WoIfsong's Teamtalk Guide 2010

[WoIfsong]

Thanks once again for your replies fellow forum posters, I am "Happy. Looking delighted. Seemed Motivated. Inspired to a great performance (at work...)"

[pred. error]

Excellent guide WoIfsong, starting second season with mostly youngsters and complacent players from winning league previous season. This will provide great help to my managerial skills countering all areas!

also thanks to alvaan's excel form of your guide, makes it easier to get info when you don't remember how to react during game

[phnompenhandy]

Been using it with the other teamtalk thread, kind of mixing them.

That's interesting - and curious since they seem to employ contrasting premises. The other fella focuses on motivation whereas WoIfsong stresses ignoring it.

Does anyone else combine the two?

I wonder if WoIfsong would be kind enough to do a respectful critical assessment of the other model. For me it looks very well-thought out but the reason I plump for WoIfsong is because he's proved himself THE MAN on team-talks in previous incarnations.

[WoIfsong]

That's interesting - and curious since they seem to employ contrasting premises. The other fella focuses on motivation whereas WoIfsong stresses ignoring it.

Does anyone else combine the two?

I wonder if WoIfsong would be kind enough to do a respectful critical assessment of the other model. For me it looks very well-thought out but the reason I plump for WoIfsong is because he's proved himself THE MAN on team-talks in previous incarnations.

To be honest I have not read the other guide in any detail, let along try it/test it myself. I think the other poster has put a lot of effort into it and it seems that it is working for a lot of people, then that is proof that it is a good guide! And if some people can combine my approach with another approach and achieve good results, I am more than happy about it!

About "motivation" though, I have already stressed enough how it is not really "motivation" relevant to teamtalks but let me say a bit more

As I have said the fake "motivation" takes into account the primary factors of player rating and morale more than anything else. While I have said that it takes into account complacency/nervous level, having seen how a player can change from "looking motivated" to "looking complacent" and back and forth 10 times during a match, I do not even believe it accurately reflects the same "complancency" level that I take into account from Pre-Match complacency feedbacks.

If you are to run the match on Full screen 3D, you can monitor the match rating and "motivation" at the same time while the match progresses, then you can clearly see how "motivation" changes with match rating; then you should open a third small window for "morale" and monitor the 3 of the them then you can clearly see how "motivation" can change every second depending on changes in player rating and morale.

As we all know player rating and morale can change during the match due to a lot of factors and so the "motivation" description can never be an accurate indicator for the effect of teamtalks, whether by half-time or full time. You could test it with a team and monitor the "morale" changes and "motivation" changes after you score a goal or concede a goal. e.g at the start of a match all players are "playing ok" with some "looking complacent", suddenly you concede a goal and your players having high determination all change to "looking motivated" and those with an increase in ratings and increased morale due to high determination changed to "playing confidently", these changes, of course, are never effect of teamtalks and if you think these changes themselves can help you turn around a match without teamtalks, 90% of the times you will be disappointed.

Leaving aside the above, just read some of the descriptions, "playing OK", "having a good game", "having a superb game", "had a bad game" etc, how are these motivation? they are descriptions of match performance, not real motivation. "looking motivated" "looking complacent" "playing nervously" at a first glance seem like descriptions of motivation, but they are really longer descriptions of "morale", not "motivation".

The only accurate feedback about the effect of teamtalks is the Assistant Manager's Feedbacks on Teamtalks after the end of each match.

If in the future there is to be some feedbacks on the effect of teamtalks during a match it would be great E.g. "is determined to play well after hearing his manager's words", "angered at his manager's words", "happy about what his manager said to him", "thinks he deserves the criticism of his manager and is looking to improve" etc etc. But that would make the game a bit unrealistic, asif real life managers know exactly what the players are thinking when they are on the pitch!

[phnompenhandy]

Actually on that last point, you do occasionally get a lovely line of commentary after a goal is scored to the effect that 'something must have been said at half time'.

[WoIfsong]

Actually on that last point, you do occasionally get a lovely line of commentary after a goal is scored to the effect that 'something must have been said at half time'.

That commentary sometimes appears when a good attacking move is played by the team (although no goal) too.

[Beardeye]

Actually on that last point, you do occasionally get a lovely line of commentary after a goal is scored to the effect that 'something must have been said at half time'.

Sometimes when the replay of a goal is being shown, the commentary says "X was looking really motivated and committed", which is nice!

[WoIfsong]

Sometimes when the replay of a goal is being shown, the commentary says "X was looking really motivated and committed", which is nice!

oh i see, I never watch replays so I didn't know that!

[Mr Hough]

I've been coverted to this, Outstanding work and deserves a sticky

[Loversleaper]

Very good work done here, Wolfsong-. I know you probably don't have all the time in the world, but since you have ventured down this path and your methods are interresting/sensible, I was hoping you would take some time to add a few scenarios. After glancing at the work done here I felt that the only thing really missing is the team talks where you are a Relegaton Battler (large underdog), because the explanations above more suit the Middle - Top teams. I, for one, would like to see your view/interpretation on how to handle the bottem squads. Hope it's okay I ask-, I know how much work goes into this analysis...

LL

[Whiteshad0w]

Great guide, Wolfsong.

Question: in pre-match scouting reports, the scout will sometimes mention that my defense "should guard against complacency" or something to that affect. In this situation, I always use the "expect a performance" team talk for every member of my back line, to no ill effect that I can tell.

Is this something that people should do as a general rule when presented with this type of scout report?

[alvaan]

Very good work done here, Wolfsong-. I know you probably don't have all the time in the world, but since you have ventured down this path and your methods are interresting/sensible, I was hoping you would take some time to add a few scenarios. After glancing at the work done here I felt that the only thing really missing is the team talks where you are a Relegaton Battler (large underdog), because the explanations above more suit the Middle - Top teams. I, for one, would like to see your view/interpretation on how to handle the bottem squads. Hope it's okay I ask-, I know how much work goes into this analysis...

LL

I've been using the teamtalks with both Hull, Wolves and other relegation battlers with great success. Shouldn't be much of a difference, only that I will use the 'Expect a win' far less than with a top side.

[phnompenhandy]

Great guide, Wolfsong.

Question: in pre-match scouting reports, the scout will sometimes mention that my defense "should guard against complacency" or something to that affect. In this situation, I always use the "expect a performance" team talk for every member of my back line, to no ill effect that I can tell.

Is this something that people should do as a general rule when presented with this type of scout report?

I interpret that differently. I see it as tactical advice rather than requiring a pep talk.

[WoIfsong]

Very good work done here, Wolfsong-. I know you probably don't have all the time in the world, but since you have ventured down this path and your methods are interresting/sensible, I was hoping you would take some time to add a few scenarios. After glancing at the work done here I felt that the only thing really missing is the team talks where you are a Relegaton Battler (large underdog), because the explanations above more suit the Middle - Top teams. I, for one, would like to see your view/interpretation on how to handle the bottem squads. Hope it's okay I ask-, I know how much work goes into this analysis...

LL

Thanks LL!

