First Thoughts
on FM26
Well, what an anti-climax.
Two years of excited anticipation dissipated into disappointment, frustration, and disillusionment when Sports Interactive released far and away the worst-ever iteration of Football Manager, prompting uproar online, thousands of negative reviews, and refund requests from a distraught fan base.
I apologise for the radio silence since the FM26 BETA; my writing has always been predicated on a joy in playing, which is sadly not there at the moment. I have had a blank ‘draft’ tab open since the BETA dropped, but found no inspiration to add to it.
This post shares my thoughts so far: the positives, the challenges, and how it impacts Ponta de Lança FM.
Positives
Database
At its core, FM26 is a Football Manager game with an updated database for the 2025/26 season. Declan Rice & Kai Havertz are no longer making their debuts at the start of a save. All of our favourite stars are there, as well as a new generation we have yet to discover. After two years of waiting, this is not something to be overlooked.
Match Engine
Beyond the obvious glitches and well-documented functionality issues, the core Match Engine remains a mostly accurate simulation of real football. Graphics look nice, although it does feel like the 2D pitch so many of us know and love is being phased out.
Tactical Flexibility
In-possession / out-of-possession - or iPOOP, as I’ve seen it referred 😂 - offers huge potential tactical flexibility, which simply did not exist before.
Zonally balanced out-of-possession shape with a more fluid, relational in-possession shape creates beautiful ‘combined’ shapes, crying out for Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri to break through.
We can finally play a Wide Attacking Midfielder, a winger out of possession, and a ‘Number 10’ in possession.
Challenges
Many functionality issues are well-documented among the community.
The two functionality issues that impact my enjoyment most are removing Saved Team Selections and hiding Mentality.
Saved Team Selections
Removing Saved Team Selections has a massive impact on the way I manage my squad. Manually managing squad rotation - particularly for a large squad - on a game-by-game basis is a grind and subject to constant human error.
Really hope they add this sooner rather than later.
Mentality
The concept of Mentality long predates the Tactics Creator and dictates core player behaviour, but is obfuscated in the latest iteration.
FM26 Tactics Creator still shows us Team Mentality, but hides the impact on individual players, meaning we simply do not know how the mentality mechanism behaves.
I see three potential scenarios:
Team Mentality directly dictates all individual mentalities
Eg. Every player is Attacking in an Attacking team mentality
Team Mentality indirectly dictates individual mentalities
In-game advice in previous FMs always advised more Attack duties with a more Attacking team mentality. This may now be automatic, in which case Individual mentalities will be very extreme.
Team Mentality may now just be a label, like Team Shape has been for years, having no impact at all.
They are all very different outcomes with massive impacts on the way your team will play.
At the moment, we have no way of knowing which is correct.
Aesthetics
Beyond the glaring usability issues, FM26 shifted from aesthetic to brutalist visual.
As someone who enjoys using the Football Manager visuals to create engaging storytelling, FM26 is aesthetically a huge letdown.
Football Manager 2024 tactics creator represented team dynamics aesthetically, similarly to the way real teams are presented visually.
FM26 replaces this aesthetic with a more brutalist interface that looks - to me - more like something I would expect on a mobile phone than a computer.
..not to even mention the feeling when those relationships kick in 🤩
This doesn’t just look like a football team, but feels like one too.
Match Reports have gone from visual and engaging to an afterthought.
Visually soulless.
What next for Ponta de Lança FM?
The question I have been asking myself since the heartbreaking moment I first opened the BETA, and still don’t have an answer to.
At the moment, I feel trapped in a perpetual cycle where I see the ‘combined’ tactics screen and want to play..
..then I load up the game and want to throw my computer out of the window 😂
If FM26 was any other game, I would have refunded weeks ago, but it’s not any other game; it’s Football Manager.
As of right now, I plan to persevere with FM26. I trust that Sports Interactive is working around the clock to get FM26 to a playable state, so perhaps we will meet somewhere in the middle.
The FM Modding community offers a glimmer of hope. If not already, follow @BassyBoyo on Twitter. The guys are doing some incredible work, and there seems to be real potential there.
Plan B is - of course - to return to Football Manager 2024, but am reluctant to do so until sure FM26 is dead, as it will be difficult to go back.
Thank you
Thank you - as always, and actually more than ever - for supporting my writing ♥️
I am temporarily pausing all paid subscriptions until I find inspiration to return to my writing schedule.
All existing payments should now be paused. Please send me a message directly in case anyone continues to be charged, and I will find a way to reimburse you. Subscriptions will automatically resume when I resume writing.
How is everyone else getting on with FM26? Hope some of you are finding enjoyment. Comments open if anyone has advice!
Heartfelt thank you to all those who have supported my writing during Football Manager 2024, and I hope to be back soon!
Great writing totally agree a duff game :(
I really wish there was a way to export the FM26 database into 24. Resonate with everything you said! Loved your content so I’m hoping SI figure it out :)