What To Do First in Football Manager 26 (FM26 Guide)

Football Manager 26: The Complete Beginner’s Roadmap

After spending far too many hours ruining promising saves in the opening month, the breakthrough in Football Manager 26 came when I stopped winging the first week. FM26 throws a lot at you – new UI, deeper tactics, more staff options – and trying to learn it all on the fly usually ends with poor results and a quick sacking.

This guide lays out exactly what to do from the moment you hit “Start New Career” through your first in-game week. Follow it step by step and you’ll:

• Choose the right type of save (Quick Start vs Advanced Setup)
• Pick a forgiving first club instead of a financial disaster
• Set staff responsibilities so you aren’t drowning in admin
• Learn the new FM26 interface and bookmark key screens
• Build a simple, effective first tactic using your best players
• Use 3-4 friendlies to test ideas before competitive games

Estimated time to set up properly: 2–3 real-life hours spread over your first play session. It feels slow, but it saves your save.

Step 1 – Pick the Right Career Setup (Quick Start vs Advanced)

The very first choice in FM26 is how big and detailed your game world will be. This matters more than it looks, especially for performance and long-term fun.

Quick Start Career

• Game auto-loads the most relevant leagues for your chosen club.
• Minimal decisions – you’re in a job within 5–10 minutes.
• Perfect if you’re on a weaker PC, a laptop, or just testing the game.
• Less flexibility for long-term journeyman saves.

Advanced Setup Career

• You choose exactly which countries, leagues and tiers are loaded.
• Control realism settings, budgets and database size.
• Ideal for long-term, story-driven saves.
• Takes around 20–30 minutes to configure the first time.

My recommendation: Use Advanced Setup unless you’re on mobile or just quickly testing features. That extra setup time pays off over hundreds of in-game hours.

Step → Select Advanced Setup on the career screen.
Action → Load your main nation (all playable tiers) plus 2–4 nearby leagues as “view only” to keep performance smooth.
Result → A rich world to manage in without bogging down your machine.

Step 2 – Choose a Forgiving First Club

I wasted early saves by picking basket-case clubs with no money and sky-high expectations. Fun for veterans, brutal for beginners.

When browsing clubs in either Quick Start or Advanced Setup, pay attention to:

• Predicted Finish: Aim for a mid-table team, not title favourites or relegation candidates.
• Finances: Look for “OK” or better. Avoid “Insecure” or “In Debt” at the start.
• Squad depth: Check if key positions (GK, CB, DM/CM, ST) have at least two decent options.
• Facilities: Better training and youth facilities make life easier long term.

Tip: For a first FM26 save, a stable, mid-table club with some budget is far better than a giant under pressure to win everything.

Step → On the club selection screen, sort by predicted finish and finances.
Action → Pick a club expected to finish mid-table with at least “Okay” finances.
Result → A realistic target that gives you room to learn and still impress the board.

Step 3 – Create Your Manager Profile (Without Gimping Yourself)

Before you step into the dugout, FM26 has you build a manager profile: appearance, nationality and, crucially, coaching badges and experience level.

• Badges & Experience: These affect your starting attributes and how players respect you.
• Nationality & Languages: Can help with squad relationships and future jobs.
• Preferred Style: Influences your default tactical lean, but you’re not locked into it.

For a first save, lean toward at least a mid-level badge and experience instead of starting as a total unknown with no qualifications. You’re here to learn the game, not suffer unnecessarily.

Step → Choose a moderate coaching badge and experience level rather than the very lowest.
Action → Spend your attribute points evenly across tactical, technical and mental coaching fields.
Result → Players respond better, and training feedback becomes more useful from day one.

Step 4 – Set Staff Responsibilities (Start as a Head Coach)

This is the screen new players skip, and it’s why they burn out. FM26 lets you decide what you do and what your staff handle: contracts, transfers, scouting, training and more.

The safest way to learn FM26 is simple: start as a hands-off head coach. Focus on tactics and matches, and delegate the heavy admin.

Delegate these at the start:

• Contracts: Renewals and negotiations to your Director of Football or trusted staff.
• Transfers: You set targets and priorities; staff handle final negotiations.
• Scouting: Assign recruitment focuses; let scouts bring you options.
• Training Schedules: Hand daily planning to your assistant or best coach.
• Youth Development: Let your Head of Youth Development manage youth offers.

