Football Manager has long mistaken a crowded tactics screen for tactical depth. We have always been allowed to create sophisticated systems, but whether the players understood any of it appeared to be somebody else’s administrative problem. You could take over a semi-professional club on Monday, introduce an asymmetric 3-2-5 with Read more
It is profoundly stupid to spend your evening scouting young footballers while allowing two perfectly good ones to leave because you have avoided reading your messages. It suggests a commitment to youth development which extends to almost every aspect of the process except keeping the youth. Welcome to the wonderful Read more
There is a moment every Football Manager player knows intimately. The ball hits the net, you are happy, the scoreline flips to 1-0, and then a cold, familiar dread settles in. Now you have something to lose. What to do next? For approximately three seconds, everything is wonderful. Then you Read more
Sometimes the most effective tactical adjustments are also the simplest. They are the kind of changes that sit in plain sight for months, quietly ignored because they seem too obvious to matter. In a simulation as complex as Football Manager, there is a persistent temptation to search for intricate solutions. Read more
In Football Manager 2026, developing a robust tactical framework is paramount to creating your tactical identity. Your tactical framework is the living organism that dictates how your team breathes, reacts, and imposes itself across every phase of play. The best managers throughout any iteration of the game don’t just copy-paste Read more
In Football Manager 2026, set pieces have finally caught up with the rest of the tactical evolution. With dual formations and more detailed set-piece assignments, short corners have become even more effective. A short corner is essentially a possession-based distribution choice. Instead of swinging a cross straight into a crowded Read more
Like a Pokémon, the tactical engine in Football Manager keeps evolving. New form, same DNA. Before FM26, your team shape was basically your defensive skeleton, the starting point for everything. Everything else; roles, instructions, opposition tweaks, was there to mould that skeleton, like a potter shaping clay on a spinning wheel. You could sense the game trying to mimic fluid football but still thinking like an accountant: one structure, several workarounds. FM26 changes that. It lets you design two distinct shapes that breathe with the match, expanding to attack, contracting to defend, turning your team into something alive rather than arranged.
Short corners remain a neglected aspect of the game despite a slew of improvements and innovations appearing to enhance the beautiful game. While they frequently frustrate stadium supporters when they fail to produce results, the perfect short corner kick routine can benefit any team by creating an overload before blasting the Read more
Brighton & Hove Albion have been the favourite team of offensive trainers since Roberto De Zerbi arrived and took control. De Zerbi’s Brighton team has become a joy to watch for football purists, with a heavy focus on positional play and rapid, complex passing. The team’s ability to transition from defence to Read more
References I wanted to put the references for this piece at the beginning (I can hear my lecturer at university wince in agony as I do it) as they all explain, at great length, the concepts behind the overall theory of Relationism. I’ve also included work from View From The Touchline, who Read more