retired_slntmouse

My team (Liverpool) has been going topsy-turvy or late morale-wise. Reina Babel, Pennant, and Kuyt are just acting like the stubbornest of children with their morale always in Very Poor. what can make them better without me having to let the pressure off of them by the team talk section (coz then theyll just run about and i can lose the game) or having to leave them out of the squad for a game or two (bcoz i think that will just worsen things.) any help???

firefighterhilf

The affects of media interaction and team talks on moral is far to great.

My advice would be to ignore all media interaction and always sympathise/encourage players when you're losing. This is the best way I've found to stop moral fluctuating.

I now never tell my team I'm disappointed with them. As much as this pains me as I sometimes just want to shout at them and tell them how rubbish they've been, I've found this to only ever have a negative effect.

retired_rcv103

If my team draws at home to a lower team or loses away to a lower team i tell them i am disappointed. They seem fine with it. Either you have players with personality problems in which case i would sell them or your expectations are too high.

retired_Balanchinegal

Exactly Chopper, This is how I finally got through a couple of seasons (recently, you'll remember) without cheating/quitting/crying like a baby and starting a "Whining Thread"..

Never EVER comment in the media, never EVER use negative team-talks.
(On that note - you [B]can[/] say "Angry" at half time, but if you go on to lose say "Sympathize" - the key is to never be negative in the after-match team talk as this is the one that has a lasting effect)
You'll be amazed at how easy it is to keep the lads' spirits up regardless of a poor run of form or whatever...

retired_Balanchinegal

retired_slntmouse

but what u dont get is that even if you sympathise with them alot they will become accustomed to that and they might not always play to their full potential. i think u hav to go hard on them at specific moments and easy at specific moments..

or could this b wrong??

leftfoot

This isn't necessarily true. I think with 08 more than 07 you have to really pay attention to your individual players personalities, how they have responded to previous team talks (morale changes are more important than looking at the Assistant team talk feedback), how they have responded to media comments and then make a judgement based on that. The only media item I completely ignore is the pre match comment as my team has a few players who respond to comments at opposite ends of the spectrum. The only time I use it is if two players I know respond to the comments are at morale levels whereby I'll take the loss in one to get the gain in the other.

An example of using 'disappointing' to improve morale is a centre back I have Marco Andreolli who has responded in two ways to recent comments I have made:-

1. I praised him in the media and he stated he didn't think he had to do much to impress me.
2. We had just won the league and I stated we could only go from strength to strength. To this Andreolli had a PR of 'is concerned that his manager is overestimating his squad' or words to that effect.

From these I see that he is a professional, driven player with high expectations of how he and the team should perform.

In the next match I play a Sunderland team who are 13th in the league. I draw 1-1 and Andreolli gets a 6. I give him a 'disappointing' team talk and his morale goes from 'very good' to 'superb'.

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7891/tteffectoe3.jpg

I also highlighted Fatih Jorgensen and Billy Sharp as an indication of how two players can react in opposite ways to the same team talk.

So to get the best level of control over morale you need to take note of ratings and responses in team talks (also note the match odds, home or away)and how they respond to media comments. It's very tedious but it does pay off in the long run. You can only do it in this specific manner for post match effects.

Judging the effect of half time team talks is a whole different ball game, especially when you get conflicting evidence from the game. For example in the same Sunderland match above we were 1-0 down at half time and I said 'I want to see more from you'. About 10 minutes in the commentary states that my team look to have livened up. Yet when I go to the Assistant Half Time Team Talk Feedback after the match every single player has 'nothing specific noted'.

The cliff notes to that is you have to get to know your players in a 'virtual' sense and when you do it makes handling morale alot easier. There are still players who have inconsistent responses but we all know SI love making the game random just to **** everyone off