Team talk | Match preparations Football Manager 2016 Guide

The last element of preparations prior to the match is pep talk. This is to encourage your players to fight, by raising their morale. An appropriately held talk allows for much better results, because the contentment of players is a big influence on their presence in the field. Apart from that, team talk can be had not only before the match, but also at half time and after the match.

Before a match with a weaker opponent, you can expect victory. After your team has already won several matches in a row, tell them to continue their winning streak and after the matches with a stronger opponent, you can try to go cool, in hope that their self assurance will lead your opponents to a loss. The lines that you say before the match is the last positive stimulus to your players and it has a considerable effect on the course of the match.

A well-conducted team talk encourages players to make up for their losses.

If you do not want to be bothered about team talks, you can give appropriate instructions to one of your assistants. Make sure then that he has an appropriate level of Motivation. Still, it is better if you have control over the assistant's lines anyways - in case of confusion, you can always ask him to comment on the current situation.

Team talk is divided into three parts:

- pre-match team talk, is used if you know, more of less, what to expect of the opponent and you know what results you are aiming at,

- Half- time talk, when you already have a general idea about the situation and you can assess if the match goes as planned,

- Full-time talk is when you comment on the performance, where you either compliment or criticize players.

Team talk is also divided with respect to whim it concerns: you can either utter your words to the entire team, individual formations of a specific player (this option becomes available also when you perform substitutions and introduce a player into the field).

Pre-match talk

Here, much depends on who you are playing against and what is the result that you attained in the previous mach. Try to go Demanding or Inspirational here and encourage the team to win and, when you are the predicted winning team, you can simply go "I expect victory" . If the tame has recently played poorly, you can suggest that they play better. In general, preset your expectations and encourage the players. If any of them reacts negatively, you can always try to improve on the situation by effecting an individual talk.

Half-time talk

Here, everything depends on the half-time result. If you are winning, tell the players to keep up the good work. If you are losing, tell them that they are better than this. If you tie, depending on your expectations, either encourage them to play better or express your disappointment. If you are losing against an outsider, it is better to go demanding and simply slap them. Often, this allows them to wake up and motivates them for the other half of the match. Here, you need to react accordingly to the situation. Avoid being too relaxing because it rather has undesired effects - the players will relax and winning will become rather impossible.

Full-time talk

After dust settles, it is a good idea to say a few words of praise, or criticize the players, while commenting on their performance. Even after a difficult victory, avoid the option that is often suggested by your assistants ("Nothing to say right now) - appreciate the players' work, if they have fought well ("Good job"). In the case of a failure, consider the opponent's rank: if you have lost against a team that, in theory, is weaker, spare no negative commentaries. In the case of a failure against an opponent that is ranked better, such tactic may be deemed unfair and take negative effect. It is better to ensure the players of their bad luck then.

Side-line talks

During the game, you can shout instructions to your players, from time to time. You can either insist on their keeping to the tactic, on focusing after the opposing team ha scored, tell your players to play smart, or demand more involvement. This way, you can react to individual events in the field.

Substitution talk

While performing the substitution, you can additionally motivate the player, be expressing your faith in his skills. If you are letting a high-class player in, when the score is unfavorable, try suggesting that he is capable of altering the result. This does not always work, but the effect will be more pronounced, in case of success.

Appropriate motivation contributes to better results of your team.

A motivational talk that concerns the entire team can well by held by the assistant, if his Motivation is at the sufficiently high level. In he case that the assistant stumbles, you can add several words of your own. To individual formations, or to individual players. Remember that you match the tone and the dialogue line - to a large extent, you will succeed if you do this properly. Simply, avoid abstract situations, e.g. a dissatisfied talk after a winning result of 5-0. There is a wide variety of factors that influence a good talk (among others: years that the player has played for the team, the manager's reputation, personalities of individual players, current morale, results of previous matches), this is why you should watch closely to the reactions of the players to what you say and pay attention to what they do (and to whether or not they do it) - you can look that up in Tactic -> Analysis -> Previous game, after you select Team talk reaction.