of some serious mentoring. Shock tactics might provoke an immediate response but they wont work over a long period of time. He is young so you atleast have the opportunity to alter and improve his mental approach to the game. It is up to you to do it though.

If you are already mentoring him and developing his personality and he has only just risen out of the youth team then put it down to the foolishness of youth and let it be for now. He wont change overnight and you have to accept this. There is a difference in the approach to Babel compared to Spearing for example. If Babel is messing around then take no prisoners, but Spearing on the other hand has not had time to develop properly and needs to be nurtured.

[transferking]

luckily enough this "looking complacent" lasted for about the time all the team for celebrating his goal

after this he played with confidence, earned 8.0 mark and I guess there is no need to make any conclusions about these "complacent" moments.

Or...?

[col_nufc1]

Since using these team talks i am unbeaten . They have been a few games where i had been two goals down at half time and i had turned the game into a win or a draw which is brilliant . I would usually have lost the game by a big margin as all i used to go on was player ratings at half time / full time. Not knowing to look at how motivated my player were or not.

Hope you don't mind but i have recommended this thread to the people in the Gateshead thread in the good player forum .

[Bubbabaytuna]

luckily enough this "looking complacent" lasted for about the time all the team for celebrating his goal

after this he played with confidence, earned 8.0 mark and I guess there is no need to make any conclusions about these "complacent" moments.

Or...?

In my opinion, I don't think you should make any conclusions really. One game is just that, one game. Everybody can have a bad game or have trouble getting motivated. Of course when complacency shows its ugly head, you need to try and do something about it. You can't accept it. You could use "angry" as SFraser suggested, and although I agree it could work and there must be a use for "angry" being offered as an option, it's not something I'll use. "Warning against complacency/don't let your performance drop" is a way of increasing pressure on a player to perform without actually calling him out on his individual performance, which may be just fine as he's just "looking complacent", not actually "playing bad".

But I wouldn't draw any conclusions about the player himself just yet. If you were playing him for half a season or preferably a full season, and the same issue kept creeping up, you may need to sell him/tutor him/loan him out/etc.

[Bubbabaytuna]

Since using these team talks i am unbeaten . They have been a few games where i had been two goals down at half time and i had turned the game into a win or a draw which is brilliant . I would usually have lost the game by a big margin as all i used to go on was player ratings at half time / full time. Not knowing to look at how motivated my player were or not.

Hope you don't mind but i have recommended this thread to the people in the Gateshead thread in the good player forum .

Oh I don't mind absolutely, I'm really happy my experience is turning out to be useful to several people.

The part I highlighted in your post is the key thing I wanted to share with people really. Being able to see your players real-time in-game motivation has become crucial to me. Contrary to going by player ratings, now I can see patterns emerge. For example in the case of complacency brought up by transferking, using motivation to guide you, you can actually learn so much about your player.

I share the same experience with you. Turning a 1 - 0, 2 - 0 chase around into comfortable win. Nothing beats that feeling in FM!

[Hetharia]

Mr. BubbaBayTuna..

Excellent post.. My AC Milan team did very well with the team talk.. At the first I thought your team talk wont work.. When we were behind and I used your team talked, we were scored 3 goals.. Nice job..

Another thing that I hate is when my team dominate the game against small team, I usually score 1 goal.. I applied your team talk strategy and viola.. we scored 2 to 3 goals more..

THx sir.. Amazing work !!

Edit : I played Siena and at half time we were up 1-0.. Check my team motivation and at least 6 players felt nervous.. I told them that there is no pressure and we won 5-0... At the half time, my nervous player got 6.2 ratings and at the end he scored 2 goals and get 8.3 rattings..

[dieu]

Many people here have asked about pre match teamtalks, and I wanted to add something to that discussion.

When you talk to your players pre match you also want to look at the predictions, and base your teamtalk on it. Of course you also have to take into account whether you play home or away.

For instance, you are favourite to win a game by a mile. (Playing in the cup against teams from lower divisions or against relagation battlers when you are a top team yourself.

Home: Expect a win

Away: Expect a win

When it's a close call. Playing against teams that are playing at oyur level

Home: For the fans.

Away: you can win this.

Oponent expected to beat you easily.

Home: Wish luck or for fans if it's a rival.

Away: No pressure, or wish luck. For fans if rival.

Of course you need to tailor your pre match teamtalk to your player personalities, but I've found that you seldom go wrong when you use this formula.

What I've generally struggled with is half time teamtalks, and I must say that this post has opened my eyes. Never thought about it like this before, so thank you.