I will try play as a relegation battler when I have time and see whether my approach still works. But as I have resumed work recently (I wrote the guide on the last day of my annual leave...) it is unlikely that I will have much testing done soon.

In fact our friend alvaan has said that he has had good experience with using my approach (with some variation) on relegation battlers and I trust that he should be more experienced than me about teamtalks on relegation battlers now!

To Whiteshad0w:

As I do not check next opposition scout reports, I have not taken what they say into account in considering teamtalks. But I think what phnompenhandy has said above is correct, the scout report should be about tactical matters related to the next opposition only, hence normally it should not reflect the complacency level of your team nor would it affect teamtalks.

[phnompenhandy]

Just to build on that with a concrete example:

Say the report says, "the forwards are slow and should not trouble your defence, must guard against complacency". It means don't worry about the strikers but don't be stupid and put out a formation with one defender, or replace first team squad defenders with academy kids.

[WoIfsong]

I've been coverted to this, Outstanding work and deserves a sticky

Good to know haha, thanks!

[Beardeye]

Great thread Wolfsong- 2 of your observations are spot on and have made a real difference to my team talks:

1- "we can win this" starts to demotivate a couple of players. I always used this (and my ass man always recommends it) for close odds games, and it did cost me matches.

2- "For the Fans" is neutral. Indeed, it neither motivates nor demotivates- but with indivudal talks it is a better option than "we can win this", as i dont have a demotivated striker missing sitters!

Thanks!

[WoIfsong]

Great thread Wolfsong- 2 of your observations are spot on and have made a real difference to my team talks:

1- "we can win this" starts to demotivate a couple of players. I always used this (and my ass man always recommends it) for close odds games, and it did cost me matches.

2- "For the Fans" is neutral. Indeed, it neither motivates nor demotivates- but with indivudal talks it is a better option than "we can win this", as i dont have a demotivated striker missing sitters!

Thanks!

Thanks for your reply mate. Great to know that my guide helped!

[deweylim]

great job Wolfsong, my team is doing much better after following your lastest teamtalk. Best one around!

[henrycs2004]

thanks woIsong, your teamtalk guide really helps.

[elland road boo boys]

Amazing once again Wolfsong. I used your FM08 guide & pleased to see the update.

Will follow it avidly.

Just a quick question though

Do you use any teamtalks for friendlies?

[JLJ27]

I've been doing really well with the "no talk" before, but I wanted some more interaction with my players so I decided to give more talks and I read this and other threads for advice. But I saw that no matter what I said there wasn't any reaction from the players when I checked my Ass Man's report. The games didn't work either...my team played worse and after I had two losses and one draw I decided to go back to "no talk" again.

So I actually re-played one game that I lost 0-1, and with the "no talk" I won 3-0 without problems.

So I guess this is something that the players have to get used to, so if I decide to start a new game someday I might give it a try. I have to give my respect to the people (and especially Wolfsong) who take the time to help gamers out. Great job!

[WoIfsong]

Amazing once again Wolfsong. I used your FM08 guide & pleased to see the update.

Will follow it avidly.

Just a quick question though

Do you use any teamtalks for friendlies?

Thanks mate.

For friendlies I use "result not important" if my general morale is average or below and/or when I do not want to risk injury. I use "impress me" when morale is high and fitness condition is generally good.

Half time I usually just say "pleased" or "symphathize", I rarely do individual talks in friendlies, because to be honest I do not care about friendly results.

However, sometimes the results of friendlies affect your players' morale at the start of the season. Hence generall I would play 1-2 friendlies against my under 18 team as the last two friendlies before the start of a season and own them 8-0 etc to boost morale This has nothing to do with teamtalks though.

I've been doing really well with the "no talk" before, but I wanted some more interaction with my players so I decided to give more talks and I read this and other threads for advice. But I saw that no matter what I said there wasn't any reaction from the players when I checked my Ass Man's report. The games didn't work either...my team played worse and after I had two losses and one draw I decided to go back to "no talk" again.

So I actually re-played one game that I lost 0-1, and with the "no talk" I won 3-0 without problems.

So I guess this is something that the players have to get used to, so if I decide to start a new game someday I might give it a try. I have to give my respect to the people (and especially Wolfsong) who take the time to help gamers out. Great job!

No talk at all for pre-match and half-time and better results than doing teamtalks! I've never tried that before. Very interesting! If you could please let me know what your Assistant Manager feedbacks are for the "none" talk pre-match and half time. I did experience occassionally that saying "none" gives the "more relaxed" reaction.

It is also weird that you are not getting reactions from any teamtalks, at least you should get "didn't seem to be listening" hahaha. Nah seriously you should get a reaction from "you have faith" 80% of the times, provided that you use it under the conditions that I set in the guide.

Lastly just to emphasis that if you are trying my guide, I would highly discourage you from looking at the "Motivation" information while trying

By the way to everyone, so far I've been getting a lot of "thank you" messages and replies from people who achieved good results following my guide (or some part of it/tips in it) and I appreciate them very much; but equally for those who have tried my guide and failed to achieve desirable results, please please feel free to tell me and discuss the issues, like JLJ27 did. Thanks!

[JLJ27]

WoIfsong; I got the "no talk" tactics from a swedish message board, and that poster had obviously got it from somewhere else. It's not 100% silent from my part, but I rarely say something before a game, and never anything in half time if I'm up by a goal or more.

After the game I have never seen any reaction at all in the Ass Man feedback (although I don't check it every time).

To be honest I'm still interested in your tactics, and common sense says it should work better to encourage your players, but with this tactic I win more and the motivation is almost always superb...! So at least it matters in MY game ;-)

Here's the tactics from the swedish site:

Pre Match:

*If your favourites for the game then do not give a team talk, regardless of being home or away

*If your playing a rival team then set team talk [For the Fans]

*If underdog, At home set team talk [We can win today] If Away [Wish Team Luck]

The rival and underdog team talks make sense to me although im still baffled with the favourites team talk being nothing, i can only think this is to not cause overconfidence pre game.

Half Time:

*If your winning the game then do not give a team talk.

*Drawing the game, this is a little more complicated, If your doing better than the other team then don't give a team talk. If your doing worse then the other team set team talk to [Want to see more from you] or [Disappointed] Why this is trickier is because it can be hard to tell who is playing better when drawing. So i would suggest you check match statistics and make a decision from that.

* If Losing set team talk to [Want to see more from you] or [Disappointed]

The half time team talks can really have a big effect turning the result your way. for example [Want to see more from you] [Where's the passion] can turn your result from 2v0 down to winning 3v2 iv'e seen this happen many times and the AI uses it as well. look for "the manager must have said something at half time" in commentary it appears for the AI as well as you. But do not overuse it, mix it up with [Disappointed] for your half time team talks. It's my belief that if I was to say [Want to see more from you] every time my team were losing it's would be come less effective each time because the talk loses stimulus for the players.

End Result:

* The end result team talk is always the same regardless of result! You give the team talk, according to player ratings not end result.

