Touchline Team Talks

[herne79]

Questions about these in match Touchline Team Talks get raised now and again, and I've never seen a definitive guide about what they do.  Until (hopefully!) now that is.

So thanks to @Nic Madden for patiently answering my questions and help clear up some of the grey areas about what these in match Team Talks do.  I'll also be putting a section into the FAQs sticky at the top of the forum about this, but thought it would help to create a thread as well.

First a disclaimer (groan) - this is not a guide that is designed to tell you when and under what circumstances you should or shouldn't use each of these Touchline Team Talks.  Similar to the pre-match, half time and post-match Team Talks, these in match talks can affect players moods but will be influenced by players own personalities, your personality and tone of voice used.  Thus what may work for one player may not for another.  It's up to us as Managers to understand our own players and use such talks accordingly.  So this "guide" will merely outline what the talks are intended for and what they affect.

So, with that out of the way, the first thing to understand about Touchline Team Talks is that none of them alter any tactical settings.  I've seen articles written before that talk about changing team/player instructions, mentality and so on.  This is not the case.  Touchline Team Talks affect player morale and body language, not tactical settings.

Next, these talks have a short term impact only.  Use a yard stick of around 10 mins or so effect.

Once all of this is understood, most Touchline Team Talks become fairly self-explanatory.  I'll list each of them along with their in game description and further guidance, but will save 3 until last to discuss (and you'll see why I said "most" then):

Note - it's useful to have the in match widget open that shows you player morale and body language if planning to use these Touchline Team Talks.

Encourage - Offer encouragement to your players and boost their morale.  Check the morale widget and try to inspire players if they look low on morale.

Calm Down - Instruct your players to calm down in an effort to avoid yellow and red cards.  Attempts to pacify players showing Aggressive body language.

Concentrate - Remind your players to stay switched on and focused on the task at hand.  Try to refocus players looking uninterested or complacent.

Show Some Passion - Insist your players show some passion and put their bodies on the line for the shirt.  Remind players what's on the line and there's no room for laziness.

No Pressure - Encourage your players to relax in the hope that they play without fear.  Players can feel the pressure of important matches or even important moments during matches.  This can help them stay calm and handle the pressure better.

ok last 3.  I'll list them with their in game descriptions then discuss all 3 together at the bottom.

Get Creative - Give your players more creative freedom in the hope they can fashion goalscoring opportunities.

Tighten Up - Shift your player focus towards defending.

Push Forward - Shift your players focus towards attacking.

Remember - none of these (or any of the others) alter tactical settings.  They appear to be more closely linked to types of pressure your players may be feeling at various stages of a match and quite contextual in relation to this. 

For example, are your players confident they can see out a tight match in the dying stages?  Perhaps the opposite may be true and you're searching for that vital equaliser or winner with injury time looming?  Is there a growing frustration when they keep bouncing off the parked bus?  So whilst the "No Pressure" Touchline Talk above can help players handle general types of pressure situations, these final 3 may help players that find themselves in more specific pressure situations.

 

In closing then, I'm sure this may generate questions but my advice would be to try things out, experiment.  I said at the top this is not a guide designed to say do this under that circumstance, or something else under a different circumstance.  It's all contextual and dependant on how a match is going, how your players are feeling, and their personalities.

[looping]

I'm experimenting with this (something I never used before). Honestly, I don't appreciate a great effect but I suppose it is how touchline team talks are intended to work.

I wonder how important is the tone used. I suppose it must be coherent with the message, so combinations like Aggressive-calm down or cautious-show some passion are inadvisable. On the contrary, Passionate-encourage or calmed-no pressure are good combinations.

I'm not sure if this tool is intended to make a real difference but at least can help and who knows.. The difference between a draw and a win is as thin as one goal.

[Rashidi]

Personally I think it plays a small role, the effects are minimal, but they do have something thats match engine related. And yes, somethings a small difference could be all it takes to swing  a match. IMHO it will depend on your player personalities though and the overall squad morale

[Walternater]

I generally instruct my player PIs to 'hard tackling' with my Lorient save because I want them to be aggressive and get stuck in to get the ball back asap (and also to injure the opposition. I want to win!) but as soon as a player picks up a yellow card I will take off hard tackling then spend the rest of the match telling him to 'calm down' assertively. This works a treat and despite being 2nd or 3rd in Ligue 1 for yellows, i'm only 19th for reds. 

The concentrate shout when team is looking complacent works too, i've noticed. There are always certain players that don't listen but generally you can knock them back into line.

