Personalities, Motivation, Teamtalks and Player Interaction.

[SFraser]

There are a lot of teamtalk guides already around telling you what to choose and when to choose it. They might be completely accurate but I don't want to talk about what each Teamtalk does, I want to talk about and describe the gameplay.

Overview of Personalities, Motivation, Teamtalks and Player Interaction.

From what I read, the common perception is that Teamtalks and Player Interaction is a way for you to make your players over or under perform, and is either viewed as a lottery or as an overpowered arcade style gimmick. I can understand that view, and when Teamtalks were first introduced that is precisely how I viewed them as well. As I have gained experience of the whole gameplay system, my own perception has changed. I have come to realise that Teamtalks and Player Interaction is not meant to be a method purely for boosting or disrupting performances, but of actually interacting with your players in a very deep character driven gameplay system. Teamtalks and Player Interaction are all about how you handle your players, communicate with your players, form relationships with your players and get your players to react. The actual "game busting" benefits of any particular teamtalk are minor although they are important, whereas the whole point of the entire system is to communicate with your players, praise your players, criticise your players, support your players, shield your players and so on so that they continue to operate at maximum performance levels.

It is my opinion that if you think teamtalks are "over powered" then you are using them very badly. The quality manager should consistently be operating at a level of maximum possible motivation. If you can turn a game at halftime then you made a big mistake because you should have been operating at that level from kick-off. Teamtalks and Player Interaction is not about "busting the game" and exploiting the overpowered gameplay, but of reaching and maintaining a peak of optimal performance through maximum understanding and maximum handling of your players, no matter what pops up to disrupt your flow and threaten you with problems.

Every player in the game can and should be managed to produce 100% performance 100% of the time. To do this means you need to establish an active relationship with your players, and understand your players intimately. Don't think that your silence or lack of thought and interest in players is an absence of effect, because a silent manager is a manager with no relationship with his players, and they will react accordingly.

When someone says "Teamtalks are over powered/broken" I immediately think of Rafa Benitez, and place that individual firmly in that management category. The "over-powered" effect you saw in the second half from your teamtalk is the level your players and squad can and should be operating for the whole season.

Personalities

Quite possibly the most criminally overlooked, underestimated and absolutely massive aspect of the game is Player Personality. But then it is easy to overlook/underestimate the impact of Personality when it is described in a single phrase in a screen tucked away in the background of a players profile.

Every player in the game has a "Personality" that is defined by 10 hidden "Personality" attributes, atleast 4 visible attributes, and you could argue that a bunch of other attributes matter as well but don't strictly define the Personality you see. With this number of attributes running from 1 to 20, the unique combinations run atleast into the millions! There are more possible permutations of Personality in FM than there are players, but not quite as many possible permutations of Personality as there are possible permutations of playing Attributes.

Think about that for a minute. Think about the difference between Lionel Messi and Nemanja Vidic in the ME, then think about the difference between Lionel Messi and a backup Blue Square Centreback in the ME, then realise that the quantity and quality of differences in Personality is on a similar scale.

In FM all these Personality attributes and variables are condensed into a single Personality Description, and we dont have a page full of attributes like a players playing profile. Lyssien produced an excellent guide as to what the descriptions mean in this thread:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=16356&highlight=personality+guide

Now that's some really useful information, but it doesn't tell us the precise makeup of a players Personality, nor does it tell us what this Personality actually does. Because of the way the whole game is setup, finding out what the Personality means and does requires attention to detail. Not necessarilly much, but at the very least some.

What the component aspects of a players personality does is define the reaction to a huge number of situations and events. Seriously huge number. Situations and events you might not even know exist, let alone how to look out for them. And this is done on purpose, because the game tests you on your ability to observe your players and react to them accordingly on a regular basis. It does not want you nipping every single minor issue in the bud. Believe me when I say that what Personality based you issues you think exists is not even remotely the tip of the Iceberg. The game does a huge amount of work behind the scenes testing Personality attributes constantly, and what you see is only what you are meant to see and therefore deal with.

The ME is a prime example of this, but I will come to that at the relevant time.

