Team gets overwhelmed when playing against higher reputation teams

[TommyKae]

Playing with Dinamo, an upper-middle reputation side. We play well against small teams, and by that I mean that the squad doesn't get complacent. But when we go up against higher-reputation sides - most recently Man Utd - the players become "overwhelmed". So says my assistant manager.
However, in previous seasons, we used to either lose by a small margin, draw and sometimes even beat teams with massive reputations (my 1:0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge comes to mind).
What am I doing wrong?
It's not that I have a squad full of youth players - the youngest first-team player is 21-years-old and I've also got veterans the likes of Artur Boruc, Ivica Olic, Ognjen Vukojevic and Edin Dzeko in my side. One would think that players like them wouldn't really be overwhelmed by players the likes Rooney or Messi or even Bafetimbi Gomis. But they do.
My guess is that this is down to my pre-game press talk, or even pre-game team talk. Any ideas? Suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[ajt09]

maybe try using the "no pressure" team talk-may help them relax a bit. I've used the "have faith in ability" and expect the same performance as last time one aswell. I've used them on certain players and its worked

 

[Meemo]

I find using "For the Fans" the most useful when facing big rep teams. Also, check your assistants team talk feedback to see what player responds to a certain kind of team talk.

 

[superbladesman]

If you need advice on team talks use this

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f72/woifsongs-teamtalk-guide-t29092.html

I found it very helpful

 

[TommyKae]

I know Wolfgang's guide by heart. These are all good suggestions and I've been using just those talks. It doesn't help, though. We keep getting run over.
Could it be down to the pre-game press conferences?
It's not my tactic either - I won the Europa League the previous season against all odds and made subtle adjustments so the AI doesn't "figure me out".
How about press conferences? How should I handle those? Not a lot of advice on them and I'm thinking that they could be pretty important.

 

[Meemo]

Press conferences do affect in-game performances for some players though I'm not sure how exactly. I always keep positive during conferences like saying that I'm confident that my team can win If we play well and things like that.