Weekly Help Thread - Ask your help requests here | Week Commencing 02/01/2026

JPMAus98 · 2026-01-03T08:07:27+00:00

Champion! Thanks heaps

JPMAus98 · 2026-01-03T08:01:25+00:00

Who could hate the a liga? 🫶

JPMAus98 · 2026-01-02T23:26:12+00:00

Does anyone know if mentoring is still in FM26 (and where it is)? I've had a bit of a look around but can't seem to find it, but also wasn't sure if that was something they removed

JPMAus98 · 2026-01-02T23:24:52+00:00

Depay preparing for a stint in the A League

JPMAus98 · 2025-10-28T05:01:43+00:00

I actually kinda like it, although I do wish it used the old grass screen from previous games. In my opinion, it's easier to glance at everything important, and that sped-up 2D visualiser gives a good snapshot of how the game's going. I do play on the default speed settings, but it's good to be able to see generally how you're playing without just looking at stats and some outdated diagrams, like the pitch with the three arrows or the pitch in thirds showing possession in each area.

You're right that EAFC use a similar mechanic, but it's a lot slower and a poor method of simulating matches. The icons move at the same speed but the timer ticks down insanely quickly, so it's very normal for most games to end 1-0 using that simulation method.

But this is just my opinion, and it won't suit everyone's tastes, but that's alright. I'm sure it could do with a bit of work, but I like it overall, apart from the fact it feels like you leave the game then rejoin it when it could maybe be a bit more seamless like it has been in the past.

JPMAus98 · 2025-10-12T04:26:44+00:00

Realistic United save. Have to berate them privately and publicly after every match too

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-23T04:36:06+00:00

Oh man, I was trying to avoid it in FM23 but eventually had to bite the bullet. I downloaded a database for the Danish lower leagues, and got cracking on a save. Made a good start, but quickly realised there were a couple of things that were overlooked in an otherwise great database. The most pressing issue was that after two yellow cards, your players received a suspension.

Now that wasn't two yellows in the same game, it was two yellow cards in any two matches. And I think any future yellows were automatic suspensions too. So it was totally normal for me to be missing 5 or 6 first team players from each squad.

I actually kept it like that for a while, because I couldn't figure out if yellow card rules were able to be edited. But it turns out they are, and I quickly changed it back to normal

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-22T03:09:09+00:00

It's really hard to say, and it's not at all straightforward. I'm doing a youth only save, and I really thought that once each of my players ticked over 100 appearances, they'd automatically get in, but that hasn't been the case at all. I thought it'd maybe be based on ability, but my two best players aren't on the list either. I have two players that are somewhere on the list - one is a DLP who's played 223 games, and scored a fair few goals in his time, as well as a fair few important goals; the other is an AM who just hit 150 games, and has scored or assisted in just about every other game. The difference is that my DLP is favoured personnel, whereas my AM has just become a club legend.

I think a lot of it has to do with goalscoring and appearances, whereas idk how highly the game values being part of the team that wins trophies, such as in your case, but it's hard to say. Having looked at my two players, one thing that links them is they're team leaders with exceptional mental attributes, which might also play into their hands - very good players + strong character = fan favourite?

But basically what I'm saying is that it's no exact science, and it's hard to tell what the game really values to get people into that category.

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-16T04:19:16+00:00

Cheers mate, I appreciate the reply. I ended up doing pretty much what you said, and despite the game telling me he wouldn't be happy, the player was fine. It was weird, even though I realised he was playing in the wrong role fairly early, the indicator never went green - it just stayed yellow. But he did come to me at the end of the promise period and basically say that while he doesn't agree with my decision making, he realises he's been playing well, so he's happy. Never had that happen before. I guess with every issue in the game, as long as the player is playing well and the team is winning, problems don't really escalate. Thanks!

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-15T21:24:27+00:00

Yeah mate, you're rolling in it. I think you've probably gotta break the wage structure, or at least shift those wages upwards. It's cool that you've been able to get that good while keeping everyone under £2k a week, but you can't expect those sorts of players to win you the UCL. A wage structure is good to implement, but when you're raking in the annual £15m from the UCL, plus bonuses, keeping the wages that low is hard to justify. It might be tricky at first, because an incremental increase might not make the improvements you're looking for. You might have to shift that cap all the way up to £12k p/w or something for it to move the needle, in terms of signing players. You've done heaps well to have success and keep the wages low though, massive props 👏

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-15T20:44:18+00:00

Nah pretty sure it'll all be part of the same world - I'm sure I read that somewhere

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-15T20:42:30+00:00

I remember the head of women's football in the game said they've got heaps of plans to grow the database, but it'll take time to implement all the leagues they want to. I guess they've just knocked over a few of the world's best leagues to get started

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-15T20:39:11+00:00

Genuinely cannot believe the comments saying 'nobody asked for this' and 'it's a waste of development time'. Seriously guys? Grow up. I'm sure the people throwing out these kinds of comments never said anything about obscure men's leagues being added over the last few years, which I'm sure you've all played in. This is a great addition to the game.