[cragswfc]

if you are loosing at half time and one of your players is playing complacent i cant do any of the suggested have you got any advice please

[Hooligan]

hi bubba, at halftime if a player is fired up or motivated, what i say???

[ObaMartins09]

hi bubba, at halftime if a player is fired up or motivated, what i say???

Already answered, read the thread. Say nothing.

[celebritykiller]

if you are loosing at half time and one of your players is playing complacent i cant do any of the suggested have you got any advice please

In this scenario you need to increase motivation and decrease confidence.

From Rickooko's thread:

"Team talk effect: O = increase, X = decrease

Expecting a win: motivation OO, pressure OO

Expecting a performance: motivation OOO, pressure OOO

Don’t expect your performance to drop: motivation O, pressure O, confidence X

Disappointed: motivation O, pressure O, confidence X

Angry: motivation OO, pressure OO, confidence XX

Warn against complacency: confidence X"

These are your options really, if you can't use warn against complacency or don't let performance drop I would recommend disappointed.

[Kaitech]

How do you guys approach games where you are heavily favored to win both home and away? I could really use some pointers as Liverpool because I always seem to struggle against bottom teams while the top AI teams make these games look so easy.

For example this is what happened to me 5 minutes ago. After 20 league games undefeated with Liverpool I've shockingly lost 0-1 to Stoke at Anfield. Morale was sky high and only 1 player was feeling over-confident so I've chosen "I expect a win" at the start of the match. Some players were motivated, some were playing OK while only my rightback was nervous who naturally made a big mistake and Stoke pretty much scored a fluke goal. We were looking too casual and hardly dangerous with only 1 CCC so I said "Disappointed" at halftime. More players were starting to get nervous so I tried to sub them along with using some touchline instructions to try to overload Stoke but we never put them under any lengthy pressure and all I got was a couple of CCC's which their GK comfortably saved. After the match on the assistant feedback page I saw that both my pre-match and halftime teamtalks had ZERO effect. I've also tried a "no pressure" approach in a previous match like this but the end result and most notably the team performance was very similar, while the AI top teams always seem to be cruising through matches like this by 4-5 goals so I must be doing something wrong here.

[Bubbabaytuna]

Hey Kaitech

First of all, going undefeated for 20 games in one of the top leagues of the world is impressive with any team imo, so you're obviously a really good manager. Even really good managers of really good teams will lose eventually though, and when it's against a team you perceive you should be beating easily it can be all the more frustrating indeed. After this game, how were the next results? Did you pick up on your form again?

For example this is what happened to me 5 minutes ago. After 20 league games undefeated with Liverpool I've shockingly lost 0-1 to Stoke at Anfield. Morale was sky high and only 1 player was feeling over-confident so I've chosen "I expect a win" at the start of the match.

I never use "expect a win" at the start of the game anymore. I used to try it, but even in the cases it did do something, results were minimal motivation wise and these days I don't find it worth it risking putting too much pressure on my players. Nervous players make mistakes, as you've experienced. "Wish luck" has been a reliable option to me, even against weaker teams. It won't win you the game but it won't cost you either. And purely personal opinion of course, but game results don't get the decided in the first half. The second half is where the game is decided.

We were looking too casual and hardly dangerous with only 1 CCC so I said "Disappointed" at halftime. More players were starting to get nervous so I tried to sub them along with using some touchline instructions to try to overload Stoke but we never put them under any lengthy pressure and all I got was a couple of CCC's which their GK comfortably saved.

Now, I cannot comment on the tactical decision you took here as it's not the point of this thread. But as I said before, examples like these are why I rarely if ever use team talks like disappointed. Now I don't know your player personalities so it's hard for me to tell you what you should've picked, and there's a big chance there isn't 1 right answer but many. I don't think you mention what exactly your player motivations were at half time, but you say you were looking casual so were they playing "complacent"? In this case, I would've tried handling it as I did with Anderson as explained in my opening post. Up untill now, it's been working really well.

I'd like to add here that I generally don't tend to give too much importance to the skill level of my opponent. If my player is "playing okay" in a match against italian giants AC Milan i will tell him "I have faith" in order to boost his motivation. If that same player is "playing okay" against a much weaker team I will tell him "I have faith" for the very same reason. People may disagree with this approach but it's proven to be reliable in my experience and in the end that's all I can go by. I would like to refer you to the screenshots I've posted in my OP. In fact, the game I used to illustrate my team talk strategy in this thread is a game where I was clear favourite for a comfortable win.