*5.0 or under [Disappointed]

*5.1 to 7.9 [Well done]

*8.0 or higher [Delighted]

[phnompenhandy]

Wow, that's a VERY simplistic formula. It would be interesting to see who uses this and what success they claim, or if anyone can offer a trialled comparison with Wolfsong. Personally I'd stick with Wolfsong even if it were proved to be less effective simply because W's is far more realistic therefore enjoyable.

[ZdlR]

*5.1 to 7.9 [Well done]

Seriously, I'm angry if a first-team player gets <6.

[WoIfsong]

WoIfsong; I got the "no talk" tactics from a swedish message board, and that poster had obviously got it from somewhere else. It's not 100% silent from my part, but I rarely say something before a game, and never anything in half time if I'm up by a goal or more.

After the game I have never seen any reaction at all in the Ass Man feedback (although I don't check it every time).

To be honest I'm still interested in your tactics, and common sense says it should work better to encourage your players, but with this tactic I win more and the motivation is almost always superb...! So at least it matters in MY game ;-)

Here's the tactics from the swedish site:

Pre Match:

*If your favourites for the game then do not give a team talk, regardless of being home or away

*If your playing a rival team then set team talk [For the Fans]

*If underdog, At home set team talk [We can win today] If Away [Wish Team Luck]

The rival and underdog team talks make sense to me although im still baffled with the favourites team talk being nothing, i can only think this is to not cause overconfidence pre game.

Half Time:

*If your winning the game then do not give a team talk.

*Drawing the game, this is a little more complicated, If your doing better than the other team then don't give a team talk. If your doing worse then the other team set team talk to [Want to see more from you] or [Disappointed] Why this is trickier is because it can be hard to tell who is playing better when drawing. So i would suggest you check match statistics and make a decision from that.

* If Losing set team talk to [Want to see more from you] or [Disappointed]

The half time team talks can really have a big effect turning the result your way. for example [Want to see more from you] [Where's the passion] can turn your result from 2v0 down to winning 3v2 iv'e seen this happen many times and the AI uses it as well. look for "the manager must have said something at half time" in commentary it appears for the AI as well as you. But do not overuse it, mix it up with [Disappointed] for your half time team talks. It's my belief that if I was to say [Want to see more from you] every time my team were losing it's would be come less effective each time because the talk loses stimulus for the players.

End Result:

* The end result team talk is always the same regardless of result! You give the team talk, according to player ratings not end result.

*5.0 or under [Disappointed]

*5.1 to 7.9 [Well done]

*8.0 or higher [Delighted] [/b]

Thanks mate!

I consider that approach a bit similar to my approach but with some key differences.

1. It does not make use of "you have faith" (I really really think that you should use "you have faith" )

2. It does not make use of "expect a win" (this is less important that "faith" but I still think using this is better than none when your team is reported to be overconfident).

3. For me "We can win this!" at home is very very very dangerous, I'd say 25% chance of demotivation happens from my experience.

4. It does not make use of "dont get complacent" - again this is a key teamtalk that ensures a good second half performance if your team is over confident.

5. What they say about "I want to see more.." and "Where is the passion.." are about the same as what I said about them, they are spot on about the huge effect these talks may have. However, not saying "you have faith" to overperformers is likely to cause you miss the chance of having an even better result or ensuring a turn-around; or worse, cause the overperformers to be "confused" or "angered" by the "I want to see more.. " and "whereis the passion" talks and make you unable to turn the match around.

Of course all of the above are simply based on my experience, but I do have very strong belief in them!

Once again thanks for sharing!

[JLJ27]

I don't think there is a 100% tactic/teamtalk that will work for every team, instead you have to get the feeling what works best just for you and your style of coaching and motivating. I've read quite a bit about this and now I pick some things here and some things there for best result. I have the feeling that my team have gotten used to my style and performs thereafter :-)

But what should I actually say before a game to players who are complacent and think they just have to be on the pitch to win? I get this quite a lot and still haven't found the right words...

(I hardly ever get "don't get complacent" as a teamtalk option before games).

[WoIfsong]

I don't think there is a 100% tactic/teamtalk that will work for every team, instead you have to get the feeling what works best just for you and your style of coaching and motivating. I've read quite a bit about this and now I pick some things here and some things there for best result. I have the feeling that my team have gotten used to my style and performs thereafter :-)

But what should I actually say before a game to players who are complacent and think they just have to be on the pitch to win? I get this quite a lot and still haven't found the right words...

(I hardly ever get "don't get complacent" as a teamtalk option before games).

While I agree that it is possible that a team gets used to certain style after a while, the things I have mentioned above have worked for every team that I have managed so far, from Shandong, Aston Villa, Chelsea to Plymouth, Chivas and Barcelona, possibly, because I use the same style every time.

As to pre match team talk when your team is complacent, you haven't really read my guide closely have you haha

"[scenario 1: Your players are reported as looking complacent]

In your Ass Man Feedback pre-match, he sometimes says things like "The recent fine form is unfortunately casting a false confidence on your squad... in particular xxx and yyy" or "xxx and yyy are looking cocky and not focused" or "xxx and yyy thinks our recent fine form alone can win matches" or "xxx is looking complacent" or things equivalent to the above.

This typically happens when you are on a winning streak, odds favour you and morale is high. It may also be caused by things said in the pre-match conference but as complacency can be used to your advantage if the right teamtalks are given, I do not worry about what's been said in the pre-conferences, I do not attend them.

In this scenario the general teamtalk should be "I expect a win" with "Expect a Performance" on the players named by your Ass Man as looking complacent (followed by "dont get complacent" or equivalent half time whenever available). Likely reaction: none reported but good performance in the 1st half, sometimes "Seemed Motivated", sometimes "Gained focus", rarely any negative effect.

Do not ever use "we can win this" or "wish luck" under this scenario. If used, like result = one or two players "seemed demotivated, looked delighted".

The individual teamtalks mentioned above may also be used, but I find that on players reported as complacent, "pick up" does not work as well as "expect a performance" does."

[JLJ27]

Thanks for your reply!

I have actually read your guide really closely, but this is one part that never worked for me. I'll just try to use that advice some more on my primadonnas and maybe they'll get it ;-)

[Tertziniu]

This is an update for my original teamtalks guide written for Fm08. Big thanks to the community here for keeping the discussion in the original thread alive for over two years; and thanks to enthusiastic translators the original guide has been translated into Spanish, Polish, French and Chinese and published on various other sites. The original English guide can be found here:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=5494

This guide is aimed to be a relatively simple and practical guide to help those who need some help with/tips on teamtalks in FM2010, especially pre-match and half time teamtalks. However this guide is going to be significantly longer in length than my original guide, if you get bored/confused/angered reading this guide please let me know.

A. Background

Please skip this section and go straight to Section B if you are not interested in how I tested my teamtalks and the results.

To try achieve an independant result in my testing on teamtalks, I try minimise the effect of tactics on result as much as possible. Hence I use one really simple tactic for all teams with no pre-match tweaks going from match to match. That tactic is as follows:

Everything in team setting set to the middle position of the slider. All individual settings set to the middle position of the slider except individual mentalities. The individual mentalities are GK:14, DC: 15, FB: 16, DM:17, MC: 18, Winger: 19 and ST: 20. Many would think these mentalities are "suicidal" for weaker teams.

