Play Smarter: A Practical FM Guide

📘 Introduction – Start by Understanding the Steps
Football Manager can feel overwhelming at first. With so many buttons, stats, and responsibilities, it’s easy to get lost — especially if you’re not the kind of player who enjoys building custom tactics or managing every little detail.

But here’s the truth:

You don’t need to master everything at once.
FM is a game that rewards step-by-step learning. There are some core things you must do to succeed — no matter your playstyle — and once you understand those, the rest will start to make sense.

This guide will walk you through the essential steps to enjoy and succeed at Football Manager, even if:

You’ve never created a tactic before.

You want to delegate most of the work to your staff.

You just want to focus on signings, results, and fun.

Think of it like managing a real football club. You don’t need to do everything yourself — but you do need to make the right decisions at the right time.

Let’s break FM down into manageable parts — one step at a time.

📘 Choosing Your Club – The First Real Decision

Let’s get one thing straight:
Football Manager is a single-player game. You don’t owe anyone anything.

So before you start thinking about realism, difficulty, or what challenge is “worthy” — just ask yourself one simple question:

👉 Am I going to enjoy this save?

Whether you pick a Champions League contender or a club fighting relegation, it doesn't really matter.
If you follow the right steps, both can be insanely fun and equally satisfying.

This isn’t about showing off.
This is about finding a save that makes you want to open FM again tomorrow.

Pick a save that motivates you.
You want to feel like logging in tomorrow, tweaking your lineup, making one more signing, playing one more match.
That’s the save you should play.

Once you’ve picked a club — or even if you’re just browsing for one — do this:
👉 Look at the players.
Not just the badge, the league, or the story.

For example, I always check the strikers.
If I see a forward with high Jumping Reach, I’m interested — because for me, the cow cross is a guarantee.
And let’s be honest:

There’s nothing better than watching your striker absolutely destroy worlds.

So yeah — pick a club that’s fun.
But make sure it also has a couple of players that fit your style.
Or at least one you can fall in love with.

And if it doesn’t?
That’s fine too — because that’s where rebuilds come in.
Sell what you don’t need, buy what you like, and shape the squad around your football.
That’s the magic of FM: you don’t just play the game — you build your own version of it.

And if you feel like sharing your save, your story, your club — do it.

Post it. Talk about it. Enjoy it.

And if someone comments “too easy” or “that club is OP”?
Let them cry in the corner.

Most of the time, people who say that are just bad at the game anyway.

This is your FM world.
Play it your way.

📘 You’ve Chosen Your Club – Now What?

✅ Step 1: Load a Tactic and Hit “Pick Best XI”
That’s it. No scouting, no training, no squad view.

I load a tactic I like (or even one I’m just curious to test),
I hit that magical “Pick Best XI” button,
and I let FM show me what it thinks my best team is.

And let’s be real for a second:

FM is coded with its feet, but sometimes that “best XI” gives you interesting surprises.

Sometimes you discover players you would’ve ignored.
Sometimes you realise you have no left-backs and need a miracle.

It’s the fastest way to get a snapshot of your team — not based on names or attributes,
but based on fit within a system.

✅ Step 2: Now I Start Looking at My Players
Once I’ve got the "Best XI" on the screen, I go through the players one by one.
And I don’t overcomplicate it — I follow a few simple rules based on where they play.

For example:

🧱 Central roles (strikers, CBs, DMs, etc.):

I always check Jumping Reach first.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know:
JR is king.
Whether it’s for attacking headers or defensive stability, I want players who dominate the air. The cow cross lives and breathes through this.

🏃‍♂️ Wide players (wingers, full-backs, wing-backs):

I check for Pace, Acceleration, Crossing, and Dribbling.
If they can’t run or beat a man, they’re not making it in my system.
Simple as that.

This quick filtering gives me a clear picture of:

-Who fits

-Who needs replacing

-And where I might need to adapt my tactic

🎯 BUT — there’s one exception:
When it comes to central midfielders and attacking midfielders (CM/AM),
I want technicians.

First Touch, Passing, Technique, Vision.
Players who can actually play football, not just run and fight.

These are the guys who connect everything.
If they’re clumsy, the whole system feels off.
If they’re silky, it all clicks.

And why is that important?

Because even if you’re playing a meta tactic,
if your central players lose the ball in the wrong areas —

BANG — you’re exposed.
Transitions kill you. Counters punish you.
All it takes is one bad touch in midfield and the highlight ends with your keeper on the floor.

So yeah, you want athletes on the wings, monsters up front —
But in the middle, give me brains and feet.
Always.

🔻 One last thing before we move on:
Let’s say you’ve analysed your squad,
you know who fits what —
…but then you decide to play that super mega elite ultra plug-and-play tactic from JoshDaly (😉 sarcasm),
and you drop your slow, aggressive, zero-tech CM into a Volante role.

Well, my friend…

Expect that guy to underperform like hell.

Don’t act surprised when he has a 6.4 average, disappears from matches, or gives away counters.