After the match on the assistant feedback page I saw that both my pre-match and halftime teamtalks had ZERO effect.

To be honest, this thing is one of those useless parts in FM I think. I usually get the same thing, only one player seemed to be effected or something. HOWEVER the ingame real-time motivation paints an entirely different picture. There you will see that your players do indeed react to your team talk. So I would suggest to forget about that part of the assistant feedback and let the ingame (that is during the match) motivation of your players guide your judgement. (highlighted because I think this is the most important bit)

In any case, tactics could be a part of your problem in that game. I'm not that much of a tactics expert anyway so I can't give any pointers on that. But 20 games unbeaten, you're definitely doing something right!

[RTHerringbone]

Bubbabaytuna - thanks.

Threads by you and Cleon have utterly changed my approach to the game, and it's for the better.

With team talks, I always used to leave my AssMan to do the work - I had never even looked at my players' motivation!

Following your ideas has a clear impact on the mental state of my players, and it is already improving my results.

I was guilty on FM10 of trying to get by with using someone else's tactics, leaving my AssMan and coaches to do the work, and then getting confused and frustrated when it went wrong.

I now set up my own training schedules, base my tactics and tactical changes on Cleon's FM10 Sheff Utd project, and my Team Talks on this thread.

In my opinion, you just can't expect success in this game unless you put at least some effort into all the elements of the game which impact performance; Team Talks are a key element.

[Ezequiel_Lavezzi]

Maybe if SI lowered the effects of team talks, match day odds and other associated pressures, we would have a better game.

Great thread however, and will begin following this.

[Kaitech]

After this game, how were the next results? Did you pick up on your form again?

Thanks for the fast reply, very nice thread by the way Regarding my form, I indeed have but my next 10+ fixtures were much easier compared to the extremely difficult schedule prior to the Stoke game which in fact prompted me to post here despite being a long time lurker heh. I have had a hellish schedule in which my team has remarkably managed to get exactly 10 wins in a row and things were looking rosy indeed with all these "easy" games just around the corner so I thought I could finally relax and enjoy some comfortable wins. But then the Stoke game came which was supposed to be the first one of the so called easy games and I was left absolutely gobsmacked by the result.

I've continued to use a combination of "I expect a win" and "No pressure" in the following matches and it seemed that the "No pressure" approach worked slightly better but most of the games are still far too close for my liking. I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of "wish luck" except in really tough away games against non-rivals, perhaps I should try "for the fans" or even say nothing at the start of the match and see how it goes.

"Wish luck" has been a reliable option to me, even against weaker teams. It won't win you the game but it won't cost you either. And purely personal opinion of course, but game results don't get the decided in the first half. The second half is where the game is decided.

I couldn't agree with you more, the 2nd half teamtalk plus the subs is where the game is decided. I realized right away that I've made a mistake at the halftime of the Stoke game when I said "disappointed" because obviously even though we were a goal behind we did have a lot of possession and we managed to create some chances even though we didn't take them. I chose the negative teamtalk because morale was sky high and I thought that they had no real excuse to be playing so badly, but clearly I've made a mistake here because I see now that we weren't playing THAT badly, we were just unlucky to be behind and obviously it was just my frustration that got the better of me. If I had been been more positive and supportive in that game I bet we would've definitely turned it around.

The way I see it, when behind or drawing at halftime you can either be negative or positive and I believe that much is obvious, the key is recognizing the situation and deciding which approach to go and it's often the difference between 3 points and no points.

But I'm fine with halftime teamtalks, it's the pre-match talks in matches like these that give me problems. I for once would like to start well and score some goals in the 1st half without having to rely on halftime talks to bail me out most of the time. I also work very hard not to spread over-confidence/complacency throughout the squad by mostly acting cagey during interviews which I believe is of paramount importance when you're having a good run of results and it seems to be working great so far.

If my player is "playing okay" in a match against italian giants AC Milan i will tell him "I have faith" in order to boost his motivation. If that same player is "playing okay" against a much weaker team I will tell him "I have faith" for the very same reason.

Maybe I'm missing something because I've only just recently started playing FM10 and I never played FM09 (old PC couldn't run it) but actually you could be on to something here because "I have faith" was my secret weapon back in the FM08 days. There weren't motivation charts for your players but instead you could see their morale before/during the match so I started using "I have faith" on all the players whose morale was anything less than superb and the results were just fantastic. I kept seeing "Inspired to a great performance, fired up, seemed motivated, morale boost, happy" on one player who often won the game by himself. After a while I almost randomly started using "I have faith" on players with superb morale who I believed were underperforming at the time, such as missing sitters or had quiet games and most of the time if not almost always someone would get really fired up and it often led to a really inspiring performance which was a joy to behold.