I do not get a scout report for my next opposition, I do not care about whether it is home/away/neutral ground tactics wise, I do not look at opponent's tactics, I do not check Backroom Advice, I do not ask my Ass Man for teamtalk suggestions, I watch key highlights only, I do not care about pitch size, I do not attend press conferences, I do not comment on/respond to comments from other managers, during a match I tweak only defence line and "Run From Deep" . I do issue opposition instructions on AI substitutes as soon as they are substituted on (to minimise the usual occurrence of AI subs scoring which cannot be cured via teamtalks).

The above should not be taken as a tactical advice as I am sure there are a lot of better tactics and much more fun ways of playing out there.

The result is as follows:

Shandong Luneng is the first team that I tested the team talks with. It is a team that I used in 2010 beta testing (as I was helping with testing the Asia part of the game). In real life it is a top 4 team in the Chinese Super League but the team only made to the quarterfinal in the Asian Champions League once in 2006 and came 4th in the Chinese Super League last season. In the game the team squad has an average CA of about 95.

In the game in 10 seasons I won the league 10 times in a row, the Asian Champions League 9 times and the Club World Championship 3 times beating European champions such as Barcelona, Roma and Stuggart.

I then moved to Aston Villa who came 14th in the premier league in the previous season and was predicted to be 13th in that season, we came second, 5 points short from the winner Man City.

A new save game was later started with Chelsea as I wanted to test the effect of my teamtalks with a higher level team. By my current game time May 2020 I have got 9 league wins and 33 cup wins and accumulated 1160 Hall of Fame points worldwide (of which 200 points is for a World Cup Win with Argentina).

If you have read this section, hopefully it raises your interest to read on. ^^

B. Pre-Match Teamtalks

Perhaps the most important piece of information that I take into account in deciding what pre-match teamtalks to use is the Assistant Manager's Feedback on Pre-Match - the screen shown after you confirm your match squad on a match day. E.g. if your Ass Man's name is "Wolf Song", the name of the tab will be shown as "Song's Feedback". The position of the tab is in between the "Tactics" tab and the "Backroom Adivce" tab. The following is a link to a screenshot which shows the abovementioned screen:

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7158/assmanfeedback.jpg

In the abovementioned feedbacks screen under the "Pre-match section" your Ass Man tells you whether the players (or some particular player(s)) look complacent or nervous pre-match (or nothing specific noted). Ignore all his comments about language problems and whether some particular player is finding it hard to fit in as they do not relate to teamtalks. Also ignore everything he says about statistics, performance and tactics.

(As a side note, some believe that the abovementioned information on complacency/nervous level is sometimes reflected in the "Motivation" screen available during a match. I do not look at that screen for the following reasons:

1. It does not address motivation only - it can easily mislead a game player as it attempts to mix 3 factors into 1 description. The 3 factors are morale, player rating and complacency/nervous levels.

E.g. A player noted as "Looking motivated" really ONLY means that he has Very Good - Superb morale, if you trust that description you would think nothing needs to be said/done to that player; but such a player may be getting a 6.2 rating and really deserves a fire-up teamtalk or substitute off, or he may be complacent at the same time and you really need to cure complacency via your teamtalks.

Another example is the description of "having an OK game", players with this description generally have a below 6.7 rating, they deserve a fire-up or substitute off, they are NOT having an OK game by teamtalks standard.

The third example is players described as "playing with confidence" or "having a good game" or better, these are typically players with above 7 rating and good morale, if you read that and think "Ok I should say nothing to him" then you miss the opportunity to increase his match ratings to 8 or 9 by saying "you have faith" or "you can make the difference" to players with 7.5 or higher rating and/or players who have scored.

2. It is not accurate as the description could change every 2 seconds. A player with a varying match rating between 5.5 and 6.6 in one match can have his "motivation" reported as changing from "looking nervous" to "playing with confidence" and back and forth every 2 seconds if you monitor the motivation feedback while you run the match on "key". What do you do with such a player at half time if you trust the motivation feedback only? .... All you have to do is to ignore the motivation feedback, look at his match rating, look at his morale, look at whether he is named by your Ass Man in the abovementioned Ass Man Feedback as having complacency/nervous problems and decide your teamtalk/action on him purely relying on the above 3 pieces of information.

3. It is not available prior to you confirming your pre-match teamtalks hence even if it is accurate, it does not help your pre-match teamtalks at all.

Therefore I rather look at the abovementioned 3 primary factors myself instead of reading/relying on the description in the "Motivation" feedback for both pre-match and half time teamtalks.)

In summary for pre-match team talks, the factors I take into account other than complacency/nervous levels are: pre-match odds, morale, whether a player achieved a 7.5 or higher rating in the previous match, whether a player achieved a 5.5 or lower rating in the previous match, whether a player reacts well to "expect a performance" (judged through trial and error), whether a player reacts well to "you have faith" (judged through trial and error) and whether the target player is a youngster making his debut.

I will illustrate my approach for general pre-match teamtalks by way of scenarios but before that let's look at individual teamtalks pre-match which are generally applicable to all scenarios:

If a player has achieved a 7.5 rating or above in his previous match, the individaul teamtalk "Pick up where you left from" becomes available for him. The use of this individual teamtalk has never yielded any negative effect for me. Possible positive result: "Seemed Motivated", positive result occurrence chance: 25%. Trial and error recommended (when I say this I mean try to remember on which player the individual teamtalk has worked in the past and use it on him whenever available). This is also applicable to half-time teamtalks and teamtalks on substitutes.

If a player has achieved a 5.5 rating or below in his previous match, the individaul teamtalk "Expect Better" becomes available for him. Likewise the use of this individual teamtalk has never yielded any negative effects for me. Possible positive result: "Seemed Motivated", positive result occurrence chance: 20%. Use whenever available. This is also applicable to half-time teamtalks and teamtalks on substitutes.

The following is a link to a screenshot showing successful uses of the above two individual teamtalks pre-match:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3735/pickupteamtalk.jpg

Certain players sometimes react well to "Expect a Performance" even when they are not reported as complacent. These players typically are high calibre senior players who perform well in big games, e.g. Essien, Drogba, Terry etc. Use it on players with "good" or above morale level only. Do not use it on players who often get worried or nervous. If used right possible positive result: "Seemed Motivated". Trial and error recommended.

Some players also react well to "You have faith" pre-match. However I generally try save "you have faith" for half time overperformers and substitutes coming on (those of you who have read my original guide are already familiar with this approach). If your striker is suffering a goal draught and/or having a low morale, you could try saying "you have faith" to him pre-match, likely result "looked delighted", sometimes "seemed motivated". Trial and error recommended.

Your youngster making debut should generally have a "no pressure" on him pre-match, followed by "pleased" half time if he achieved a 6.8 or above rating then. Likely result "Happy. Looked delighted", sometimes "more relaxed". "No pressure" also works on players who are reported by your Ass Man as looking nervous in his Pre-Match Feedback (again NOT the "looking nervous" in the Motivation screen).