Keep these for yourself:

• Tactical setup (formations, instructions, roles)
• Matchday tactics and in-game changes
• Starting line-up and rotation
• Major long-term decisions (selling stars, changing philosophies)

Step → Go to Staff → Responsibilities as soon as you take the job.
Action → Set yourself to control tactics, selection and match prep; delegate the rest.
Result → A manageable workload that lets you actually enjoy the core of the game.

Step 5 – Learn the New FM26 UI and Use Bookmarks

FM26 has a redesigned interface that can feel alien even if you played previous versions. The biggest time-saver I found was forcing myself to explore it properly before my first match.

The key feature is the Bookmark Bar at the top-right. Anything you open often – Training, Staff Responsibilities, Tactics – can be pinned there.

Spend 15–20 minutes exploring the interface before your first competitive game. It feels like a delay; it actually saves hours later.

• Open every main section on the left-hand nav once: Squad, Tactics, Training, Medical, Scouting, Transfers, Club Info.
• Whenever you think “I’ll need this a lot”, add it to the bookmark bar.
• Aim for 5–7 bookmarks you’ll actually use regularly.

Recommended bookmarks for beginners: Squad, Tactics, Training, Staff Responsibilities, Scouting, Transfers.

Step → Open a key screen (e.g. Tactics) and add it to the bookmark bar.
Action → Repeat for all screens you use weekly.
Result → One-click access to the parts of FM26 you actually care about, with far less menu hunting.

Step 6 – Do a Proper Squad and Staff Review

The worst mistake is jumping straight to tactics without understanding your players. Your system should fit your squad, not the other way round.

Squad review checklist:

• Go to Squad → Players and sort by ability and position.
• Open each key player and read their Coach Report and attributes.
• Identify:
  • Your best goalkeeper
  • Two best centre-backs
  • Best defensive midfielder or central midfielder
  • Best creator (AMC/winger) and best striker
• Note any obvious gaps (no left-back depth, no natural DM, etc.).

Staff review basics:

• Open Staff → Coaches and check qualifications (badges) and attributes.
• Early on, aim for a simple structure:
  • One defensive coach
  • One attacking coach
  • One fitness coach
  • One youth coach
• Request coaching badge upgrades for weaker staff when the board allows it.

Step → Tag 4–5 players as “Key Player” or “Important Player” based on ability.
Action → Build your initial tactic around these players’ natural positions and strongest roles.
Result → A system that suits your squad instead of forcing square pegs into round holes.

Step 7 – Build a Simple, Effective First Tactic

FM26 splits tactics more clearly into In Possession and Out of Possession phases. It’s powerful, but it tempts players into over-complicating everything. Do not try to be Pep Guardiola immediately.

Start with one main system built around your best players and keep it as simple as possible.

Recommended starter formations:

• 4-2-3-1 – Great if you have a strong attacking midfielder/number 10.
• 4-3-3 DM (4-1-2-2-1) – Very stable if you have a good defensive midfielder.

Starter tactic template (example – 4-2-3-1):

• Mentality: Balanced
• In Possession: Shorter passing, fairly narrow, high tempo (or default if unsure).
• Out of Possession: Standard line, standard press, don’t overcommit at first.
• Roles (simple set-up):
  • GK – Goalkeeper (Defend)
  • Full-backs – Full-Back (Support)
  • Centre-backs – Central Defender (Defend)
  • DM/CMs – One on Defend, one on Support
  • Wingers – Winger/Inside Forward (Support)
  • AMC – Attacking Midfielder (Support or Attack)
  • ST – Advanced Forward (Attack)

Golden rule: Make small changes, one at a time. If you change mentality, shape and pressing all at once, you won’t know what actually helped or hurt.

Step → Pick one formation that suits your best players and save it as your main tactic.
Action → Use mostly default roles and team instructions, tweak one or two things per match based on what you see.
Result → A solid, learnable tactical base you can gradually refine instead of a chaotic mess.

Step 8 – Use Friendlies Properly Before Competitive Matches

Pre-season is where you test ideas without getting sacked. FM26 also leans more on player relationships and connections, which develop through time on the pitch together.

• Schedule or accept at least 3–4 friendlies before your first competitive match.
• Use them to:
  • Test your tactic in real matches.
  • Build match fitness and sharpness.
  • Develop player connections in key areas (CB pairings, midfield triangle, front three).
  • Spot glaring tactical weaknesses early.
• Rotate carefully – keep your core XI playing together regularly.

Step → Check your pre-season calendar under Schedule and add friendlies if needed.
Action → Treat them like experiments: watch extended highlights and note what consistently goes wrong or right.
Result → A better-prepared squad and a tactic that’s already battle-tested before the real games start.

