The second half effect OP? (Most notably on away fixtures)

[Nikitas]

Has anyone else noticed this?

Your team plays well in the 1st half, creates chances and is in control of the game. The opposition team is nowhere to be seen really.

On the 2nd half the opposition comes back strong, wins every duel and in general is dominating the game.

I do understand this is natural and happens in real life as well but seems to me a bit OP as it happens quite often.

Could it be because I created a manager with low motivation thus fails to inspire my players at half time?

[DominicForza]

The lower motivation certainly could be a factor.  As could not give "right" team talks to team and/or individual players.  

 

I experience the opposite (with my high motivation attribute self) - my team having significant boost in second half.  

[Nikitas]

Yes, I do believe motivation plays a crucial role as in other saves with a manager with higher motivation this tends to happen less often.

Against weaker opponents this happens less often because they're just too bad to take control of the game but against similar or stronger teams it seems like I am doomed to concede.

Lowering the defensive line helps stopping all those long balls that are bombarded behind my defence. Also, I tend to lower the tempo to try and stop the opposition's momentum but it seems that my players are unable to keep hold of the ball so maybe this is a bad idea?

I would like some advice if anybody has found a way to counter this issue.

I will also try giving them different team talks on half time and see if it will make any notable difference.

[Svenc]

The AI is programmed that it oft makes drastic changes as HT, including a Formation switch outright. At home it also pushes for the win more, tactically. So for drastic switches in a match's dynamic (the AI nowhere to be seen and then suddenly creating stuff), that's the no. 1 reason to look out for. It's the same if it sits back to spoil for 79 minutes, focused purely on not conceding. Then it concedes the 0-1 and  with this Little time on the Clock, makes a switch to an aggressive overload kinda tactic as else it would Risk to lose the match.

Many Players observe a similar effect when the AI in the 2nd half shuts up shop completely after shipping Goals in the first half. It is also coded in a way that it may try to avoid a Major trashing -- and as such, the Goals run dry.

That said, the second is also Pretty easily explained with something else rather than Motivation, or anything. If you score a lot of Goals in one half, you likely had a Chance conversion that simply isn't sustainable over the 90th minutes. Over short periods of time, every other shot goes in. I personally view this as an internal dice roll. If SI are correct, even the better chances would be at best roughly 50/50 Affairs, that is the toss of a coin. Sometimes you roll those heads in sequence, other times...

Edited October 30, 2019 by Svenc