General pre-match teamtalks:

[scenario 1: Your players are reported as looking complacent]

In your Ass Man Feedback pre-match, he sometimes says things like "The recent fine form is unfortunately casting a false confidence on your squad... in particular xxx and yyy" or "xxx and yyy are looking cocky and not focused" or "xxx and yyy thinks our recent fine form alone can win matches" or "xxx is looking complacent" or things equivalent to the above.

This typically happens when you are on a winning streak, odds favour you and morale is high. It may also be caused by things said in the pre-match conference but as complacency can be used to your advantage if the right teamtalks are given, I do not worry about what's been said in the pre-conferences, I do not attend them.

In this scenario the general teamtalk should be "I expect a win" with "Expect a Performance" on the players named by your Ass Man as looking complacent (followed by "dont get complacent" or equivalent half time whenever available). Likely reaction: none reported but good performance in the 1st half, sometimes "Seemed Motivated", sometimes "Gained focus", rarely any negative effect.

Do not ever use "we can win this" or "wish luck" under this scenario. If used, like result = one or two players "seemed demotivated, looked delighted".

The individual teamtalks mentioned above may also be used, but I find that on players reported as complacent, "pick up" does not work as well as "expect a performance" does.

[scenario 2: Nothing specific is reported about your players' complacency/nervous level]

If you are having an average season without winning streaks and with generally average morale this is the most likely scenario for a lot of your matches.

Under this scenario, if odds heavily favour me and morale is above "good", I would still use "I expect a win". If certain players have a low morale do individual teamtalks on them e.g. "you have faith". Likely result: "none" reported but good performance, sometimes "seemed motivated".

If odds are close and morale is above "good", I would use "for the fans" whether home or away and do individual teamtalks following the abovementioned approach. This is a convenient point to note that if you are having issues with my suggested pre-match teamtalks or if you really do not know what to say, say "For the Fans" because from my experience it rarely yields any negative effects. However, it also rarely yields any reported positive effects. Hence I consider it as a neutral teamtalk which works better than saying "none" which sometimes yields the negative effect of "seemed confused. angered".

If I am the underdog and morale is generally good, I would still use "for the fans" whether home or away with individual teamtalks. Only when odds are heavily against me and morale is below average I would use "pressure is off" as a general teamtalk, this is very rare for me.

At this point one may ask "hey Wolfsong what happened to 'We can win this!' and "Wish luck!'?". I do not use them anymore whether pre-match or half-time because they randomly yield the negative effect of "seemed DEMOTIVATED. looked delighted". You should definately avoid the above two when your players are reported as complacent. However even when I am not on a winning streak and my squad morale is below "superb", these talks sometimes demotivate one or two of my players too. When one or two players gets the "seemed demotivated" effect from pre-match teamtalks, your whole team's performance suffers and you are likely to go 1 to 3 goals down in the first half; in that case even excellent half-time teamtalks are unlikely to turn your match around.

[scenario 3: Your players or some players are reported as looking nervous/unable to handle the pressure]

This occurs far less often than scenario 2 and 1. Your Ass Man in pre-match feedback sometimes says things like "xxx is looking nervous", "xxx and yyy seem unable to handle the pressure" or equivalent. You should avoid harsh pre-match teamtalks on them, e.g. no "expect a performance" or "I expect a win" on them, you may do either "no pressure" or "you have faith" to make them "looked delighted".... Monitor their performance by half time, if they achieve a below 6.6 rating, substitute them off.

Other feedbacks regarding motivation:

Apart from the above 3 scenarios, sometimes your Ass Man tells you "quite a few players are finding it difficult to motivate themselves when you are the manager" or equivalent. You should say "I wanna kill you!" to these players whenever available (will it ever be available? @@). On a serious note this typically happens when you are a low reputation manager and you took charge of a high reputation club. It may also happen if you have a bad relationship with certain players (you really should not if you follow my guide). For my chelsea game I chose Sunday League Footballer reputation and players like Drogba, Essien and Terry had this motivation issue reported for the whole season, if I did not win the premier league in that season it may well be that this issue would continue to the next season. However it does not seem to affect performance much and I have not found a good way of curing this problem via team talks anyway (you probably can't)....

Sometimes your Ass Man reports that xxx is finding it hard to motivate himself when yyy is the captain. This is likely due to poor personal relationships between the two players due to personality difference or clash during tutoring. The way to cure this is never play those two in the same starting 11 untill they resolve the difference (Reader: This is not teamtalks dude!).

This should conclude my pre-match team talks section. Let me take a break and I will soon write up the half-time section. A lot of the stuff for half time are the same as my original guide, but there will be new stuff too!

C. Half-time Teamtalks

Half-time teamtalks are more interesting but also a bit more complex than pre-match teamtalks. Bear with me as I explain my approach.

In summary for half-time teamtalks the things I look at generally are: Score line, Ass Man Feedback on complacency/nervous levels, player rating, player morale, whether target player is a substitute coming on and whether target player is a new player (whether youngster or senior) to the squad.

I now illustrate by way of scenarios:

[scenario 1: Drawing by half time]

Under this scenario if I have decided to say "I expect a win" pre-match in accordance with the criteria mentioned above (odds favour me, good morale and/or complacency has been reported by my Ass Man in his Feedback pre-match on one or more players), generally I would say "disappointing" as a general teamtalk but with "you can make a difference" on players who have scored and players who have achieved a 7.5 rating or higher; AND "none" to players with ratings 7.0 to 7.4.

If I have said "for the fans" for pre-match (usually when odds are even or against you, any morale), I would say "for the fans" again half time but with individual team talks on players who have overperformed, underperformed and subsititutes. I explain what I mean as to individual team talks below:

If a player has a rating of 7.5 or above OR if your striker has scored in the first half (he often only gets 7.1 to 7.3 if he's only scored 1 goal) I would say "you can make the difference" to those players.

"You can make a difference" is the equivalent of "you have faith" but only appears when you are drawing or losing at the time the teamtalk is given. Likely result: target players "Seemed motivated", "Morale boost", "Happy", "Looked delighted", or any or all of the above coupled with "Inspired to a better performance" or "Inspired to a great performance"; sometimes only "Happy. Looked delighted"; sometimes no effect.

The following is a link showing a successful use of "you can make the difference" on my striker who has scored a goal by half time, he went on to score 2 more goals in the second half:

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3617/youcanmakethedifference.jpg

If a player has a rating of 6.7 or below (but not below 6) and his morale is above average, I either say "disappointing" to him or substitute him off and say "you can make the difference" to the substitute coming on. "Disappointing" may yield the positive effects of "Fired up" or "Seemed motivated" or "Inspired" or "Angered. Seemed motivated". To decide whether he should be substituted off you should rely on your previous trial and error results, if the target player has never reacted well to "disappointing", substitute him off.

The following is a link to a screenshot showing successful uses of "disappointing". My Aston Villa was drawing by half time with Swansea and I did not have decent substitutes who were proven to react well to "you can make the difference" when my striker, key MC and one DC were underperforming according to match rating (according to "Motivation" they were "looking motivated" or "playing ok"....), so I said disappointing to those 3 underperformers, the result:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9555/disappointing.jpg

This is a convenient point to note that "you can make the difference", "you have faith" and especially "disappointing" are unlikely to work on new players (whether youngsters or senior) who are playing the first 5 matches for your team. "Pleased" works on those players if they are performing well, if they are not, substitute them off.

