Football Manager 2026

[Dan]

On 08/09/2026 at 23:57, Dan said:

The following season was about building on what I had rather than ripping it up and going again, which is better.

 

We made five big signings in the summer. Nguomha joined on a free transfer and became the highest earner on £83k a week. Two longer term targets arrived in Benjamin Andric from Copenhagen and Luis Padilla from Club America. Both just under £20mil each. Both extremely high potential players that I think could actually kick on to the very top. The other was a slightly controversial move, but the declining form of goalkeeper Nicolas made me go for it. On a one year deal for an enormous £155k a week came in Mike Maignan. He was old, but he was still performing well for AC Milan. Not my usual type of signing, but I am fed up of being plagued by goalkeepers. Despite his age I'm still hopeful he can be the solid, reliable goalkeeper I just cannot seem to bring in. The other was striker Mohamed Meite who had just been released from his Saudi club. A serious coup I thought, substantially better than our other striker options.

 

We make a very decent start this time around, winning 8 and drawing 1 of our first 9 games. Meite is banging the goals in. Padilla and Andric, while not ripping it up, aren't doing too badly.

 

The problem though is we are still letting goals in. Maignan hasn't really solved anything. The most egregious is a complete shocker of a performance in the CL at home to Roma, which prompts me to look for a new goalkeeper for January already. Maignan was a dud. Is it the tactic? Is he just finished? I'm glad I only signed up for a one year deal with him.

 

We're in proper title contention, but it all comes crashing down in January. Bayern inflict our first defeat of the season and we go and lose pathetically at Hannover the week after. As good as we've been, Bayern really are back this season and they just look too much for us to deal with.

 

January does see some interesting movement. Aljoscha Kemlein, a steady midfielder, is sold to Leipzig for a ridiculous £31.5mil. I liked him but I couldn't believe they bit on that, he's worth probably half of that. Shun Muto, my left back, again - good, but not amazing, makes a £38.5mil move to Wolves. They are replaced by Sebastian Olderheim (who is a better tactical fit) for £8.5mil and Jofre Torrents (who is better than Muto) for £18mil. Once again a post Saudi free agent rocks up here as goalkeeper Tommaso Martinelli joins for £44k per week. One of those classic, satisfying FM windows where you improve your team and make money in the process.

 

We are dumped out of Europe again by Manchester United, this time in the knock-out play-off round of the Champions League.

 

Our league form remains steady, but we suffer a couple more silly defeats, a totally undeserved 2-0 loss at Freiburg, and late on a 3-1 loss at Bayer Leverkusen to bury any small hopes of the title we had. Disappointingly, we ended up slipping to 3rd after all.

 

 

So it's the same as last season. But I felt we'd improved. We scored more goals and we're definitely playing at the highest level I can remember us playing at. Other than the 11th placed abberation we have ended up on 72-75 points each season. We're going to have to bump that up slightly to win the league. But Andric and Padilla were looking encouraging and definitely improved as the season went on. I don't think we are far off. But Bayern are just beyond annoying.

 

Our final ever game at the Ruhrstadion is a 5-1 win over Hoffenheim, which sends them down.

I'll do a half season thing this time around, although I think there is probably a fairly obvious reason for it.

 

This year I think is going to be the one.

 

Something quite interesting happened in the summer. Bayern just left themselves totally underprepared. I was monitoring what they did and they seem to have had two things happen at once in that a lot of their better players are hitting their mid thirties, while they have gone bizarrely light on the squad.

 

I mean look at this. What is happening?!

 

 

They have left themselves completely underprepared for this season. It's still the skeleton of a team that just won the league, but that looks vulnerable to me.

 

Nowhere does this vulnerability show more than the fifth game of the season, away at Bochum.

 

Unfortunately though, it still ends in a Bayern win, Bochum's first points dropped of the season and a first loss at the new stadium. Bayern win, but my god, they were bad. We outplayed them in a way I just don't really remember happening. If that is the performance level on offer this season, they are catchable.

 

We make a very good start overall. Then our eighth game of the season arrives. It's truly extraordinary what plays out. We go to Freiburg who fairly recently had beaten us 2-0 at their place. We look on fire going forward this season, but this just clicks in a way that I'm laughing to myself during the game.

 

 

0-6 just before HT, then somehow 2-6 at HT, then 3-9 after 54 minutes. The red card actually seems to help Freiburg as they decide to finally stop letting us walk through them. A really mental game and I can't remember seeing anything quite like it.

 

In classic FM style we only draw our next game at home to Leverkusen 1-1, but at the half way mark, these remain the only points we've collected.

 

And my god was I right about Bayern.

 

 

You can never totally discount them from the race, but to be 15 clear of them already. The issue is Dortmund are also flying.

 

We go away to the three teams below us which is a concern, but we have been an absolute machine. Padilla has 8 goals and 11 assists in 16 games. The likes of Andric, Olderheim, and new striker Francisco Souza Silva are also hitting very encouraging numbers.

 

Souza Silva has 19 goals in 20 in all competitions. Meite's form fell off a bit late last season and I couldn't pass up what looked a top striker on paper for £25mil so in he came.