One other thing I excessively used in FM08 was "You can make the difference" and it has honestly never ever failed me in those close games. Whenever I was level on halftime and that option was available I used it on all the players except the GK and at least one or two of them were bound to be motivated enough to seal the game for me, even the CB's or fullbacks who sometimes scored some insane screamers in important games but mostly it was the attacking players. This has worked great for me because after every game I'd check the assistant feedback report and almost every time the player who was motivated the most by that teamtalk was the one who really did make the difference by scoring or assisting or getting a penalty etc.

To be honest, this thing is one of those useless parts in FM I think. I usually get the same thing, only one player seemed to be effected or something.

I must confess that I'm not entirely convinced that this feature is useless because in FM08 it has worked perfectly fine and so far in FM10 it looks exactly the same. However, I haven't played FM10 nowhere near enough to be able to say for sure.

HOWEVER the ingame real-time motivation paints an entirely different picture. There you will see that your players do indeed react to your team talk. So I would suggest to forget about that part of the assistant feedback and let the ingame (that is during the match) motivation of your players guide your judgement. (highlighted because I think this is the most important bit)

I'm not sure I agree with this. I haven't even finished my 1st season in FM10 yet so maybe I shouldn't be talking but in your OP you claim to ignore the player rating during the game completely and focus solely on their motivation. I do agree that motivation plays a huge if not the biggest role but from what I've seen so far it's that those two are closely related, I've noticed that only the players with the lowest rating during the game have negative motivation and as soon as they do something good like score or assist their rating and thus motivation automatically go up. For example Torres could be "having a poor game" with 5.5 rating only to be set up beautifully just a moment later by someone with a chance he really couldn't ever miss so he gets a nice bump to 7.2 in rating and automatically starts "playing with confidence". So what I'm saying is how do you know that "You have faith" works in the way you described in the OP if you ignore the assistant teamtalk feedback, shouldn't you be able to see there if the things you said really made the difference (in this case the "You have faith" option)?

All in all, I will certainly try different approaches and mix things up a bit in general and hopefully report back with my findings.

[fox78]

thats a great help

[ataggy]

what about at half time if there is no "you have faith" and there is an option which says "you can make a difference"..is that the same?

so if a defender makes a mistake which leads to a goal you say have faith right?

also what if there is no "warn against complacency" or "dont let performance drop"...what do you do then?

[Bubbabaytuna]

Hi again Kaitech. Thanks for the great feedback!

Regarding "you have faith", even though I played the bits out of FM08 (as I tend to do with any version of FM ), I can't for the love of me remember if it really was that effective. Then again, I can barely remember what I had for diner! But it does tend to work quite often in FM10 it seems. Which makes sense, as it is something that surely increases player confidence, without being a too strong an approach. By that I mean it won't send your player over the top either way, making him so confident he'll start playing carelessly, or decreasing the pressure by such an amount he might start playing complacent. In most cases, all players need is a slight nudge anyway to perform to their normal standards.

"you can make a difference" is great. As I mentioned in my OP, when you get the option to select that individual team talk, I almost always choose it. At some point I was wondering if it would have any merit using it on my defenders or goalkeepers but I forgot that players can make a difference defensively too! And depending on your tactical approach, your deepest defender could be your first attacker, and your attacker highest up the pitch could be your first defender. So when I can, I usually select it. Do keep in mind it does add (a lot) of pressure onto the player so I am cautious using it on youngsters and the like. And goalkeepers? Ask the people that are complaining about "superkeepers" if they can make the difference! o that's very tongue in cheek ey!

I must confess that I'm not entirely convinced that this feature is useless because in FM08 it has worked perfectly fine and so far in FM10 it looks exactly the same. However, I haven't played FM10 nowhere near enough to be able to say for sure.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I haven't even finished my 1st season in FM10 yet so maybe I shouldn't be talking but in your OP you claim to ignore the player rating during the game completely and focus solely on their motivation. I do agree that motivation plays a huge if not the biggest role but from what I've seen so far it's that those two are closely related, I've noticed that only the players with the lowest rating during the game have negative motivation and as soon as they do something good like score or assist their rating and thus motivation automatically go up. For example Torres could be "having a poor game" with 5.5 rating only to be set up beautifully just a moment later by someone with a chance he really couldn't ever miss so he gets a nice bump to 7.2 in rating and automatically starts "playing with confidence". So what I'm saying is how do you know that "You have faith" works in the way you described in the OP if you ignore the assistant teamtalk feedback, shouldn't you be able to see there if the things you said really made the difference (in this case the "You have faith" option)?