Common Beginner Mistakes (and Fast Fixes)

• Skipping staff responsibilities
  Problem: You drown in emails, negotiations and training tweaks.
  Fix: Immediately delegate contracts, transfers, scouting and training. Focus on tactics and matches.
• Overcomplicating tactics
  Problem: Ten different instructions, three formations, no consistency.
  Fix: One main tactic, simple roles, balanced mentality. Change one element at a time.
• Ignoring attributes
  Problem: Picking players by position or reputation, not quality.
  Fix: Check key attributes for each role (e.g. Positioning and Tackling for defenders, Vision and Passing for creators).
• Massive tactical changes between games
  Problem: You never know what’s working because everything changes constantly.
  Fix: Keep your core shape and style, only tweak a couple of instructions based on opponents.
• Skipping friendlies
  Problem: Poor fitness, no chemistry, confused tactic when the league kicks off.
  Fix: Play at least 3–4 friendlies; treat them as live testing sessions.
• Picking a club in crisis
  Problem: No money, awful squad, angry board. Not fun as a first save.
  Fix: Choose a financially stable, mid-table club to learn the ropes.

Your First In-Game Week: Suggested Timeline

This is the structure I now follow every time I start a serious FM26 save. It keeps things manageable and stops me from forgetting key steps.

• Day 1 – Setup & Orientation (1–2 hours)
  • Create manager profile.
  • Use Advanced Setup unless your device is weak.
  • Pick a stable, mid-table club.
  • Configure staff responsibilities (start as a head coach).
  • Spend 15–20 minutes exploring the UI and adding bookmarks.
• Day 2 – Squad & Staff Review (1–2 hours)
  • Review every key player, read coach reports.
  • Identify your best XI and main backups.
  • Check coaches and request badge upgrades where possible.
  • Note obvious squad gaps for later transfer windows.
• Day 3–4 – Build and Refine Your Tactic (1–2 hours)
  • Choose 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 DM based on your best roles.
  • Keep instructions simple and balanced.
  • Set training focus to match your tactic (e.g. attacking movement, defensive shape).
• Day 5–7 – Friendlies & Adjustments (2–3 hours)
  • Play 3–4 friendlies.
  • Watch highlights, note repeated issues (space in behind, lack of width, etc.).
  • Tweak one thing at a time – mentality, line, role – and test again.

Advanced Tweaks Once You’re Comfortable

After a season or once you feel at home in FM26, start adding layers.

• Database depth: In Advanced Setup, add more nations and lower tiers to create better scouting networks and journeyman opportunities.
• Realism sliders: Tighten financial realism, adjust work permit strictness or tweak injury frequency to your taste.
• More control: Gradually take over scouting assignments, contract renewals and detailed training.
• Secondary tactics: Add a defensive or more attacking variant of your main system rather than inventing something completely new.

Build up to the full “hands-on manager” experience instead of diving straight into it and burning out.

Printable Quick-Start Checklist

Use this as a one-page reminder whenever you start a new FM26 save:

• □ Choose Advanced Setup (unless on mobile/weak device).
• □ Load main nation + 2–4 nearby leagues (view only).
• □ Pick a mid-table, financially stable club.
• □ Create manager with reasonable badges/experience.
• □ Set staff responsibilities – you handle tactics and selection only.
• □ Spend 15–20 minutes exploring UI and setting bookmarks.
• □ Review squad: identify best XI and key backups.
• □ Review staff: basic defensive, attacking, fitness and youth coverage.
• □ Build one simple main tactic (4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 DM).
• □ Schedule or confirm 3–4 pre-season friendlies.
• □ Use friendlies to test tactic and build player connections.
• □ Make small, incremental tactical tweaks based on what you see.

TL;DR – Beginner Roadmap for FM26

If nothing else sticks, remember this flow:

• 1. Use Advanced Setup and a mid-table club so you have a forgiving environment.
• 2. Start as a head coach: delegate contracts, transfers, scouting and training; you focus on tactics and matches.
• 3. Spend 15–20 minutes learning the new FM26 UI and bookmarking key screens.
• 4. Thoroughly review your squad before touching tactics; build your system around your best players.
• 5. Keep your first tactic simple and balanced – don’t try to be Pep Guardiola immediately.
• 6. Play 3–4 friendlies to test and refine your tactic before competitive fixtures.
• 7. Avoid big tactical overhauls; change one thing at a time and learn from the results.

Follow this structure and your first FM26 save stops being overwhelming and starts feeling like what it’s meant to be: a long-term story where you know what you’re doing from the very first week.