 

I broke my club record to sign a player that I sold for £22mil two years ago. Gavin Darby is back. He just ticked too many boxes unfortunately and I never wanted to actually sell him in the first place.

 

The only other signing of note is Dutch centre half Juricmar Hose, who I'm hoping is of a similar category to Andric and Padilla.

 

I would've taken the Padilla money in a few situations, but we don't need money urgently and this is the best chance to win the league I'll have. I've identified a replacement for him and I'll possibly sell in the summer, but for this year he will stay. Simply not worth it.

 

Bring on the unlikelier of the title battles.

[shen]

You've proper put Bochum in to fifth gear, Dan. Averaging almost four goals a game in the Bundesliga is pretty wild. Also nuts that it's already a two horse race after half a season. 
I'm liking the look of your tactic. It's not too dissimilar to mine with a back five and a front five - classic FM stuff.
Best of luck for the remainder of the season!

[shen]

Diegem update:

Just as I was thinking that this team can walk on water... 

 

We drew Chelsea in the last-16 and just put out a wholly professional performance away in the first leg winning it 1-2, letting them back into the tie in the 87th minute. It was a pretty even game, we were just sharper with Orakpo and Pieters getting the strikes.

In the return leg, we definitely have the upper hand but cannot make a breakthrough until Reece James gets shown a straight red in first half added time. We start the second half like lightning and race into a 2-0 lead by the 58th minute, Orakpo and September getting the goals, and four minutes later I make what in hindsight looks like a big mistake by changing five players and freshen things up as my tactic is very taxing against strong opposition. Just five minutes after this, they reduce the arrears and then on 76 minutes they bloody equalise with ten men. Suddenly, my entire team's confidence is shot and I'm biting nails here. But we hold on and win 4-3 on aggregate.

We continue bulldozing in the league winning 6-1 against Gent and 7-1 against Standard which sets us up to win the league in between the CL quarterfinals against none other than Real Madrid....

The first leg is at home and we are absolutely flying. Petterson saves an early penalty from Güler and makes two outstanding saves in the following corners. Then Andrey Santos bursts through a few minutes later and gets chopped down in the area. Penalty. Orakpo buries it and the stadium erupts. 37 minutes, a corner taken short and Jetten works it in towards Gueye who buries it from close range. Half time. We're deservedly ahead and beating the biggest club in the world! 49 minutes - Orakpo buries another through ball, again assisted by Santos and we're on cloud 9. 
But then our excellent defence gets punished with some bad luck. A pot shot from distance hits two players and lands at Endrick's feet who taps into an empty net with Petterson wrongfooted. And now Real have their tails up and are throwing the kitchen sink at it. I make another mistake and don't dare change anything after the punishment by Chelsea - Jetten loses it badly in their half as he dithers too long and Güler just punts it long and Bellingham races through from his own half - unopposed - and buries it with 6 minutes left to play. We hold on for a famous - and deserved - win, but Real are very much alive in the tie.



We play third-placed Charleroi away in-between and thoroughly outplay them, but we waste chances which they don't and we end up with a draw which means we don't secure the league yet. Would've been nice with that morale booster.

 

We go to Bernabeu and are immediately under the cosh. Yeremy Pino, who we kept completely quiet in the first game as well as Güler are toying with us and within 23 minutes we're down 2-0 with them two assisting eachother. But in both cases, we had just wasted two gilt-edged chances just before their goals, with Gueye missing the target on both occasions, which just added salt to the wound. We fought bravely and missed the target with another two clear chances which is so uncharacteristic. Terrible day for my strikers to draw blanks. We contain Real Madrid well, but we just couldn't find that one goal to take it into extra time and the miracle run is over. Proud but also thinking what could've been.

 

-------

Then a couple of weeks off before the cup final against Genk and I place two friendlies against amateur sides which we casually win 19-0 and 22-0 respectively  to build up morale and confidence.
Preparations have gone great, we practice extra penalties and set pieces and focus on penalties in the match prep as well. 
The game starts cagey until we get our first chance in the 11th minute. A Machmoum cross is floated to the middle and Orakpo, flying in from the left wing, directs it beautifully into the far corner. We keep creating openings and clear sights of goal, but at half-time we've had 18 shots with only 4 on target and I'm already sensing what's coming. Genk haven't had a sniff so far. 
We sub three on 75 mintues and another two on 83 minutes to keep performance levels up and lo behold, we miss a sitter in the 85th minute to kill the game and two minutes later Genk create their only chance of any danger to equalise. Unreal. 
Extra time is one way traffic and we end the game with an xG of 3,29 to their 0,59, but it goes down to penalties and I just hate penalties... The perfect season comes crashing down as Irankunda buries the last pen to win it.

[shen]

Also, kind of funny that Steve Cooper was appointed manager of Club Brugge a month ago in my game (April 2031), Brendan Rodgers has been OHL manager since 2029 (previously Genk from 2026-28). Even in Belgium I cannot escape Leicester's ghosts haunting me!

[Tommy Fresh]

Started one with NK Kalcer Radomlje in Slovenia, predicted to finish 9th in the top flight which is bottom as Domzale went bust in real life. 

First game played Bravo and beat them 8-2, Bristric bagged for them