I've had plenty of games where I gave a particular team talk, and I observed a lot of my players having their motivation improve during the 2nd half. After wards, I go to check the assistant manager team talk feedback, and these players are listed as "didn't seem to be listening". One time, a player of mine told the press that the manager's team talk (me ) at half time had turned things around. Yet when I checked the assistant manager team talk feedback, he was listed as "didn't seem to be listening" ... Also, in how far is this team talk feedback tied to the assistants manager skill in various attributes? Mine has a poor man management and poor motivation stat ... maybe my players DID listen and DID react to my team talk, but my assman didn't notice it? Or maybe my assman hasn't been at the club for a long enough period so he's unfamiliar with my players still? In any case, keeping track of in game motivation and acting accordingly has proven to be incredibly valuable to me and more than enough to get the feeling I can actually "make a difference!"

The assistant teamtalk feedback page is however invaluable in regards to assessing general player morale and level of understanding which he gives at the top of that page. That is really really useful information.

I like the example you provide with Torres. I've hadn't had the delight of managing players of his caliber in FM10 yet, but if a player at half time is listed as "having a poor game", I substitute him. "Having a poor game" to me sounds more like a fact, not some motivational state, it's simply that he's having a bad game. However as your example states, a teammate hands him a perfect assist he can't miss ... and he doesn't! Because he's the sort of player that has the quality to play a dreadful game, filled with bad passes and the likes, but who'll score you the winning goal in extra time. And that is indeed a fantastic, rare quality. In my team I do not have any of these quality players, so if one of them is listed at half-time as "having a poor game", they are off! If I had a Torres, a Messi, a Ronaldo, ... I'd leave these on the pitch. These guys just need one moment of sheer brilliance to decide a game ... and they do. Messi for example wasn't playing exceptionally well against Tenerife but he ends up with a hattrick, his third of which as an absolute beauty.

[Bubbabaytuna]

what about at half time if there is no "you have faith" and there is an option which says "you can make a difference"..is that the same?

so if a defender makes a mistake which leads to a goal you say have faith right?

also what if there is no "warn against complacency" or "dont let performance drop"...what do you do then?

Hi ataggy

"you can make a difference" isn't quite the same as "you have faith", but it can give your players that extra boost they need. Check my post above for my opinion about this choice.

If a defender makes a mistake which leads to a goal, I will consult his statistics first before making up my mind. In the case of Collin, his pass completion was good, his tackling was good too and he won most if not all of his headers. So clearly he made a mistake, which can happen, but his statistics were showing his 4.3 rating was all due to that one mistake, sort of like Kaitechs example where Torres scored one goal and got boosted from 5.5 to 7.2. So I decided I would tell him his mistake hasn't shaken my confidence in him and that "I have faith" he will do a good job in the second half like he usually does. And he did.

In answer to your third issue, I can't quite off the top of my head answer that, I'd sort of need a situation like that in FM and click around a bit to see what options I have available. I suppose if those two options aren't available in the general team talk menu, try checking the individual team talk options. When a player is "playing complacent", you need to add pressure. So if those two aforementioned options are unavailable, then I would check if "you can make the difference" isn't available individual team talk. If it isn't, then I think my 3rd choice would be "disappointed". I can't remember when this situation presented itself to me though.

[Bubbabaytuna]

Hi RTHerringbone

Thanks for the feedback, I'm really happy it's proving useful to you. I'm nowhere near in the same league as Cleon though Him and others on these boards have been an inspiration in playing FM and made it so much more enjoyable.

I especially agree with the last part of your post:

In my opinion, you just can't expect success in this game unless you put at least some effort into all the elements of the game which impact performance; Team Talks are a key element.

If ever truer words were ever spoken. This game is deep, real deep. I used to get frustrated from time to time with FM as well, even though the game has plenty of ways of providing you with feedback, it was hard to deal with certain results which I had a completely different expectation of. I'm not a tactical wizz and for some reason there's only so much I can deduct from checking match statistics. But ever since I went by motivation, now I can take it on the chin if a result isn't what I expected. If a player at the end of a game is listed as "played okay", I can deal with that more easily. Of course I want better but if he played okay, that means he did his job and just that. I'm "okay" with him "playing okay". It's impossible for all of your players to play great all of the time. But more important of course is that it may give you more options to influence the game in your favour through team talks.