Disappointing does not work on youngsters. It may occassionally work on senior players even when they have low morale but this is rare.

If the "Pick up where you left from" teamtalk is available for your substitutes coming on at half time, you could consider using that instead of "you can make the difference" if you previous trial and error results show that they react well to it. But generally the chance of obtaining a positive effect on strikers by "you can make the difference" or "you have faith" is higher than via "pick up".

If a player's rating is below 6, say angered to him before you put a substitute on and say "you can make the difference" to the substitute.

[scenario 2: Leading by 1 goal by half time]

If I am expected to win, morale is above average, and especially if complacency has been reported by my Ass Man in his pre-match feedback, I always say "don't get careless" as a general teamtalk, with individual teamtalks following the abovementioned approach on players who have over or under performed. Note here "you have faith" is available for overperformers, not "you can make the difference", the effects are the same.

If a player has complacency issues reported, I would always leave "don't get careless" unless his rating is above 7.5 or he scored (when I do "you have faith"); hence if he gets a below 6.7 rating, instead of saying an individual "disappointing" I leave "don't get careless" on him and 90% of the times it works.

Suprisingly under this scenario "dont get careless" work well on substitutes coming on as well, hence make sure you manually put it on your substitutes by clicking "team" in the teamtalks field next to their name. Likely result: one or two players "gained focus" or "seemed motivated" or "inspired".

The following is a link showing a successful use of "dont get careless" on starters and substitutes combined with an individual "you have faith" on Zhirkov who scored in the half time:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/8538/dontgetcareless2.jpg

The following is a link to a screenshot showing a successful use of "dont get careless" combined with a "pleased" on my youngster striker Welbeck playing his first match (yes he moved to my Chelsea on free transfer...):

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2660/dontcareleswithpleasedo.jpg

I note here that some readers think that "you have faith" works on players with low morale and low ratings, it may, but the chance of achieving any positive effect other than "looked delighted" (which does not improve performance) is very very low. Certainly much much lower than the chance of achieving positive effect on overperformers and players who have scored.

If I am the underdog, morale is average and importantly there is no complacency reported, I use "encourage" when I am leading by 1 goal with the abovementioned individual teamtalks on overperformers, underperformers and substitutes. Likely result: a couple of players "looked delighted", one or two "seemed motivated". Warning that "encourage" if used when there is complacency is likely to yield the negative effect of "seemed demotivated".

The following is a link to a screenshot showing successful use of "encourage" with "you have faith" on a player who has scored:

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/1184/encourageyouhavefaith.jpg

If it is the first 4 matches that I am in charge in a team, the players react well to "pleased", hence I try use it whenever possible including when I am leading by one goal. A player who has been sidelined for a while and playing his first match back also reacts well to "pleased". Likely result: "Happy. Looked Delighted", sometimes "Morale boost", "Seemed motivated, inspired to a great performance" etc. (After the first 4-5 matches, result becomes "didnt seem to be listening").

The following is a link to a screenshot showing successful use of "pleased" on my Aston Villa squad shortly after I took in charge:

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/2504/pleasedvilla.jpg

The following is a link to a screenshot showing successful use of "pleased" on a squad consisting of mostly youngsters with an old player coming back after a long time injury (John Terry):

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8863/pleased2.jpg

In this scenario I sometimes also say "pleased" as a general teamtalk (with individual talks of course) when the odds are heavily against me, however I find that encourge still works better in this scenario.

I never say "delighted" at half time as a general teamtalk.

[scenario 3: Leading by 2 goals or more by half time]

This scenario is similar to Scenario 2 except "encourage" is no longer available and you are left to choose to say "don't let your performance drop" or "pleased" or "none" as general teamtalks.

If complacency has been reported and/or you are heavily favoured, use "dont let your performance drop" with individual teamtalks following my comments in scenario 2. Do note your players' reaction to this for trial and error purposes as some plaeyrs react badly to harsh teamtalks no matter what the scoreline is; equally some players consistently react well to 'dont let your performance drop'.

If there is no complacency I would say "pleased" as a general teamtalk with a manual "none" on players with 6.8 rating or below and "you have faith" on players with 7.5 rating or higher, players who have scored or subsistutes coming on. The "none" on lower rating players work better than "disappointing" when you are leading by 2 goals or more, no effects are ususally reported, but it ususally ensures an improved performance by the target player.

The following is a link to a screenshot showing the use of pleased with individual "none" and "you have faith", the players with "none" get no effect reported, but the striker Chillico who had a "none" did go on to score 2 goals in the second half:

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9656/pleasedandnone.jpg

Some prefer to say "none" as a general teamtalk when morale is high, but I find that this has a 10% or so chance of yielding "seemed confused" or "angered" on players with 7 or above rating. "Angered" usually does not affect the match result much, but it may still result in a poor second half performance.

[scenario 4: Losing by 1 goal]

This has got to be my favourite scenario, not that I get into it much but when I do I get great satisfaction turning a match around via teamtalks and get the praise afterwards e.g.

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7340/praise.jpg

The best option when you are favoured or when odds are even and you are losing by 1 goal is "I want to see more from you" even if your squad morale isn't so good. The chance of this general teamtalk motivating 1-5 players in your squad is amazingly high, I'd say 70%. It also works very well on substitutes, hence sometimes it's a hard decision whether to say "I want to see more" on substitutes or follow the "you can make the difference" approach, the answer is again trial and error. For players who have overperformed in the first half, I would still say "you can make the differnece" as "I want to see more" does not make sense on them.

The following is a screenshot showing how I got the praise shown by the above image :

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/949/iwanttoseemore3.jpg

However, if you have a player with below 5.5 rating, or if you have a youngster or a new signing in your starting 11 who have underperformed, "I want to see more" may yield the negative effect of "lost confidence", substitute those off instead.

If you are the underdog and morale is good, you could still try "I want to see more" but it is less likely to work. You may simply say "for the fans" and do the substitution and "you can make the difference" combo; you may also do "dissappointing" individual talks but if you have a good substitute who react well to "you have faith", please put him on!

If you are the underdog and morale is bad, "for the fans" as general teamtalk, "you can make the difference" on good performers, substitute as many low morale bad performers off as possible and say "you can make the difference" on substitutes coming on. Logically thinking you could also try "we can win this" here but as noted above I do not use it myself.

[scenario 5: Losing by 2 or more goals]

This rarely happens to me and when it does, one or two of my players usually have made some big mistakes and are on a rating of below 5.5. Here "I want to see more from you" is usually replaced by "Where is the passion lads?" as a teamtalk option (sometimes I want to see more is still available)which has the same good effect. Of course remember to do your "you can make the difference" on players who have scored or with 7.5 or above rating. The following is a link to a screenshot showing a successful combintion of "where is the passion" and "you can make the difference" when I am down by 2 goals:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8292/teamtalkpassion.jpg

If you are the underdog and you are losing by 2 or more goals, generally follow the same advice in scenario 4 above.