He’s not a Volante.
He’s barely a footballer in that role.

Roles matter.
Stats matter.
Fit matters.

Yes, you can tweak and train over time —
but don’t expect magic just because the shape is meta.

So yeah — even meta tactics can (and often do) work better
if you adapt the roles to your players.

You can totally download a plug-and-play setup and just watch the matches.
That’s fine.
But at the very least, you need to understand what each player is doing inside that system.

Because if you don’t know what a role demands,
you won’t notice when your guy is doing the exact opposite.

Get to know your players.
Know their strengths.
And know what the tactic is asking from them.

That’s how even a downloaded tactic becomes your tactic.

✅ Step 3: Before the Season Starts – Fix What Matters
Now that you’ve understood your team, your tactic, and your roles,
it’s time to set up your foundation.

Don’t click “Continue” just yet.

There are a few things to clean up before your season starts —
and first up is: Staff.

🔧 Coaches – Focus Where It Matters
Here’s how I do it — always:

Fitness

Attacking

Defending

These are the three areas I want to be top-tier.
Why? Because these are the sessions that actually build your tactic’s core.

Everything else — mental, technical, goalkeeping —
I only care about it if I have spare staff slots to fill and good ratings to maximize overall workload.

You don’t need a “supercoach” that’s good at everything.
You need 3 coaches who are excellent in the specific area you care about.

That’s it. Keep it lean. Keep it efficient.

🧠 Individual Training – Either Go All-In or Just Delegate
Let’s be real:
If you don’t care about individual training — just give it to your assistant.

That’s what I do. Always.
I play fast, I want to move through seasons, and guess what?

Players still develop.

FM isn’t going to ruin your save just because you’re not manually setting every trait or role.
So here’s the rule:

👉 If you’re going to follow it closely — great. Set roles, focus areas, and new traits.
👉 If not? Delegate it.
Simple.

No shame. No stress.
Just make sure someone’s handling it, or you’ll end up with random, useless development.

🛌 Training Rest & Recovery – Manage It or Suffer
Here’s another thing most people skip — and it costs them games:

👉 Set how your players rest.

Go into the training tab → Rest →
and assign rest days based on condition and match load.
Or do it manually during intense weeks.

Your player’s condition depends on this.
Not just match fitness — but how sharp and fresh they feel every 3 days.

And let’s be honest…
Sometimes it feels like the players are trying to sabotage you.

So you need to help them survive.
Set the rest correctly, give them breathing room between matches,
and you’ll get better performances, fewer injuries, and higher consistency.

🎥 Bonus Tip – Want to See It in Action?
You can find a full recap of everything I’ve just explained —
from coaches to training rest — in this video:

👉 Link

Sometimes it’s easier to just see the screens and workflow in real time.
Watch it, steal what works for you, and ignore the fluff.

✅ Step 4: You Downloaded a Meta Tactic – But You Still Suck. Why?
You went on Discord, Reddit or YouTube.
You downloaded that meta tactic — the one with 147 goals and 5 conceded.
You loaded it in.
And now…

You’re conceding goals from every possible hole in the pitch.

Why?

Simple:
Your players suck. And your squad build is trash.
There, I said it.

Before screaming “this tactic is broken” or “the match engine is scripted” —
take a second and ask yourself:
👉 What did I mess up?

FM isn’t plug-and-play.
Yes, a meta tactic helps — but if you put a 162cm gnome as your Target Forward,

you’re going to drop points. And lose brain cells.

Bad attributes = bad results.
No aerial presence, no defensive awareness, no speed on the flanks?
Well, even the best tactic can’t fix that.

Tactics matter.
But team building matters more.

🧠 Mentality, Match Context & Actually Using Your Brain
Look — if you see your players aren’t handling the "Attacking" mentality well,
switch to Balanced.
There’s no shame in adapting. In fact, that’s what smart managers do.

We all know that away games are hell in FM.
So if you love points more than pride, change things. Try different mentalities.
Test what works — especially when your players aren’t elite.

Flexibility wins more games than pride.

Now let’s talk about this:

“I knew the tactic was bad after 5 minutes into the match.”

Well my friend…
You’ve understood nothing about this game.

One bad highlight, one early goal conceded — that tells you nothing.
What matters is how your team behaves over time:

Do they create chances consistently?

Are the roles functioning in your shape?

Do you lose control, or just get unlucky?

Stop judging tactics like they’re TikToks.
FM is a slow burn.
If you don’t give things time to develop, you’ll never really learn what works.

✅ Step 5: Shouts – The Secret Sauce You’re Ignoring
Let’s be honest:
Most people just watch the match and scream at the screen.
But in FM, you’ve got a tool that actually lets you scream at your players — and it works.

👉 Shouts matter. A lot.

Or to be more accurate —

One shout matters: Demand MORE 😅

It’s the only one most players ever use.
Hammer that button enough times and maybe, just maybe, your inverted wing-back will start doing something useful.

But jokes aside —
Shouts are powerful when used right. They influence body language, reactions, and momentum.