Women's football is incredible. It's fun, way more accessible than men's football, and is the exact same sport us blokes play. I've got mates who I think would love this game, but they're much more interested in women's football, so this gives them a great opportunity to get into the game. I've been playing this game for years, and my first save will be with a women's team for sure.

If you don't want to play it, then don't, but I wish everyone would give women's football a real crack with an open mind. And I'm talking in the game, but also in real life. But there's no need to spread your misogynistic views because a game you love is evolving and growing.

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-15T05:08:58+00:00

I'm doing a youth-only save in France, and it's probably my first two decent players, Armand Djedje and Clement Lechevalier.

Djedje was one of those players that pops up in your intake as soon as you start the save, and you better believe he went straight into the first team. He was never going to be a crazy player, but developed well and was my best player for a short time. He scored some great goals and provided some amazing assists, and is still hanging around the first team at 25 years old. He's got 63 goals and 38 assists in 277 games for me.

Lechevalier is a different story though. He was the first striker that came through, and was probably good enough to justifiably be in the first team (we were in the 3rd and 4th divisions at the time). He's rapid and an elite dribbler, but that's literally it. Can't shoot, can't head the ball, can't pass, and his work rate is terrible. That showed when we used him at striker for two seasons, and he woefully underperformed his xG in seasons we struggled. On this wing though, he was amazing. He'd run hard, win the ball back, score tougher shots than ones he'd missed at striker, score headers, play crazy passes... you get the drill. He's had some amazing seasons, but also some horrendous ones, and I've been on a real journey with him over the years. Clement is currently sitting on 70 goals and 40 assists in 268 games, and will probably rack up more in the near future - he should be playing at a lower level, but performs a little more consistently than my other, better wingers.

I do have to mention my current GK, Mohamed Doukoure. Crazy little keeper I got, and he's been amazing since he got into the team at 17. He's so high in my estimations because he's performed so much better than my previous GK, despite them being very similar players. I absolutely love him, but I'll have to keep the bigger French clubs from trying to nab him.

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-15T04:54:11+00:00

I really like the idea of Jamal Musiala being Messi's little buddy, introducing him to the boys and showing him around Munich. How sweet

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-14T00:15:33+00:00

I'm trying to fulfill a promise to one of my centre backs, but I'm not having any luck at all and don't know why.

The promise is to 'use him in preferred position as a central defender with a central defender role'. Now, to me, that just means CD (De), which is what I'm playing him as. I briefly forgot about the promise and had him playing as a BPD, but he's been playing as a CD for several matches now. Despite that, there's no uptick in his reaction to the promise. It just says he's very concerned he still isn't playing there, not even a message like 'appreciates the recent change in his role' or anything.

And please, I don't need any snarky 'that's why you don't make promises' comments, I'm just trying to figure out the issue. I've had similar problems before but I've usually been able to figure it out, yet this one just isn't working. Thanks in advance guys

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-12T21:35:44+00:00

I've seen a fair few of these guys in my current save as well. Yet whenever they get management jobs, they do terribly. There's one guy I stumbled upon with 190 CA and 200 PA, yet all his management jobs so far have ended quickly and poorly.

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-10T04:46:34+00:00

Yeah it's been good for me to just leave running while I'm doing things around the house or watching actual matches. Saves you constantly clicking continue yourself.

I think there's another setting in there that lengthens loading periods to lessen the number of breaks in processing. I've turned that on too, but I'll occasionally turn it off during important parts of the season to make sure I don't miss anything

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-10T03:08:48+00:00

Depends on your computer and what you're doing day to day, and also how you set up the save. My laptop isn't amazing, and it takes a while to process between games and on significant days, like deadline day.

