Half time team talks

Theafonis

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What actually happens during half time team talks?

If you're a manager and your team is losing 3-0, do you just scream at the players to wake up?

How often are talks like this

 
Theafonis said:
What actually happens during half time team talks?

If you're a manager and your team is losing 3-0, do you just scream at the players to wake up?

How often are talks like this

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That particular video has been used for well over a decade now as an example of exactly what not to do in a team talk. Its used on UEFA A, B and pro license courses, its used by FA's all over the world in their own national coaching courses and education systems. Its also used in broader coaching courses as an example of how not to coach.
Sadly a lot of fans think that this sort of thing is exactly whats needed when in actual fact its an appalling example of a completely clueless coaching approach.

Player education also means that most players today wont accept this sort of thing. Despite some who think that sports teams are a unique work environment the reality is that nobody should ever have to be subjected to this sort of abuse.
 
Apparently Wenger says bugger all. Let's the players cool down and reflect on what happened in first half before saying useless drivel for a minute.

Probably why we tend to concede a lot after second half kick off over the years
 
I'd like to know what Allegri says at HT. That second half from Juve in the UCL final was something else :lol:

On a more serious note, Keane praised Sir Alex (!) in his book for saying exactly what he often felt about a match at HT. The best managers simply 'get' what's happening, what needs to be done and how to convey the message in those particular circumstances.

A lot of that knowledge comes from experience but some of it is pure astute observation. Fergie had that, not just during a match but also in long-term matters like replacing an ageing icon with a promising player at just the right time.
 
City Vs Hull, Phil Browns halftime team talk is on the pitch.

 
Personally being a little old fashioned, I don't mind Warnocks half time team talk other than the fact he's a pants manager and doesn't discuss anything of any real value. A verbal volley and roasting can sometimes do the world of good especially if the team are meandering and not following instructions.
 
jojojo said:
City Vs Hull, Phil Browns halftime team talk is on the pitch.

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What an embarrassing carry-on that was.

I think the Warnock one is known as the epitome of old school to the point of being outdated. I imagine that kind of bollocking still goes on lower down the football pyramid and very occasionally higher up but I would expect under-performing top teams to get tactical input from the manager and his coaching staff. Perhaps the cajoling/bollocking is best left to the captain and/or senior players who have also been out there.
 
As Stack says you're seeing a generational shift where the big bollocking is being phased out and, to be fair, wasn't really commonplace because players zone out from constant ranters and ravers.

It's more about a couple of key messages, either reiterating what was delivered previously or correcting an issue from the first 45. There's footage on youtube somewhere of the France dressing room at half time in the 1998 World Cup final. Despite the stage, there's no hysteria, it's all very calm and collected. Helps that they were winning, but there can be a misperception that it's all big Braveheart speeches.
 
Obviously don't have a clue, but I imagine a player or team getting bollocked these days results in them crying and trying to organise a mutiny rather than going out and winning.
 
Bollockings can work if you have a team that responds to that kind of anger. But how many teams are full of those kinds of players these days? It's died out because players are more fragile these days.

I expect most HTs are players being given time to reflect and cool down for the first few minutes, then the manager giving them specific instructions for things that need to change. These days I think team talks rely more on precise details rather than emotion.
 
All depends on context, who the players are, the situation and the manager themselves.. i.e. you need to know who you are as a coach and how you come across to the players.. i.e. a Rafa Benitez trying to come across as a hardman in the dressing room is going to come across an idiot so you have to play to your strengths and not expose yourself.

Sometimes in a game, it isn't tactics which is the issue so you do need to just focus on getting some fire into the players bellies and the extra work rate will translate itself into a better performance and in other games, you need to put in some tactical instructions which will change the course of the game. The best managers can do it all and can read the game, their players and give them exactly what is needed for that particular moment and sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all because you trust the players to discuss what is going wrong amongst themselves and to sort it out from within.

Half time is a key moment in any given game and the discussions in the dressing room or lack thereof can change the flow of a game.. as you're in the midst of the battle, you have a better understanding of your opponents tactics/conditioning and how your players are feeling on the day.. whereas pre match prep and pre-match talks are more presumptive and you're second guessing what you want to happen.

I can't remember many games under Fergie where we would have been shit in the second half, whereas with the current Arsenal side.. you can imagine Wenger if anything has a negative impact these days.
 
VeevaVee said:
Obviously don't have a clue, but I imagine a player or team getting bollocked these days results in them crying and trying to organise a mutiny rather than going out and winning.
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Unfollowing their manager on all social media platforms and liking YouTube videos by fan channels asking for the manager out.
 
'At the end of this game, the European Cup will be only six feet away from you, and you’ll not even able to touch it if we lose. And for many of you, that will be the closest you will ever get. Don’t you dare come back in here without giving your all.' (1999 European Cup final with Bayern Munich, half-time team-talk)

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In the 2009 League Cup final he told the players that, for some of them, it was their first final for United and for some of them it would be their last so they'd better go for the win.

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And asked how Ferguson handled his half-time team-talks, the Darren Fletcher said: "He was super calm, super relaxed. He believed in his players.

"He did his tactics, he did his team-talks. You didn't know what you were going to get. He could tell fantastic stories about his childhood or an ex-team or certain player.

"He was just a calming influence, pinpointed weaknesses in the opposition and then sat in the corner with a cup of tea and read the programme.

"He was just so relaxed and that transcended to the players. Sometimes at half-time our biggest rollockings came when we were winning and we were maybe being complacent.

"At times when we were losing it was the opposite effect, he calmed every one down and put a few simple tactics on the board and said 'that's how we'll get back in the match - go and do it'.

"He was just a master of the uncertainty, you didn't know what you were going to get."
 
Team talk I hear you say? Look no further than this.. sacking players at half time and offering them out for a fight. Classic Leyton Orient.

 
This is worth a watch too. Neil Warnock. That little shit Kevin Muscat really got him going.



Pissing myself as they are walking off the pitch and he makes it his business to tell each individual opposition player 'it serves you right for Muscat that' when they have just been beaten.
 
I suspect half-time team talks are built up to be more than they're really worth a lot of the time.

99% of the work is done by the time a team steps on to the pitch. At that point there's only so much influence a short speech at half time can have. As for the really dramatic, impassioned speeches, players probably only have to hear a handful before they zone out and stop listening to the manager. The bollockings are also probably less useful now too, partially because the players are softer and partially because most adults realise they don't have to let their boss scream at them for no good reason.

I would imagine the best half time speakers are quite calm most of the time, issuing clear and specific instructions to tweak things. The more cinematic or aggressive stuff would very much need to be the exception.

As Stack pointed out, that Warnock approach is exactly the wrong way to go about it.
 
Must be shite being a manager cos eventually one day you'll pull a blinder and say the right things to make your team come back from 4-0 down and win 5-4. But once you've played that card you can't play it again as it won't have the same effect.

It's like that one time we all pulled the 10/10 girl in a club, the same approach will fail 99/100 times but you just got lucky once.

I'm talking about you lot obviously, I can still pull 10/10 girls whenever I want. I'm also a massive liar guilty of elaboration.
 
Globule said:
Bollockings can work if you have a team that responds to that kind of anger. But how many teams are full of those kinds of players these days? It's died out because players are more fragile these days.

I expect most HTs are players being given time to reflect and cool down for the first few minutes, then the manager giving them specific instructions for things that need to change. These days I think team talks rely more on precise details rather than emotion.
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Not a group huddle where they all retreat to their safe place?
 
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