[meatloafster]

Fantastic thread sir.

[samuelburrowsuk]

Such a good thread - it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that you have changed the game for me! Thank you for your time and effort.

This needs posting over in General Discussion, it would help a lot of people.

<It's your teamtalks>

[fox78]

when is the best time to use prove a point?

[Fabio MVP]

when is the best time to use prove a point?

IMO when he has underperformed in the first half, having a rating of 6.4 or less. But, never use it if a player have made a mistake that led to goal. Then use 'You have faith', and he'll recover and have a good game in the second half.

[Chochip]

Excellent guide.

But you have to remember, you can't always do the same thing in the same situation and expect the same response.

Use the team talks sparingly, preferably in important matches when you really need the result, because they'll stop responding after a few bouts of repetition.

edit: One thing I found is that sometimes while losing, when you sub in a player at half time and say 'you have faith', then he gets a serious boost and scores a hat trick if he is a striker lol

[StewartJRobertson]

Very helpful post, thanks for the guide.

[Almondo]

Excellent post this and very helpful. thanks for the guide.

[callum-douglas]

Having lost 6 in a row and being marooned at the bottom of the championship as Leyton Orient I followed the advice to 'wish luck' before games before tailoring my half time team talks, and the results have been encouraging.

Having lost my previous 2 games 5-0 and 3-0, both at home, I applied the tactic and in my last three games have picked up 4 points: a much improved 2-1 home defeat to high flying Swansea, followed by 3 points away at relegation threatened Blackpool and a point at home to Crystal Palace. What I am lacking is the requisite fitness to claim the points that this tactical tweaking manages to put in my grasp.

Some really good advice that has ichanged the way I think about tactics for the first time in my 6 years of playing the game. Thank you.

[kasharic]

Notice how I didn't gave N'Suki a teamtalk at halftime despite playing great, and how he even improved on that in the second half to finish with a “storming game”. And what about Pérez, who was “playing okay” at half time but finished playing “an excellent game”, just by telling him to “have faith”. But to me, it's great to see that Anderson started playing with confidence after playing complacent the entire first half. He was actually unlucky not to score in the second half.

Again, I don't pay a lot of attention to the player ratings. Having N'Suki finish with an 8.7 rating is all fine and dandy but what matters to me is he scored 2 and gave an assist. He could have a rating of 1 for all I care. Player ratings like you find in newspapers don't mean anything to me in real life so why would they in the game. And this is what I wanted to come back to.

Earlier this season I had a game where my defender Collin, who usually does a very solid job, made a mistake in the first half which cost us a goal. At halftime, he had a rating of 4.3 and his motivation said “made a mistake”. From what I gathered from reading guides online, I usually would substitute anyone who made a mistake as that seemed to be the only thing you could do. However this tim e i went to the Stats page of the match and checked out his stats. Turns out, his stats were fine. He completed almost all his passes, won every header, his tackling was fine. It's just that he made a mistake which can happen to anyone. So what I did is, I gave him the halftime individual teamtalk “have faith” and he finished the game with 6.7 rating. It's an okay rating that, but coming from 4.3 at half time, that means he was an absolute rock for the entire second half. My point is, don't always trust player ratings. Sometimes there's just bad luck coming into play and you gain more by giving your players faith.

A quick summary of how I use teamtalks:

Halftime => the goal is to improve performance

playing okay => have faith

complacent => warn against complacency/don't let your performance drop/disappointed in performance(not sure about this one, i prefer the other two options)

having a good game or better => nothing

feeling nervous => no pressure if it's a young player (the same if it's an older player, but i would try to sell this player then because it means he can't cope with big(ger) occasions.

Having a bad game => this one I always substitute. I don't know how to turn this one around

If for example a player stays complacent or nervous in the second half, for instance at 60 minutes, I think the only thing left to do is to make a substitution.

Fulltime => the goal is to maintain morale as high as possible

played okay/had a good game => pleased

had an excellent game/had a stormer => delighted (i generally give this to every player with a rating of 8.0 or above)

had a bad game or worse => disappointed

I will rarely use angry, I don't think I ever have. When a player had a terrible game or rating, I'll just use disappointed and if it happens consistently it's up to me to figure out why. Does he have issues, am I playing him wrong, or maybe he's just not good enough.

