In case you missed it, Sega’s football management sim series is back with Football Manager 26. The game was announced last month and follows the cancellation of Football Manager 25, and in that announcement, we got a brief look at some of the changes coming to FM26, including a revamped UI.
Now, we’ve been given new insight into how team tactics will work in FM26. Specifically, you can now set separate formations depending on whether your team is in possession or out of possession of the ball.
FM26 will give you suggestions for Out of Possession formations based on your In Possession formation, but you can still choose what tactics you want.
Image: Sports Interactive
Within the UI, after choosing your preferred In Possession formations, FM26 will suggest three different Out of Possession formations depending on what was picked, though you can still choose outside those three suggestions.
As a result of this new system, player roles are now split between In Possession and Out of Possession roles.
Accompanying the In Possession/Out of Possession formations is the Visualiser, which allows you to see how your tactics might play out in a match. It’s able to visualise how your team shape changes depending on where the ball is in the pitch, both in and out of possession. This includes the ability to see how a player’s role might transition as a ball moves around within the pitch.
Other new UI elements include a revamped search function that’s able to retrieve information from FMPedia, an in-game football glossary.
In addition, Sega also revealed new details about how women’s football will look in the game. FM26 is the first title in the series to introduce women’s football management, featuring 14 leagues across 11 countries and 3 continents, including the Bundeslinga, Barclays Women’s Super League and the UEFA Women’s Championship League.
Sega stated that aspects unique to the context of women’s football, including transfer markets, contract terms and injury patterns, were captured in FM26, as was physics, as women’s footballers were motion captured for in-game animations.
We’re in the midst of football season right now, with the five major European leagues having kicked off in August. If your team’s not doing so great and you want to see how you would manage them, you’ll find out when Football Manager 26 releases on 5 November.
The game will arrive on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and MacOS, with the Nintendo Switch version releasing on 5 December. FM26 Mobile is also set to come exclusively for Netflix and Apple Arcade subscribers.