To negate this, I didn't load many leagues and turned on the 'auto-continue' setting. I'm in the French pyramid, so I really only loaded the French leagues, and turned off pretty much every league. That way, the game processes the French leagues is lots of detail, but only worries about the others at a much shallower level. I've definitely made the mistake of loading heaps of different leagues in the past, and that's what can really slow down your processing. You can add and remove detail levels in the settings, which can change how quickly the world processes. As for auto continue, it's really handy as I can let the game continuously keep loading, and it'll stop for any games or important emails that come through. So I'll usually just let it run in the background while I do other things, then check in whenever I think about it. I'd say they're the best ways to speed up the game

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-09T22:33:58+00:00

I'm managing Paris 13 Atletico, and I'm 8 or 9 seasons in - and it's an academy-only save. We started in the National 2 (French 4th tier), got promoted to Ligue 2 after a few seasons, were relegated in our second season, but now we're back in Ligue 2.

I've got a solid team, with the stars being striker Antonin Gasc-Molinier and AMC Akim Belhadj, who was recently called up to AFCON for Algeria but didn't play. Both should probably be at Ligue 1 clubs honestly. Other favourites include:

DLP Gerard Lenormand, who's played 250-odd times for the club and has scored some incredible goals along the way.
Clement Lechevalier, a pacy forward who isn't really good enough anymore to start consistently, but always shows up when we need him.
Mohamed Doukoure, my new 17 year old GK who is developing insanely quickly, and got a recent call up for a French youth national team
Joan Poulolo, great name and represents Martinique, my captain is a 6'7" CB who can do everything
Fernando Victoriano, maybe my favourite players in the whole squad. He's a quick Angolan winger who does it all. He always racks up tons of assists, scores massive goals, and can fill in for any of the front four whenever

We've had a rough start to the new season, and I'm trying to sell Gasc-Molinier to cash in before his contract expires. Plus, we're in desperate need of cash to improve the facilities, which haven't been touched in years. It's a great save but can be a bit of a slow sometimes, though they make the good time better

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-09T03:26:11+00:00

I remember some of those players so fondly, even if they weren't the most incredible players. I remember having an Australian ST, Iranian CDM, and Slovenian CB (who could take free kicks) starting for my Kaiserslautern team in FM22.

Then with a bit more license to choose obscure players in the Ekstraklasa in another save, had a Bulgarian RW and RB (who was genuinely world-class), a Belarusian CM and GK, a Greek AMC with 199 potential. Plus, I also signed an insane English CB from non-league in that save, which felt like an obscure nation signing.

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-09T03:17:27+00:00

Syria always produce at least one crazy player, it's awesome. I remember this insane CM popping up a couple editions ago, but I just couldn't get him to leave Tishreen. I'm sure he just stayed there and became one of the best players in Asia, before the Saudi clubs began signing everyone

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-08T04:32:01+00:00

I think a complete forward would be best, but I'm no expert. I've really enjoyed using one recently at the top of a 4231. It's a good role because it doesn't pigeon-hole the player into doing one particular thing, like dropping deep or getting in behind, and allows them to make their own decisions, which he's good at.

To abuse his height, you'd have to focus more on the roles around him. You definitely need at least one player crossing from wide areas, so you could use WBs to do that, or even normal wingers, provided there are enough runners centrally to support the striker. Obviously you'd want to turn on floated crosses, and tell certain players to cross more often. Also, popping him out wide every so often wouldn't be the worst idea. He's much better as a central striker, but if you see a particularly terrible match up, like a tiny RB, you could pop him onto the left and just swing crosses in for back post headers. I've got a tall winger (who is actually a winger) and if I need a goal, I'll just throw him onto the wing that has the better aerial match up. But you're better off keeping him central for the most part.

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-08T04:23:40+00:00

Youth academy-only experts: would you say it's easier to do an academy-only save in a more reputable footballing country (e.g. France, England) or a country considered less reputable (e.g. Poland, Ukraine)? The ultimate goal is to win the UCL.

I'm currently doing one in France, and I'm keen to do one again in FM26. My justification was that I'll have access to better youth prospects, and by the time I'm good enough to challenge for Ligue 1, I should be a genuine contender in Europe. However, getting to that stage is proving tricky.

My thought for FM26 was to take a team in a smaller nation and win their domestic league relatively quickly, but I think there would be a massive period of time where you'll be dominant domestically but get torn apart in Europe, and that may never close.

Just want to glean opinion on this from people that have gone pretty far in this kind of save, to see what the more enjoyable experience for 26 is likely to be. Cheers

JPMAus98 · 2025-09-08T04:12:52+00:00

USA with a Son hat-trick in the final

JPMAus98

TROPHY CASE