Player Personalities, in summary, are a very large number of variables defining a players reaction to a seriously large number of game situations. The obvious ones are Teamtalks and Player Interaction, but they are only the obvious ones.

Whatever reaction a player shows to any game event is defined by his relevant Personality Attributes, and likely multiple attributes working together. There is no "absolutely best" teamtalk for the simple reason that each player can react completely differently. Understanding Personality is the key to understanding the behaviour of players, and is therefore the key to understanding the game itself. Tactics might have the greatest number of sliders and options and choices, but the most important part of everything is the player, and the most important part of the player is his Ability and his Personality.

Motivation

This is in my opinion again another seriously misunderstood part of the game. The common perception is that you choose the right teamtalk and your players should get really motivated and therefore outperform the opposition. While you cannot criticise that information if it is given because it is reasonably accurate, the actual meaning behind it's common usage is absolutely and profoundly flawed on atleast three counts.

1: Giving the right teamtalk is a hugely complicated issue based on a vast number of factors, but most importantly depends on the specific player, AND your relationship with him.

2: Teamtalks are nowhere near the biggest source of Motivation changes in the game.

3: The actual effects of Motivation are subtle but very influential.

The truth about Motivation is that it is the Match Engine version of Personality reaction to game events with some subtle effects on a players in-match performance. What you see happen in the Match Engine with Motivation is like a months worth of manager interaction with a player. It is the same process but speeded up/with more stuff going on. The difference here is that instead of the player reacting to his manager, or other managers, or other players, he is reacting to what is happening in the match itself.

This is a huge point.

Most people think that Teamtalks = Motivation. This is not true. Teamtalks are the opportunity for the manager to send the player out with a good level of starting motivation before match events take over. Match events are the single most widespread and crucial source of Motivation changes, and this means that TACTICS are equally if not more important than Teamtalks in Motivation levels.

Motivation levels change as players react to Match Events based on their Personalities. What Motivation levels do is subtely affect a player in key areas, so Nervous players have reduced Composure and Decisions while Fired Up players have increased Aggression and Determination and Workrate. The way they are changed depends on success and failure at a personal and team level based on Personality. A Winger with a poor Personality that asked to Hug Touchline and Run With Ball but keeps getting tackled by the opposition Fullback will become demotivated and Nervous. Telling him to Try Through Balls and Cut Inside might increase the rate at which he succeeds at moves and boost his confidence and motivation.

Once you have selected a teamtalk and sent the players out, you have no more control over their Motivation. It is all about Match Events and Tactics based on Personality, and Match Events based on Tactics are by the far the greatest source of all Motivation changes. Personality defines the actual changes of Motivation. Does the player get Nervous at failure or Fired Up? Can tactics be adjusted to increase a Nervous players success rate and confidence?

This is a seriously huge point to get across.

Motivation is not an all singing and all dancing absolute benefit to your team, it is not a mechanic to be exploited to find "the most" and therefore win the match. It is a subtle effect with highly complex causes that can go many ways. Good Motivation can increase success rates which increase Tactical Performance which increases Motivation. The same loop can cause Complacency in players with certain Personalities or be reversed to cause a spiral of disaster. Poor performance can increase Motivation in some players, decrease it in others. Tactical changes can have a vastly greater positive/negative impact than anticipated purely because of how the players in question respond to the new Match Conditions.

Motivation is the worst best mechanic in the game. Worst because the entire game leads almost everyone to assume the completely false and makes it difficult to see otherwise. Best because it is incredibly cleverly designed and implimented and takes individual player Personality immersion to a completely new level for FM.

Motivation is seriously misunderstood, seriously over-estimated in the wrong areas, and seriously under-estimated in the relevant ones.

Teamtalks

This is where most of your interaction with all your players takes place, and so it should be viewed as such. Because it is viewed as the opportunity to "+5 all attributes" in your players and nothing further, it is completely misunderstood.

Teamtalks are not an opportunity to defeat the opponent without tactics, or crank up your players ability to rediculous levels. Teamtalks are where you communicate with your players and communication is expected. The reaction everyone looks for is increased/maximised motivation levels, but these motivation levels caused by teamtalks only last for the first 10 minutes or so. The reaction most people fail to consider untill it bites them on the arse is how the player is going to react to you.