However for players that are 'nervous' I haven't been able to get a decent usage out of telling them 'no pressure'. Whether i've gone calmly, assertively, or cautiously I never seem to overcome their nervousness which is a bit annoying. Probably just not found the sweet spot!

[westy8chimp]

On ‎17‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 17:19, herne79 said:

Touchline Team Talks affect player morale and body language, not tactical settings.

 

On ‎17‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 17:19, herne79 said:

Next, these talks have a short term impact only.  Use a yard stick of around 10 mins or so effect.

These were the two prevalent questions I had... as you elude to, a shout like "push forward" was very ambiguous and to me suggested it may affect mentality for player/team or my D-line setting etc.

I hadn't really considered 'no pressure' before, but immediately light bulb like... 'oh yeah I do tend to struggle when I've given a team talk like "a win today will seal the league"'

I will now start experimenting.

Excellent, thanks!

[Rashidi]

Fact is for more fundamental changes to the way your team plays changes in the TC and PIs have a more profound impact, I remain unconvinced that Touchline team talks play a big role. I've even worked hard to screw my side over at half time, confuse the living daylights out of them and lo and behold they still play like champions

8

[Bunkerossian]

I had the misconception that the Encourage TT could be used to take advantage of an upsurge in the team's performance that came after a long period of poor play.

[Hootieleece]

I never used any of them except "concentrate"(until just recently) and usually within the last 10 minutes of a half.  That one  seems to work because I am giving up less late goals.  I also tend to have teams with Professional or determined players so that probably helps as well.

[Rashidi]

There are so many elements in the game, TT are one of those I class like match preparation that provide momentary boosts to your sides performances.  It can work, and I believe that some people use it extensively.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Nothing better than a cheeky calm concentrate!

[fmFutbolManager]

Hi, @herne79 as always it's great when things like this get cleared, up, however, I think it has also added a level of confusion.

While it has clarified that all changes are motivational and affect the players' morale and body language as opposed to tweaking any tactical adjustments temporarily, what I don't understand is how using a touchline instruction of push forward, for example, can only affect players morale and not their tactical instructions. 

Now the in-game description is ambiguous at best, which is what we're perhaps used to these days, but it would be good to know if the shift in focus to attacking for push forward is purely a rallying call to the team to perhaps add a boost to their performance in the attacking sense. Because this along with tightening up is not an instruction you can give to an individual player, which makes me think there might be more to it under the hood then we're lead to believe?

Below are two screenshots that were taken at 10-minute intervals showing average position with the ball. I probably don't need to point out which one was whilst the push forward shout was active. I did this multiple times to rule out any variance in play and the results are the same. I'm not saying this is conclusive, but something is making the team as a whole push forward collectively, and whilst the team instructions might not show a shift in mentality, something is clearly shifting the team to do something outside of my normal tactical setup.

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by fmFutbolManager

[herne79]

3 minutes ago, fmFutbolManager said:

but it would be good to know if the shift in focus to attacking for push forward is purely a rallying call to the team to perhaps add a boost to their performance in the attacking sense. Because this along with tightening up is not an instruction you can give to an individual player, which makes me think there might be more to it under the hood then we're lead to believe?

 

On ‎17‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 17:19, herne79 said:

Touchline Team Talks affect player morale and body language, not tactical settings.

Nothing more under the hood, it is what it is.

I'd agree some of the in game descriptions might be a bit ambiguous and could perhaps use a tweak to be clearer, but there is nothing tactical going on.

And thanks for the bump, I'd forgotten to add it to the pinned guides.

[fmFutbolManager]

Okay, thanks. 

Some have said these changes are minor at best, but I'm clearly seeing via the analysis tab that they are quite dramatic, e.g., much higher average positions, more direct passes etc., and if it is all down to a bump in the morale of the players then this is a powerful boost to add.

I think I might do my own experiments to look at the affects of team behaviours using the pitch instructions. If this is anything to go by, then it's more than just a minor change. 

I know that in a vacuum the results would be more conclusive and there are a lot of variables that affect what happens on the pitch, but it's interesting nonetheless. Thanks for the quick reply.

Edited August 22, 2017 by fmFutbolManager

[Snorks]

Going to resurrect this thread with another question:

I'd be interested t know if you use the touchline shouts in-game for the whole team, or to individual players?

Obviously, the Concentrate and Calm Down ones are suitable for individuals, but the 'Push Forward', Show Passion or Demand More?

 

I tend to use them, but in a general overall kinda way - never think to use it on individuals.

