Despite widespread criticism and significant changes to one of the most iconic sports management simulation series, this review aims to provide a balanced and honest assessment of Football Manager 26—highlighting its strengths, areas for improvement, and its enduring core appeal. While the visual and interface overhaul is substantial, the spirit of Football Manager remains intact.
The Deconstruction
User Interface
The User Interface of previous versions is gone and has been replaced by a new approach that is initially a shock to those who have thousands of hours into previous Football Manager releases, such as myself. This is likely the largest area of possible improvement for the Sports Interactive team in the weeks and months ahead. There are panels that don’t show enough information, the navigation between panels can sometimes feel unintuitive and the table headers/formatting needs to be fixed on various resolutions. On the positive side, there is more panels, and they seem to be working to organize the data in a more thoughtful way, but the flow between panels needs work, no doubt. Additionally, despite my almost 100 hours of gameplay at time of writing, I have not run into any serious bugs or crashes and have still found the data, information and actions I need to take to run my club.
In-Match
The in-match presentation, on the other hand, is one of my favourite changes with Football Manager 26, and I can confidently say I am having an absolute joy of a time watching the way the players are animated, the flow of the match using the Dynamic presentation mode added in FM26. I am rarely skipping forward, or using the included instant result button, as I’m genuinely enjoying seeing my clubs play out the matches, being able to make tactical changes during the match and share thoughts directly with the players during the half or substitutions. I don’t miss shouts, and the simplified focus of the UI within a match has really improved the gameplay.
One of the other major changes that should be highlighted as definitive improvement is the revisions to tactics, which now include a ‘in possession’ and ‘out of possession’ tactic, that combines into your overall tactic for match play. This allows more realistic, yet playfully creative ways to build tactics that benefit your club and players and it’s been a refreshing way to approach tactical management. A huge positive!
Storytelling
The biggest attraction I have to Football Manager is the ability to create my own football world, with engaging storytelling through the news updates, my football clubs ups and downs, the players I create stories with and help develop from the youth academy. There is truly no better glory than discovering or developing a player who becomes the core of your club and leads them to glory. This beautiful essence is untouched in Football Manager 26, and still is the same fantastic experience at its core. The addition of the women’s leagues only deepens the immersion, and allows a more realistic world to be developed around me as I play. I had concerns that the ability to lose yourself in this world was at risk with so much change, but I’m into season three with a 3. Liga club who was favoured for relegation, and the joy I experience each year is like my FM experiences years before.
Performance
Football Manager 26 has taken a leap forward in terms of its presentation, with the switch to the Unity Engine, and with that come slightly higher minimum requirements. Honestly, I can’t really review this concern accurately as I have a very recently built machine and it runs all games at maximum quality at 1440p resolutions, but I have found the game to be responsive, without any freezes or lag. That said, the UI does feel slower than previous versions and I have installed a speed mod that is available to help speed up the transitions between panels/screens within the User Interface. The in-match 3D presentation is vastly improved over previous years, the animations of players, the way the dribble the ball past players, pass between each other, position their body to get ready to head the ball is impressive to say the least.
The Blueprint
To summarize, Football Manager 26 does feel like a game that is still in the final sprint of development, with some things to be improved and issues to be addressed, but the core feeling of managing your club, writing your story and developing your players remains untouched. The in-game experience is the best I’ve ever seen since I started playing in FM18, and it’s keeping me locked in my 3. Liga save as I build towards Champions League glory.
Here’s how the components stack up:
The Final Verdict
I recommend Football Manager 26, but if you’re one who needs things to be perfect before you dive into a save, you may want to wait until further patches have been released. That said, if you’re excited to get into a new sports management simulation, there is no better time to get into Football Manager as it’s become more accessible than ever. For veterans itching to get started such as myself, I’ve enjoyed playing and haven’t regretted purchasing the game as a pre-order so I could play the beta.
Game Details:
- Developer: Sports Interactive
- Platform Reviewed: PC (Steam)
- Time Played: 98.5 hours at time of writing
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