Football Manager guide appropriate for beginners on how to start your new career save on FM. Help with tactics, shortlist and more.
Have you ever wondered what the best way to start your new Football
Manager career save is?
Where to start first? How you can get the best out of your players from the
get-go?
Well, the following FM blog will take you through some areas which should help you get started; setting up shortlists, tactics, coaching team and your first/U21’s and youth squads.
There are certain habits you develop when starting a new save in Football Manager, and you might not even realise you do the same things each time, or you may wonder why you’re not doing as well as you could do.
So I will take you through the process I go through of starting a new football manager game.
When starting a new football manager save, there is always the temptation to get on with the game and press ‘Continue’.
But I think to get off to the best start possible and maximise your pre-season, there are certain elements you need to look at. Especially if you want to achieve the highest fitness levels, have your team comfortable with the tactics you want to play, and not miss out on that key player who will improve your team.
Setting your shortlist up as early as possible, identifying the targets you
would like to pursue makes sure that you do not miss out on a club making a
bid or being interested in them without you knowing.
Obviously, you can add players to your shortlist as the season goes on, and you will do with your scouts recommending players to you, but the main thing is to come up with a list of players you would like to monitor and potentially make a bid for.
The earlier you can make your signings, the more time they have to settle in your club and get to know their teammates.
Imagine getting to the end of the summer window, and your main striker picks up a long-term injury; you need to find a new prolific goalscorer and are devastated to realise that Ciro Immobile has already signed for your arch-rivals for £15million.
Season over before it’s even begun.
At this stage, you could also assign your scouts to go out and find players for you, but I leave that responsibility to my chief scout to organise who goes where.
Well, the following FM blog will take you through some areas which should help you get started; setting up shortlists, tactics, coaching team and your first/U21’s and youth squads.
There are certain habits you develop when starting a new save in Football Manager, and you might not even realise you do the same things each time, or you may wonder why you’re not doing as well as you could do.
So I will take you through the process I go through of starting a new football manager game.
When starting a new football manager save, there is always the temptation to get on with the game and press ‘Continue’.
But I think to get off to the best start possible and maximise your pre-season, there are certain elements you need to look at. Especially if you want to achieve the highest fitness levels, have your team comfortable with the tactics you want to play, and not miss out on that key player who will improve your team.
1) Setup your shortlist
Obviously, you can add players to your shortlist as the season goes on, and you will do with your scouts recommending players to you, but the main thing is to come up with a list of players you would like to monitor and potentially make a bid for.
The earlier you can make your signings, the more time they have to settle in your club and get to know their teammates.
Imagine getting to the end of the summer window, and your main striker picks up a long-term injury; you need to find a new prolific goalscorer and are devastated to realise that Ciro Immobile has already signed for your arch-rivals for £15million.
Season over before it’s even begun.
At this stage, you could also assign your scouts to go out and find players for you, but I leave that responsibility to my chief scout to organise who goes where.
RELATED: Football Manager 2022 Wonderkids Shortlist
Once your team becomes used to the formations, add the third tactic for them to train so that you have different options at your disposal if needed. This may not be until the season starts, which is fine.
My preferred formations are a 4-2-3-1 with 2 holding midfielders protecting the back four, allowing your fullbacks to attack and overlap the attacking midfielders.
The second tactic I set up is a 4-5-1; this is a tactic I like to deploy against the bigger teams when you need to bolster the midfield and try to dominate possession.
2) Setting up your tactics
I tend to set up two formations at the start of the game that are likely to
be the main ones I use throughout the season. This enables your squad to
start training on and becoming more comfortable with them immediately.
Once your team becomes used to the formations, add the third tactic for them to train so that you have different options at your disposal if needed. This may not be until the season starts, which is fine.
My preferred formations are a 4-2-3-1 with 2 holding midfielders protecting the back four, allowing your fullbacks to attack and overlap the attacking midfielders.
The second tactic I set up is a 4-5-1; this is a tactic I like to deploy against the bigger teams when you need to bolster the midfield and try to dominate possession.
RELATED: Guide on how to install Football Manager tactics in your game
The more high-quality coaches you have, the more your players will reap the rewards and make improvements to their attributes.
The coaching team’s workload should be 3½ stars/light workload; this allows more specialised coaching for your players from the youth team through to the first team.
The earlier you set this up in the game, the earlier you see improvements and developments in your players.
If you enjoy bringing youth team players through, then make sure your youth team coaches are good enough to develop the players. If you don’t focus on this, then don’t worry too much about who you employ for your lower ranks.
3) Coaching team
Have a look at your coaching team and how many staff your board allows you
for each staffing position. This helps you understand where you can expand
and improve on.
The more high-quality coaches you have, the more your players will reap the rewards and make improvements to their attributes.
The coaching team’s workload should be 3½ stars/light workload; this allows more specialised coaching for your players from the youth team through to the first team.
The earlier you set this up in the game, the earlier you see improvements and developments in your players.
If you enjoy bringing youth team players through, then make sure your youth team coaches are good enough to develop the players. If you don’t focus on this, then don’t worry too much about who you employ for your lower ranks.
RELATED: Football Manager 2022 Best Coaches
Evaluating your first team, as well as your B team and U21’s and youth team,
is a good way to begin before deciding on which areas you need to improve on.
You may have a gem in your U18’s that you decide you would like to develop and introduce to the first team rather than spend your transfer budget on a proven player.
Your U21 squad may have a couple of fringe players, who you want to be more involved with the first team as squad players. You could put these players into your first-team squad, or B team if you have one, but make them available for the U21’s to allow them game time and match fitness.
Analyse each position and determine if you have enough cover or whether you need to dip into the transfer market. Make the players who you don’t see being involved in your first squad available for loan and offer them to clubs.
When offers come in, make sure they are going to a club their current ability suits the most.
4) Evaluate players from all the squads
You may have a gem in your U18’s that you decide you would like to develop and introduce to the first team rather than spend your transfer budget on a proven player.
Your U21 squad may have a couple of fringe players, who you want to be more involved with the first team as squad players. You could put these players into your first-team squad, or B team if you have one, but make them available for the U21’s to allow them game time and match fitness.
Analyse each position and determine if you have enough cover or whether you need to dip into the transfer market. Make the players who you don’t see being involved in your first squad available for loan and offer them to clubs.
When offers come in, make sure they are going to a club their current ability suits the most.
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| You can see which league they should be playing in by looking at the report for the player. |
Also, when the offers do come in for them, make sure they are getting a minimum of regular first-team football.
Conclusion
There are plenty of other parts of the game which you can do to set yourself up and have a great season, but the above points are a good start to get you up and running.
