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Currently in 4th season now with Reading and struggling to win anything at the moment - Morale is at an all time low, need suggestions on how to turn the corner and pick up some wins.
Been finishing top 10 first two seasons - then last season won 8 of the last 10 games and pipped Chelsea to 4th place and a Champions league spot. I was really looking forward to the start of the next season being in the Champs league and all - however, the players seem to think differently and are playing like a team destined for the championship (relegation).
Were 17th after 9 matches (1 win 4 draws) still in the League cup (scraped a 1-0 home to championship Coventry injury time pen - but did play the younger players) but I've lost the first two group matches in the champions league and can't afford not to win the next one. I've got Villa (A) league next and the Velencia Away I need to get the morale up before this game so we have a chance in the Nuevo Mestalla!
I've stuck with the same formation that propelled us in to 4th spot last year - a counter attacking 4-4-2. I've brought in David Bentley (who rarely get the ball during the game and when he does he looses it) and my Ass Man says the current players have forged an extremely strong understanding (how to loose methinks). In all the games we've only been beaten by the one goal and have been in with a chance of getting something from every game - only Chelsea 0-4 and Hertha Berlin 0-3 have we not turned up. My Captain Flamini is out for 4 months broken something or other, which may have something to do with it.
Any ideas of how to boost morale in the 7 days before the Valencia game?
The onscreen tips very helpfully state that you can "boost morale by winning matches or signing new contracts", so in the absence of winning matches, you can renew your top players' contracts. Not sure of the effects, but test it on a couple of players first.
The real issue seems to me to be that you're now regarded as a successful team (finishing 4th last season), so the AI teams now play differently against you, for example, they may be switching to more defensive, counter-attacking styles.
Same happened to me in my HSV game after I won the German league. Couldn't win, lots of frustration...
I changed things around by going back to an earlier tactic, which stabilised my back 4 and eventually turned my season around again, but you may find 7 days before the Valencia game is too short for that to be effective. Might be OK for the return leg, though.
probably has something to do with what you told them (the board) about your expectations. as tempting as it is to raise expectations in exchange for more money, finishing 4th needs to be repeated the next season before players will get used to being in the champions league, or uefa cup.
i've won the last two premierships with arsenal, but i would not set expectations to "winner" rather than "title challenger". you can always do a budget adjustment after the expectations are set.
Well I've beaten Villa 0-1 away from home - read an article on 'Communication and Psychological Warfare' on the FM web site - their tips on media interaction and player interaction seemed to help. I also played 3 young players from the reserves who had superb morale and selected the players with the best morale from the 1st team squad.
I also put pressure on the opposition manager with pre-match media comments - made 2 players happier, 2 worse, the happier 2 played, the other 2 I dropped. Did not want to do anything with contracts - although that would probably make 2 players clambering for a wage increase happy so I'll try that next.
Now you mention the opposition playing counter attacking against me instead of attacking like they used to - i think this is happening so I altered things slightly - going from a very rigid, no creative freedom 4-4-2, to allowing my midfielders and attackers more creative freedom and a slightly higher mentallity. It worked the midfield and attack played well we created more chances and in the 81st min got our goal before shutting up shop.
More players now with okay and good morale, still a few key players on poor but things look more positive.
The Boards expectations - I told them we'd be top half - going for europe spot again. I think the difference (apart from tactics) is that i started letting my Ass.Man give the team talks - I soon as i intervined I was able to give players a morale boost.
Drew 1-1 in Valencia we scored a 92min equilizer - also said to the press we don't expect to get a result before the game, now i have 8/9 players on superb morale. Now looking a lot better on the morale front. I'd normally decline to comment but it would seem that this is not always the best selection.
I, too, found the Communication and Psychological Warfare series of articles highly informative.
I know we don't normally link off-site, but I'm going to do so for this case; I think its related and could help others who are struggling. The following link takes you to a search page on fm-britain.co.uk which should have all nine C&PW articles linked - great stuff, and I'm not at all affiliated with that site.
p.s., congrats on turning it around. 1 point from 3 games may not get you out of your C.L. group, but it sounds like you should go on a tear in the League now..
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