In summary the two things I feel are most important in regards to teamtalks are these:

Consulting player motivation is essential. During a match, check the splitscreen and select player motivation.

Accept bad luck/good luck. Luck plays a factor ... just like in real football.

I don't think ratings are completely useless, they do give an indication, but as with the Collin case I mentioned earlier, if I had gone by his rating I would have substituted him. Now I didn't and he picked himself up again and went on to dominate the defense in the 2nd half.

I thank you for reading this far and I hope some people got something out of it. I'm really grateful a place like T&TT exists. I've been reading this forum for a number of years and would like to thank everybody who's contributed to it. It's made my game so much more enjoyable and immersive.

* The win over Cremonese secured my promotion to the Serie A! Yay!

As a greenhorn (a wet behind the ears manager) I thank you so much for this invaluable advice regarding "Team talks" I can't wait to put these idea's to the test. Many thanks from:thup: Dai the Boot

[Shanksie1975]

Excellent post mate

[AW007]

I have always struggled on previous versions of the game in the 2nd half of games. If leading by 1 or 2 at half time what do I say to the team? I always would give a team talk to the team as a whole rather than individually. Often I would either just win or draw the game against teams, which were poor compared to me.

I got FM2010 yesterday and started as my home team who I support Man City. I have made a load of transfers & have a quality squad, not just starting 11.

I have only played one game. I beat West Ham at home 5-2. Although it was a great result, I was 4-1 up at half time, I said I didn't expect their performance to drop. The second half West Ham battered me and could have scored more if it wasn't for Shay Given.

A lot of my friends who have the game go on about beating the lesser sides by the odd goal & not playing well. After seeing my second half performance against West Ham I think if I'd have given individual team talks depending on their morale/motivation, my performance would have been a lot better

I have never looked at a players morale/motivation at half time, just looked at their rating. Having read through this thread I will be giving it a try to see how things go. It seems like it has worked for nearly everbody.

I think this is a great thread.

Will keep people posted.

[pilsken]

This is an absolute excellent thread! I enjoyed reading it.

[stokes_83]

I find when losing 3-0 or more at half-time use angry to everyone and you could see a drastic turn-around in the 2nd half. I have had a few comebacks of 3 goals or more by using it. Howeve,r never use it after a game it does nothing good.

[ElJaffacakeo]

Am i the only one this method doesnt work for? It only works when im drawing at half time. If i use this method when im a goal down i get pumped in the second half. Plus, players may be "playing confidently" but their half time rating is 6.0 or less. Doesnt seem to work for me. I cannot motivate my team against smaller teams and im letting in goals to draw or lose, and im getting hammered by "bigger" teams because they get bloody scared. I drastically need a new approach to team talks.

[geol13]

what about the prematch team-talks?did u find the thread?oh btw this is an absolute thread!!!if only someone could find and stick together all this with screenies like Bubbabaytuna did at the beginning (I am asking far too much but anyway..)

[ataggy]

thank you mate. i understand it all.

[tuttifrutti]

Hi Guys,

Apologies for this post but am I in the correct forum.

I've read the initial post and looked at the screenshots for the teamtalks but when I attempt my team talks I dont have such "talks" as Keep The Faith - this is FM10, the normal game, not one where you actually physically play the matches and move and pass yourself?

Thanks

Ian

[AW007]

I have always struggled on previous versions of the game in the 2nd half of games. If leading by 1 or 2 at half time what do I say to the team? I always would give a team talk to the team as a whole rather than individually. Often I would either just win or draw the game against teams, which were poor compared to me.

I got FM2010 yesterday and started as my home team who I support Man City. I have made a load of transfers & have a quality squad, not just starting 11.

I have only played one game. I beat West Ham at home 5-2. Although it was a great result, I was 4-1 up at half time, I said I didn't expect their performance to drop. The second half West Ham battered me and could have scored more if it wasn't for Shay Given.

A lot of my friends who have the game go on about beating the lesser sides by the odd goal & not playing well. After seeing my second half performance against West Ham I think if I'd have given individual team talks depending on their morale/motivation, my performance would have been a lot better

I have never looked at a players morale/motivation at half time, just looked at their rating. Having read through this thread I will be giving it a try to see how things go. It seems like it has worked for nearly everbody.

I think this is a great thread.

Will keep people posted.

2nd game away at Portsmouth was 0-0 at half time. Players were doing ok & playing with confidence. Didn't say anything to them at half time. Won the game 2-0.

