Football Manager 2012 Diary: Sunderland Is the First Big Test

Talking to players can lead to big trouble, something that I learned after a rather disastrous first half clash with Sunderland when it seemed like my superstar team was ready to loose because I told them to relax too much.

Apart from Steven Gerard, who will be out for another couple of months, I had a perfect team lined up and ready to go: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel (Carragher is too damn old), Enrique, Adam, Henderson, Lucas Leiva, Downing, Suarez and Caroll.

Given that the opposition seemed a bit demoralized (low morale seems to be a big problem for all teams) I told the team to just go out and enjoy their football, confident that their quality would lead to a victory.

Then I made the mistake of saying that I expected a solid performance when speaking just to the midfield players, which quickly led to a big confusion for the entire team.

I always thought that morale and team feeling was less important in the Football Manager series than the actual value of players but my first half against Sunderland quickly proved this wrong as my attackers and midfielders missed all their changes while my demoralized defense led Sunderland score one goal to give them the lead.

I chose to be passionate during the half time talk, telling the player that they had the chance to turn the result around and save their face, while motivating my two attackers to score.

I also brought Kuyt in to give my team some experience in the attacking third and, after another 45 minutes, the scoreline was 3 to 1 for Liverpool, with Suarez, Kuyt and Caroll all getting on the score sheet.

I commended my players for their ability and their solid teamwork and scribbled down a note to pay more attention to the speeches I make and their final effects.