“I have made so many mistakes,” Nuno Espirito Santo tells Sky Sports. “So, so many.” He is talking about the half-time team talk, one of football coaching’s enduring mysteries. Despite the game’s evolution, that 15-minute interval still matters.
Support structures around managers have grown — more staff, more ideas, more data — but when the half-time whistle sounds one person must cut through the noise and find the right words. Eamon Devlin, founder of Minute9 and a PhD researcher studying elite football half-times, has found that many coaches get those words wrong. His work highlights a gap: while managers often focus on what went wrong, players want practical guidance on how to fix it. With so little time, messages must be concise, clear and delivered when players can actually absorb them.
Nuno has developed a routine. “For the players, in that moment, it is about silence. Silence, recovery and physiotherapy,” he says. After 45 minutes of intense focus, players are tired physically and mentally; the first priority is to help them breathe, settle and recover, creating the mental space to listen. Unai Emery shares a similar approach: “I like to let the players calm down,” he tells Sky Sports. He gives five minutes for players to see the doctor, kitman or physios — and for himself to gather his thoughts.
Minute9’s data shows the average elite half-time team talk lasts six minutes 23 seconds, but evidence suggests the optimal window is between one and three minutes. Players have a limited capacity to process information under adrenaline, so shorter messages and targeted one-on-one exchanges are more effective. Coaches must also manage multicultural dressing rooms; instantaneous translation tools are increasingly used to make instructions clear.
“The window of attention is short and it has to be accurate,” Nuno says. Long speeches lose impact; everything must be solved quickly and precisely. He may tweak formation or focus on fine details, but insists real preparation happens before kick-off. “You cannot fix a game at half-time. You can only adjust.”
Emery, famed for his detailed weekday sessions, likewise favours brevity at the break. “Once they are settled, I try to give them short messages, either tactical messages or something that I think will motivate them.” That balance between tactical instruction and psychological lift is a core skill. Emery often uses brief motivational cues — “One more push,” or reminding a player they are central to winning the match — to restore confidence and extract peak performance.
Devlin describes elite coaches as having multiple “records” they can play depending on the situation; choosing the right one is crucial. Nuno says the message must feel natural rather than scripted. He uses a range of tools: reading the room, drawing on a board, or sometimes saying nothing at all. Even a sharp gesture — kicking a bucket, for example — can jolt a team into action when used sparingly.
Minute9 also warns that emotionally charged speeches lose power if overused, and coaches often talk more when losing because of their own nerves, which can overwhelm players with information. With over 1,600 games between them, Nuno and Emery rarely fall into that trap. Devlin’s research may help newer coaches accelerate their learning, but making mistakes and adapting remains part of the job.
Five key questions for coaches from the Minute9 half-time toolbox
– Who (really) needs to be in the dressing room at half-time? Subs? Owners? Chairmen?
– How long does it take players (and coaches) to be sufficiently settled to hear a half-time message? It is at least five minutes.
– How are the coaches finding out what the players know and feel about the first half?
– In addition to video clips, what visual aids do players have access to at half-time? (e.g. specific stats players value and want to see)
– What is the ONE THING coaches want players to remember for the entire second half? (e.g. the intensity of the press)