3rd game home to Liverpool was 1-0 up at half time. David Villa wasn't playing to well. I said I had faith in his ability. Won the game 2-0 with Villa getting the 2nd goal.

4th game home to Oldham in the cup. was winning 3-0 at half time. However, Ashley Young was looking complacent with a rating of 6.1. I told him I didn't expect his performance to drop. Finished up winning the game 3-0 but Ashley young ended up with a rating of 7.4 creating 7 goal scoring opportunities, which my strikers missed.

5th game away to Villa. 0-0 at half time. Was playing well so didn't say anything at half time. Ended up drawing 1-1 with Villa scoring in the last minute

6th game home to Arsenal. 1-0 up at half time with David Silva not playing to well. I said I had faith in his ability. Went on to win the game 2-1 with Silva destroying the right hand side of Arsenal.

I do think this helps a great deal. Obviously, as I have mentioned before, I am Man City & have world class players as opposed to other people who have posted playing as small clubs, but I have always seemed to struggle playing as big teams on previous versions.

Once again, a fantastic thread!

[meatloafster]

I only use Pleased at halftime whenever I see someone who is Having A Good Game. I find that they might be playing well, but they're not in high spirits enough to be Playing With Confidence, and ticking Pleased gives them that extra boost.

[Almondo]

Hi Guys,

Apologies for this post but am I in the correct forum.

I've read the initial post and looked at the screenshots for the teamtalks but when I attempt my team talks I dont have such "talks" as Keep The Faith - this is FM10, the normal game, not one where you actually physically play the matches and move and pass yourself?

Thanks

Ian

To give Keep the Faith etc you actually need to click on the arrow at the end of each player after it says none .

[samuelburrowsuk]

2nd game away at Portsmouth was 0-0 at half time. Players were doing ok & playing with confidence. Didn't say anything to them at half time. Won the game 2-0.

3rd game home to Liverpool was 1-0 up at half time. David Villa wasn't playing to well. I said I had faith in his ability. Won the game 2-0 with Villa getting the 2nd goal.

4th game home to Oldham in the cup. was winning 3-0 at half time. However, Ashley Young was looking complacent with a rating of 6.1. I told him I didn't expect his performance to drop. Finished up winning the game 3-0 but Ashley young ended up with a rating of 7.4 creating 7 goal scoring opportunities, which my strikers missed.

5th game away to Villa. 0-0 at half time. Was playing well so didn't say anything at half time. Ended up drawing 1-1 with Villa scoring in the last minute

6th game home to Arsenal. 1-0 up at half time with David Silva not playing to well. I said I had faith in his ability. Went on to win the game 2-1 with Silva destroying the right hand side of Arsenal.

I do think this helps a great deal. Obviously, as I have mentioned before, I am Man City & have world class players as opposed to other people who have posted playing as small clubs, but I have always seemed to struggle playing as big teams on previous versions.

Once again, a fantastic thread!

This experience mirrors my own completely. My Wolves side has world class players in and a solid set of tactics but I've been relatively underachieving for the last few season - using the above teamtalk method I finished 2nd in the Premier League to an incredible Man City side. Huge improvement and I put it down to this guide entirely.

[ChefRobGaming]

I have a question what should I use if at half time say the player made a mistake which led to a goal ? or the one that says playing with confidence ? this has really helped me I got boro up to 5th in my 1st season in the prem using these I always used to let the assistant do my teamtalks till I found this thread

thanks alot for the help

[samuelburrowsuk]

I have a question what should I use if at half time say the player made a mistake which led to a goal ? or the one that says playing with confidence ? this has really helped me I got boro up to 5th in my 1st season in the prem using these I always used to let the assistant do my teamtalks till I found this thread

thanks alot for the help

If it says Playing with Confidence then don't give any teamtalk at all to that player.

For mistake led to goal I would choose either "You have faith" or if its a player with low determination, substitute them.

[ChefRobGaming]

cheers mate thats what I was thinking of using for the mistake one also just had one where the player had mistake led to goal and he had a 4.6 rating hauled him off and he said he was unhappy at being subbed so hes listed now, no room for that in my team.

My squad personality went from ambitious to determined using these team talks also which is awesome

[nigh4tmare]

Having a bad game => this one I always substitute. I don't know how to turn this one around

In my Bayern game i've got this case with Gomez. On the half-time he had a bad game. I had not enough subs to replace him and told him "no pressure". On the very beggining of the 2nd half he had a "poor game". And then, he scored 4 and finished the game with "stormer". Ok, this could be coincidence but you can try with this.