The entire perception of teamtalks as a consensus on these forums is flawed. A teamtalk is not how you add more power to your tactics, but is the very last word you say to your players before they step out onto the pitch. They will react to your teamtalk and step out into the hugely competitive and highly motivation changing environment of the pitch. They will not forget what you have said to them when the match is over, and what you have said to them will ring out for weeks or months, but before the repercussions are felt they will go out with a certain level of motivation to start the half, and that half will change their motivation constantly and regularly.

Teamtalks are your only opportunity to influence Motivation before a half kicks off, after which you have no more direct control over Motivation. Tactics and Match events will change motivation dramatically, and teamtalks are your opportunity to get a head start.

What you say in your teamtalks matters on pitch for the first ten minutes, and off pitch for the next ten days. They have nowhere near the power usually described, yet have far more power than is ever discussed. The first ten minutes matter in a half, they are the key to a good start, to further improving your own motivation, to reducing the opponents motivation, to scoring goals etc. but they are only the first ten minutes. Teamtalk Motivation benefit does not last a half, it starts off a half. After the match it lasts for as long as your ability/failure at man management and the players Personality defines.

Player Interaction

I'm not going to talk about the Player Interaction option which is essentially a mini teamtalk either for the specific player or for both entire clubs, but instead about player interaction as the necessary premise upon which you should be running your club.

The key principles to player interaction are twofold:

1: Understand your players.

2: Interact with them to produce maximum results.

These principles are exactly the same as designing tactics, only in this case you get to see no attributes, the consequences are less obvious, and the provocation to interact is entireally down to you.

Player interaction is a seriously long term process that involves learning the subtleties of your players reactions, understanding how to handle/control/manipulate them, and then finally how to do this all over a season or several seasons with all the demands of Matches and Teamtalk motivation results included. It is about using your knowledge of your players to keep them operating at maximum levels of ability not just for one game, but for the entire time they are at your club. It demands the ability to produce longterm stability of happiness and morale while demanding short term performances and individual game motivation.

It is not possible for me to describe the methods, means, benefits and negatives to the entire game of player interaction in a single post, but I can say understanding player interaction and employing player interaction is atleast as vital as understanding and employing tactics, but not in the short term Teamtalk like the consensus would have you believe.

The key to player interaction is constant happiness and the pressing of subtle buttons at the right time. If you do not make a point of actively maintaining squad happiness then you cannot press buttons when needed without vast negative consequences, and you can do none of this without understanding your players Personality individually. You must understand and manage the expectations and demands of every member of your squad continuously throughout a season if you wish to be able to exploit the benefits of Teamtalks and other forms of Interaction when you need it most, or even to fix a small problem in a relatively simple or easy game.

People think that there is nothing to do between Matches, and that Teamtalks are supposed to be an arcade like feature of boosting performance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Between each Match is the necessity to bring players back to the level of Morale and Happiness and focus and motivation that is the baseline for a stable season, and the platform that allows you to stretch and test the boundaries of their Personality when you need it most, at half time in the crunch match.

Personalities, Motivation, Teamtalks and Player Interaction has made the general day-to-day running of a club absolutely crucial in match day performances, and made match day demands have huge repercussion on day-to-day happiness. Simply because you are forced to communicate with your players through teamtalks, you are forced to make demands on them, and you can no no longer afford to skip the management of the squad between games. Unless ofcourse you are absolutely brilliant at tactics.

[iepuras]

Again a very good post.

[hbtfdbs]

Does make sense, good post. I used to think they were overpowered too, but ive had occassions where one team has been massiviley motivated compared to the opposition and lost. I think the reason why i thought they were broken was when i has success with one team by saying nothing at pre match and half time, i managed a back to back promotion which i guess by reading this:

Personalities, Motivation, Teamtalks and Player Interaction has made the general day-to-day running of a club absolutely crucial in match day performances, and made match day demands have huge repercussion on day-to-day happiness. Simply because you are forced to communicate with your players through teamtalks, you are forced to make demands on them, and you can no no longer afford to skip the management of the squad between games. Unless ofcourse you are absolutely brilliant at tactics.