We are nearing the end of the half-time talk section, thanks for bearing with me so far.

A general tip is to check whether you half time team talk has worked by monitoring the player rating and general performance of the team. If the performance/ratings do not improve by the 70th minute or if ratings drop, 90% of the times your teamtalks at half time did not yield a positive result, substitute the low rating players/players with dropped ratings off ASAP and say "you have faith" "you can make the difference" or "pick up..." to the substitutes coming on.

For example you said "disappointing" to your starting striker after he had a rating 6.2 at half time, you monitor his performance during 2nd half and see him keeping on missing chances, you see his rating droping and at 65-70 minute his rating stays at 6.2 or is even lower, this is the time to put your substitute striker on and say "you can make the difference"/"you have faith" to your substitute.

Note that sometimes your striker's rating changes back and forth in the 2nd half from 6/6.1/6.2 to 6.6/6.8/6.9, the increase in rating at one point may seem encouraging but as soon as you see the rating dropping back to 6.1 ish you know it's likely that your teamtalk has not worked. Do the above curing instead of keeping him on.

At this point I should praise SI for allowing us in FM2010 to do teamtalks to our subsitutes during the entire match at any point in time, not just during half time. E.g. at 70th minute you put your subsitute striker on, do not be lazy and go to team talks section and say "you can make the difference" or "you have faith" to him! 70% of the time he scores A downside is that the Assistant Manager's Teamtalks feedback screen after a match does not provide any feedbacks on your teamtalk not given pre-match, half time or end match. But you can usually guess the effects yourself by the player performance.

Lastly I emphasis again that certain players react to certain teamtalks positively more often than others. E.g. Balotelli in my game reacts positively as a substitute striker to "you have faith" 90% of the times, hence he's been my golden substitute whenever the first half turns ugly. On the other hand Pato in my game gets no motivation from "you have faith" 60% of the times but reacts well to "disappointing" when he underperforms. I think this has to do with player's personality attributes, but I have not been able to derive a formula (there's too many hidden stats, too lazy to test), that is why I recommend trial and error!

D. Post-match teamtalks

The goal for post-match teamtalks is to keep morale high for the next match, build up good relationships with your players while not ignoring poor performance.

If my team wins a game, I say a general "pleased", with "delighted" on the top performers. Who are considered top performers? e.g. In a match where the general rating is 7 to 7.5, I consider rating 8 or above as top performers.

If my team draws a game, if the ratings are generally below 7 and we were expected to win, I say "dissapointing" with "none" on players with above 7 rating. If the ratings are generally good, I say "symphathise" with "disappointing" on individaul players below 6.7 rating and pleased on players above 7.5. Players who were sent off for voilent behaviour or players with below 6 rating deserves a "angered".

If my team loses a game when the odds are close or when the odds favour me, I say "disappointing", with individual talks depending on individual ratings. If we are supposed to lose and general ratings are above 7, I say "symphathise" with individual talks depending on rating.

You would often find that the player that you single out in your teamtalks praise via "delighted" soon lists you as a favourite person and sometimes you get a news item saying he is pleased to be singled out. He needs to deserve the single-out in the first place though!

Also remember for post-match that your players are unlikely to react well to harsh teamtalks in the first few games you take in charge. Unjustified criticisms on players with good rating can cause anger and confusion. Unjustified praise can cause confusion. So don't be lazy - differentiate your teamtalks according to match ratings!

That's it for now. If I remember more stuff later I may add more in.

As with my original thread I hope this thread also develops into a meaningful discussion thread about teamtalks and help those who need teamtalks tips. Your comments, suggestions, feedbacks and criticisms all welcome.

i have one question : What to say at half time for those who"MISTAKE LED TO GOAL"??

[WoIfsong]

Thanks for your reply!

I have actually read your guide really closely, but this is one part that never worked for me. I'll just try to use that advice some more on my primadonnas and maybe they'll get it ;-)

No worries mate, let me know your progress!

i have one question : What to say at half time for those who"MISTAKE LED TO GOAL"??

Those ususally get 5.5 rating or lower, so 99% of the times I substitute those off.

By the way in the future please try not quote my whole opening post, it's a long post and takes up too much space if it is quoted in reply...

[vasilli07]

What do you say in 'useless' CL games? I mean your team has already qualified, just a game or 2 to spare in the group stages and you hope they don't lose.

[phnompenhandy]

What do you say in 'useless' CL games? I mean your team has already qualified, just a game or 2 to spare in the group stages and you hope they don't lose.

Do you give your U21s a runout? No pressure.

[pandemonium]

Wolfsong, great guide! Thanks for the massive work that you must have done to create it. I agree and use everything you say except for the "expect a win" when my team is complacent (win streak combined with heavy favorite/weak opponent), and I also rely heavily on the motivation screen. I used to use "expect a win" with mixed results. Then I tried "wish luck" and it worked wonders. It just seems to get my players playing really well and scoring right away, allowing them to glide through the rest of the game. I suspect this has a lot to do with squad personality. I always assemble a squad of professional/motivated/driven players because they are so much easier to manage than, say, an ambitious type. Case in point, your Ballotelli/Pato example: Ballotelli is a primadonna who needs constant praise and attention so "pleased" and "have faith" works for him. Pato on the other hand is an easy-going type with above average professionalism and determination so he can take criticism and strives to get better, therefore "disapointed" and "i want to see more" really work for him.

But enough rumbling. Great thread and a great contribution to this community, thanks again.

[vasilli07]

Do you give your U21s a runout? No pressure.

No, I give my reserves or players who don't play much. Some of them are established players.

[phnompenhandy]

No, I give my reserves or players who don't play much. Some of them are established players.

then it depends on their personality. Could give some 'prove yourselves'.

[vasilli07]

then it depends on their personality. Could give some 'prove yourselves'.

Prove yourselves? Never seen that before, you sure there is a teamtalk like that? :confused:

[phnompenhandy]

Prove yourselves? Never seen that before, you sure there is a teamtalk like that? :confused:

Yes. Can't remember the exact words - something 'prove to me you're worth a place in the first team' and other phrases to that effect. Second to last comment IIRC.

[Bruce Drundrige]

Yes. Can't remember the exact words - something 'prove to me you're worth a place in the first team' and other phrases to that effect. Second to last comment IIRC.

I think I've only ever seen it in a friendly?

[JLJ27]

I think I've only ever seen it in a friendly?

Yes, I believe that is correct. I used that in a bunch of friendlies the other day, but that talk wasn't an option in the leagues games later.

[mertle]

WoIfsong's I dont my own work pretty much found I can ignore the players player rating and just use player comments of how they doing. I said on the forum I would put my teamtalks here hope you did not mind.

I posted on the mainboard a staggering turn around with this.

My findings was if complacent = be disapointed with them

if nervous = tell them theres no presure

lacking confidence = encourage

looking motivated = be pleased

playing ok = team encourage or individually encourage or have faith seemed to only be the best way to get them to perform. Even do it for the fans had hit and miss.

playing with confidence = be pleased

having a good game = pleased

These I found makes the team perform for second half or maintain the performance to see the match out.

