Football Manager is a game that, when you have played it for months, years or even decades, is easy to master. When a new edition comes out, it takes even the expert a few weeks or months to discover the nuances of the new arrival.
However, there are a few mistakes you can make, especially in teambuilding, that can delay or even prevent you from being a success on FM. Here are just a few of my favourites:
Signing too many wonderkids
Let us get this out of the way first: signing wonderkids and turning them into world stars is one of the most satisfying aspects of the game. There is no better feeling than snapping up some unknown youngster for a small fee and seeing them grow.
However, signing too many wonderkids can be detrimental to your team. I have made this mistake in the past, where I have spent the majority of my transfer budget on wonderkids, then realised some of them are not ready for the first team, so I have had to loan them out.
This can mean you are short on players who can actually play in the first team, which obviously affects your team’s results.
Not having a balanced squad
Following on from the first point is not having a balanced squad. If you have too many young players, your team can often lack the leadership skills needed to win the big matches.
However, if you have a squad full of older players, their attributes start to decline, which can, over a season, really affect your team’s results. If they are coming to the end of their careers, then you will also have to start thinking about replacing them.
If there are too many at once, and you’re working with a small budget, this can prove challenging.
Therefore, when recruiting, think about futureproofing your team, and sign a mixture of ages, then you will always have a balanced team.
Signing too many players in one window
Even now, when playing, I can be guilty of this one. Everybody wants that shiny new player to get you excited by your team again. However, in your rush to strengthen every position in your squad, be careful to avoid the mistake of bringing in too many players.
This can not only harm the chemistry of your team, which is vital, but also lead to problems later in the season. For instance, if you make too many signings, it will affect other players’ game time.
If these players are popular members of your squad, it can create unrest, which then leads to dressing room complaints. That is something you want to avoid at all costs, as having good morale is crucial to your team’s chances of success.
In my latest personal save, I gave in to my habit of signing attacking midfielders and wingers. I ended up with too many. They were up-and-coming young players, too, but I couldn’t play them all. My attempts to rotate the squad failed, as they all wanted to play, so whoever wasn’t playing was unhappy.
Not checking the squad importance when signing a player
This is one that gets me so often, when I forget to check whether the player will be a squad player, an important player or a star player when bringing fresh additions to my squad.
This only leads to the player being unhappy if you don’t give him the game time that is stated in his contract. Once the player is unhappy, other players are likely to question your management, which will affect the team’s results.
This is an aspect of FM that I don’t pay close enough attention to when signing players or giving out new contracts, and it’s burned me a few times in recent saves, with players putting in transfer requests, even if I have signed them just a few months earlier.
Overspending on wages and bonuses
If you’re at a club with very few resources, every penny can count. Therefore, spending big money on wages, bonuses, and signing-on fees can really create problems over the season.
Once again, this is one I am guilty of on occasion in my excitement to sign a new player, or give my best players good contracts. If you are wondering where all your money is going as a club, check out your wage bill. Try to drive down players’ demands when negotiating with them or renewing their contracts.
This has in my past saves led to me having a successful team, but having to sell players for big money to keep the clubs bank account out of the red at the end of each season.
Now, most of the time, I am shrewder with the club’s funds. Although I do have the odd slip-up or splurge, I try not to overspend on wages and other fees.