It was completely down to my tactics, must have been spot on tactically for once..

Also recently had something ive never seen before in teamtalk feedback which is my assistant thinks my players 'would be willing to die for eachother'. shame were sitting 2nd from bottom midway in season, but must be down to my tactics/players ability.

[lam]

You keep creating more work for me

[Jenko_EFC]

Superb post SFraser, I do feel you have to go quite deep to 'know' your players and I wish on the teamtalk screen there was an option to view them as well as motivation. By the way in the Skinning Hideout, they have a screen on the teamtalk screen where you can view motivation which is helpful. Back to my point and some/most managers don't realm into the personalities of players and prefer other ways like guides. As you quite rightly say, a players' performance influences motivation almost as much as a teamtalk does and sometimes tweaking tactics can help for eg; if you were a centre-back who was being dominated aerially, he was faster and more skillful and repeatedly beat you, you'd start to feel nervous and angry!

In Football Manager, I was playing as some team and my right winger was running with the ball all the time, it was the only thing I instructed him to do but we were on a wet pitch and their fullback was faster and stronger and he was playing nervous and I wondered why and gave him the teamtalk 'no pressure' and he came out playing okay but went nervous again and as I was watching the match I knew what was happening and although most people would have subbed him I instructed him to cross from deep and not run with the ball which worked and he ended up playing well.

[CElliott]

Great post SFraser, I would whole heartedly agree that player personality has a huge influence on how to motivate players and keep up morale on and off the pitch. Particularly since patch 10.3 I have had very little success using the more well known team talk guides. For example the traditional ‘You Have Faith’ at half-time to a sub or scoring striker, no longer seems to result in a dramatic motivation boost. Strangely one of the most impressive resulting team talks I’ve given recently was simply ‘Pleased’ which resulted in a young fullback being ‘Inspired to a great performance’ and an unlikely second half victory.

Since 10.3 I’ve been struggling in the Lower Leagues, probably as a result of my tactics but also with team talks. So I now attach 2 notes to each first team player, one to record any feedback from team talks and another to record the feedback from Player Interations. They will need to play a dozen or more matches before you have enough data to start seeing any patterns but I’ve found it to be very useful indeed.

After each match I check the Assistant Manager Team Talk Feedback page and update the notes for any players who responded either positively or negatively, before the match, at half-time and afterwards. This gives you a pool of information to work with specific to each player. For example, I had a midfielder who for some reason, he alone would become demotivated if I began a match with ‘You can win today’ so he now gets individual instructions to expect a performance. I also had a defender who wouldn’t bat an eyelid to ‘You have faith’ but would become a man possessed if I said I was Disappointed with him.

It isn’t full-proof because there are many other factors involved that would be difficult to record, i.e. how long they had been at the club, their age / squad status, how long you have been manager at the club, their relationship towards you etc.

For Player Interactions I record what my comment was against their match rating for the last 5 games. E.g “Acceptable 6.73” then I’ll update this note with how the player responded. For some players this will be good, others bad. After enough matches you’ll have a reasonably accurate list of values for each Player Interaction, this way you will know enough about your player to keep his morale very high even if your team is struggling to find a win.

Through recording these Player Interaction vs Match Rating figures I observed a change directly linked to a player being tutored. It was a young back up player who was having a spell in the first team while still being tutored by a senior. His Determination went up from 8 to 10 (I don’t know what hidden stats were also effected as he was “balanced” personality) but I noticed that after the change, I had to be stricter with him and expect higher match ratings (so 6.73 would require a Below Par rather than an Acceptable to get a morale/motivation boost).

Just thought I'd share that with you

[PyramidHead]

Magnificent work. We need more guides like TT&F and this one that look at the mechanics of the game and translate it into football/human terms. Instead of just mumbling on about numbers from hidden attributes or even tell you what to do. That just spoils it for many of us. No offence to the hard working people behind those though, they are more often than not very good in their own way. But sometimes you just to need look at things in a perspective you didnt care/think of. Nice.

[Kwik05]

Hey, interesting post.

What do you mean by a teamtalk will ring out for weeks or even months?