At fulltime not got all of them writen as some not come up

had a poor game= be disapointed

had a good game = pleased

man of the match = if he .6 ahead of others then be delighted else pleased

had a storming game = be delighted

if ok = say nothing they dont deserve it

Basically the player rating not any help to who played well and very misleading.

[WoIfsong]

WoIfsong's I dont my own work pretty much found I can ignore the players player rating and just use player comments of how they doing. I said on the forum I would put my teamtalks here hope you did not mind.

I posted on the mainboard a staggering turn around with this.

My findings was if complacent = be disapointed with them

if nervous = tell them theres no presure

lacking confidence = encourage

looking motivated = be pleased

playing ok = team encourage or individually encourage or have faith seemed to only be the best way to get them to perform. Even do it for the fans had hit and miss.

playing with confidence = be pleased

having a good game = pleased

These I found makes the team perform for second half or maintain the performance to see the match out.

At fulltime not got all of them writen as some not come up

had a poor game= be disapointed

had a good game = pleased

man of the match = if he .6 ahead of others then be delighted else pleased

had a storming game = be delighted

if ok = say nothing they dont deserve it

Basically the player rating not any help to who played well and very misleading.

Thanks for sharing!

Though I have to respectfully disagree about player rating being "very misleading".

I would rather say player rating is the only accurate indicator for determining who is playing/has played well/poorly for the purpose of teamtalks.

Again to me the Assistant Manager's Feedbacks on Teamtalks after a game is the only accurate feedback for the effect of teamtalks. Motivation can never be an accurate feedback, because it changes due to way too many factors not related to teamtalks, as I have explained in some post above.

If anything is misleading, the motivation feedbacks (e.g. playing ok, looking motivated) are misleading. I think I have explained a lot already in my OP and subsequent posts my view on the deficiency of using "motivation" as the guiding indicator for teamtalks and feedbacks for teamtalks results.

By the way the descriptions for post match teamtalks that you rely on such as "had a poor game, had a good game, had a storming game" are all purely based on player rating.

To take a simple approach like the above would at least mean to me that you are not taking advantage of the high likelihood of improving performance via "you have faith" on players with 7.5 rating or above or players who have scored, via "dont get complacent", or via "disappointing" on those reported as "looking motivated" but having a below 6.7 rating.

[WoIfsong]

What do you say in 'useless' CL games? I mean your team has already qualified, just a game or 2 to spare in the group stages and you hope they don't lose.

If I am not putting a youngster/ my 2nd team on, "I expect a win!" at the start and everything else as usual. That's because I don't want to lose games even if they do not really matter - losing games cause a drop in morale for many players, making things harder for you in the next game.

Wolfsong, great guide! Thanks for the massive work that you must have done to create it. I agree and use everything you say except for the "expect a win" when my team is complacent (win streak combined with heavy favorite/weak opponent), and I also rely heavily on the motivation screen. I used to use "expect a win" with mixed results. Then I tried "wish luck" and it worked wonders. It just seems to get my players playing really well and scoring right away, allowing them to glide through the rest of the game. I suspect this has a lot to do with squad personality. I always assemble a squad of professional/motivated/driven players because they are so much easier to manage than, say, an ambitious type. Case in point, your Ballotelli/Pato example: Ballotelli is a primadonna who needs constant praise and attention so "pleased" and "have faith" works for him. Pato on the other hand is an easy-going type with above average professionalism and determination so he can take criticism and strives to get better, therefore "disapointed" and "i want to see more" really work for him.

But enough rumbling. Great thread and a great contribution to this community, thanks again.

Thanks pandemonium.

I agree about personality affecting the choice of and the effect of teamtalks.

As to when the players are reported complacent, I will try "wish luck" myself sometime and see the result! However I only judge the result through Assistant Manager's Feedback on Teamtalks, not motivation

By the way to others, "show me why you deserve a place" or "impress me" etc are really just equivalents of "I expect a win" and "Expect a Performance", they appear in friendlies only.

[pandemonium]

let me put it to you this way: I have yet to lose or tie a game if i use "wish luck" when they are complacent. But of course, that could very well be due to the quality of the opposition. They only get complacent when the odds are stacked to their favor so the win could be simply a case of the talent in my team overwriting their complacency....

[WoIfsong]

let me put it to you this way: I have yet to lose or tie a game if i use "wish luck" when they are complacent. But of course, that could very well be due to the quality of the opposition. They only get complacent when the odds are stacked to their favor so the win could be simply a case of the talent in my team overwriting their complacency....

Hehe I think the result by half time is a good indicator for the effect of "wish luck" if no effect is shown in the Assistant Manager's Feedbacks on Teamtalks. Do you usually obtain a lead by half-time after you use "wish luck"?

For me the last time I used "wish luck" two of my players got the "seemed demotivated" result. Anyway I will try more

[JLJ27]

No worries mate, let me know your progress!

Hey again WoIfsong; now I've actually based my teamtalks on your thread and the games have worked out well, and most of the players have been motivated or playing good. But I never get any result ever in the feedback from my Ass Man. The only time it happened was in the friendlies when some players got really excited when I said "show me why you should play in my starting eleven" (or what it's called in english). Other than that my Ass Man hasn't noticed anything at all (nothing specific noted).

Does that have something to do with the Ass Man or do the players need more time to get used to my teamtalks you think?

[elland road boo boys]

Just a point of note Wolfsong

I have noticed that during Prematch Halftime & Fulltime after following your guide thoroughly I get a lot of "Players don't seem to be listening" or "nothing specific noted" I sometimes get a response but not at the percentage rate you suggested.

Could it either be Tactics being used or squad being Prem quality whilst playing in L1 (Leeds Utd) & knowing that they are good enough to walk both League One & Championship?

Would be grateful for thoughts, suggestions regarding this.

And any improvement that could be made to get a response.

[faraow]

Maybe it works together with tactics. I tried with Real Madrid and got mixed results First half of the season: 4 losses already and 3 draws. I must say that I have some injuries and I lost "undeserved" a couple of times(more chances). Without tweaking that much, I play mostly attacking home, and normal/counter away(that's what most tactical guides would suggest). Here comes the point: All the points I've lost were on away games!! I won every single home game. I do think that these teamtalks work, but maybe only if you play attacking, or you need to adjust the talks for away games.

Especially the half-time talks work great! But maybe the pre-match talk in away games needs to be different.

[Beardeye]

I do think that these teamtalks work, but maybe only if you play attacking

The first 23 games i played using these team talks I went unbeaten, and for all of those away games I was using a mentality of 6 or 7- so they do work with defensive tactics.

I was beginning to think the talks made my team invincible, then after the 23rd game my team imploded spectacularly. suffice to say i am still very impressed!

The only possible amendment I would be interested to hear Wolfsong's thoughts on, would be the use of "we can win this" for close odds games. As stated in the OP this often demotivates a few players, but motivates others. Once you have identified who in your team reacts badly, what would you think of an overall team talk of "we can win this" but with individual "expect a performance" on the likely demotivated candidates?? Hopefully this would motivate more than "for the fans" plus individual talks.