Motivation in FMC- my observations

[Beardeye]

Just want to share my observations on motivation in FMC and see if anyone can add anything that I can learn from...

1) Player Personalities

Given the absence of team talks, player interaction and regular press conferences, I think player personalities have more of a say in FMC. A scout report will normally tell you if a player is inconsistent/ consistent and responds well or not to important matches. Combine this with determination and you have some idea of your player personality. However given there are numerous hidden traits including pressure, injury proneness and professionalism- you never get the whole story.

I have a team of players full of determination and important matches attributes (according to my Ass Man), but who routinely get complacent and fail to beat weak teams, or overawed and destroyed by big teams in big matches. Sometimes, however, they turn up for the big games and we win handsomely, normally when on a winning a streak, but there is no clear feedback in the game to clarify why it happens sometimes but not others. I am sure complacency, consistency, pressure and important matches all have a role to play in FMC, but the motivation widget wont tell you if your player is 'fired up', 'looking motivated', nervous or complacent. At times you have to grope in the dark.

I would love a way to stop complacency or rollock the players at half time, but its not available in FMC. thats why i think its down to personalities, tactics and substitutions alone that you have to deal with this. I am not saying bring back full fat team talks/ conferences etc, but some control over a complacent performance would be helpful. If it doesnt come, we have to work out a way to manage this side of our players in FMC. Thoughts welcome!

2) Press conferences

You do get the odd one before big matches. However I havent quite worked it out. My guess is you use the answers to try and increase the pressure or take it off your players depending on their personality before the match. 8 out of 10 ten times i get the wrong reaction so i tend not to answer now, and taking this option i think has the 'neutral' effect of not adding or taking off the pressure.

You also get the odd chance to praise or criticise a player in the media. get it horribly right or wrong and you will get the "PR" notification that they are pleased, or not so. but again in match you dont know if they are motivated by it other than by the rating/ performance on the day (bring back player notes for FMC!!).

3) Observing your players

As there is no tutoring (bring it back!) you cant alter a players personality or determination. This leaves you (slight increases aside) with only one option in my experience- play the guy for a couple of seasons and see how he reacts to big matches and how consistent he is. I manage a small team and build them up, so have the time to do this. Managers of high rep clubs might find it different or that they can attract the right type of player more easily. For me, observe the player and if he continues to fail on the big days, sell him or make him a back up player. Its a longer route for me, but over the course of 5 or so seasons you can normally build a squad who you know will turn up for you when it matters.

Those are my observations so far, if you have any comments or points to add please fire away...

[Beardeye]

One thing I missed in here, which seems more prominent looking at the FMC teaser video, is your assistant managers man management and motivating stats. The existence of these suggests that the AM has some influence, be it team talks or otherwise, to prevent complacency or nervousness.

I would love to know how this works behind the scenes, as I think its an important part of the game when you are in a title/promotion chase. My guess is that your ass man's stats do influence motivation to some extent, whether he is actually holding team talks or not I cannot say. Would be interested if anyone can shed any light [Lucas??]?