[Snorks]

I rarely use them n individuals TBH, too many clicks and too much effort unless there is a very specific reason - Encourage a player after a dodgy penalty decision or error.

More a general 'Tighten Up' to defend a lead, 'Concentrate' if I see a few loose passes or "Push Forward' if chasing the game but the whole team gets it.

[Kuchiki]

It would be nice if this had more of an impact in the game at the moment I get the feeling that it barely impacts the outcome of a match at least for me personally. I'd prefer it if this feature either gets dropped from the game or plays more of an impact.

[phnompenhandy]

Problem for me is the way to use it totally undermines the idea of a 'touchline shout'. You need to fumble about with a minimum of 5 clicks, taking your eye of the match and frequently you lose the menu before you get to the final click because some action in the game knocks it out.

[Rashidi]

2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Problem for me is the way to use it totally undermines the idea of a 'touchline shout'. You need to fumble about with a minimum of 5 clicks, taking your eye of the match and frequently you lose the menu before you get to the final click because some action in the game knocks it out.

Don’t you use the small widget? At least that’s what I do if I feel the need to use a shout

[felley]

3 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Problem for me is the way to use it totally undermines the idea of a 'touchline shout'. You need to fumble about with a minimum of 5 clicks, taking your eye of the match and frequently you lose the menu before you get to the final click because some action in the game knocks it out.

There is of course a pause button

[phnompenhandy]

3 hours ago, Rashidi said:

Don’t you use the small widget? At least that’s what I do if I feel the need to use a shout

You mean top left, end of the row of widgets?

 

So I click the widget

I click the shout

I click 'select players'

I click 'all positions'

I click 'confirm'.

 

Hardly a spontaneous shout, is it?  

 

[parsdaft1982]

6 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

You mean top left, end of the row of widgets?

 

So I click the widget

I click the shout

I click 'select players'

I click 'all positions'

I click 'confirm'.

 

Hardly a spontaneous shout, is it?  

 

That the long way of doing it mate, all you need to do is press the shout and its automatically shouted to all players. You only select players if you want to give certain individuals a certain shout. 2 clicks job done.

[phnompenhandy]

4 minutes ago, parsdaft1982 said:

That the long way of doing it mate, all you need to do is press the shout and its automatically shouted to all players. You only select players if you want to give certain individuals a certain shout. 2 clicks job done.

Jayzuz, you're right! How did I never ever know that?  

[parsdaft1982]

9 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Jayzuz, you're right! How did I never ever know that?  

Honestly, took me a while to figure it out mate! But glad you now know!!

[Snorks]

44 minutes ago, parsdaft1982 said:

Honestly, took me a while to figure it out mate! But glad you now know!!

Me too lol.

[Seagullfan]

Those last few posts sum up the main problem with FM

[Dr.Y]

Hi, thanks for writing the article. My English is not very good, so I still didnt get the point about the last 3, how it works. For example, the "push forward" shout, can you explain more about how it effects the players morale? 

[Peter Morgan]

Not sure if this will help anyone, but I've found success with the 'Show some passion' shout to individual players with body language of yellow 'complacent'. Usually check back after 10-15 mins and it's changed to green 'Fired up by the feedback'.

[phd_angel]

On 23/05/2018 at 15:55, Snorks said:

I rarely use them n individuals TBH, too many clicks and too much effort unless there is a very specific reason - Encourage a player after a dodgy penalty decision or error.

More a general 'Tighten Up' to defend a lead, 'Concentrate' if I see a few loose passes or "Push Forward' if chasing the game but the whole team gets it.

I sometimes give individual shouts, for example, if his performance when scoring a goal is clearly superior to the rest of the team... Or, if the individual is being totally lazy/complacent whereas the rest is not.

[phd_angel]

The shout instructions seem pretty obvious to me.

What I'm left wondering is why my team gets "overwhelmed" or "frustrated" with a sensible shout (e.g., asking them to tighten up to secure advantage, or concentrate when level of mistakes is too high...). Before blaming us gamers, it may be that this feature needs some improvement in coding...

[Snorks]

I think it could be less sensitive, but I tend to only see it if it is nearing the end of the game, or if I have used more than my usual number of shouts.

[Sharkn20]

How can I get the widget of Morale / Body Language?

[FMunderachiever]

Whilst I cant for sure say whether there are positive effects of shouts to the players, I DO know from experience that if your team talk results in a red reaction in the dressing room, youre in real trouble.

Same as if you hold a team meeting and you get a red reaction.