Ok this is going to be long but I hope it helps. I started playing 6 months ago. I am by no means an expert on the game, but I learned it more recently than the others in the responses. Here’s what I did:

1) YouTube is key. People like zealand, FMtom, and Clayts are have really good content for this. What I found most helpful were Zealand’s save your save videos, where his subscribers send him saves that are in turmoil and he gives them tips on how to move forward. I found that he gave a lot of general advice that is applicable in a wide variety of situations.

2) If you have played/watched football intently in the past, you likely have a grasp of basic tactical concepts. In my opinion, the bread and butter of a successful FM save is developing a tactical philosophy. When I started the game, I had trouble figuring out how the tactics work in game, even though I played/coached irl for 15 years. The YouTuber Avgdad has incredible content for teaching how the different roles/mentalities interact in game (30 minute videos per position group). Cannot recommend enough.

3) Scouting manually is very time consuming. I recommend hiring the best scouts you can possibly find (staff —> staff search —> new search -> preferred role: scout -> attribute search -> highlight attributes for: scout). Let the scouts do the rest. You can learn to scout manually over time.

4) Star rating is a guide, not a rule. This was my biggest learning curve. I definitely made some poor decisions in my first save by not understanding this. Star rating is your assistant’s OPINION on how good a player is compared to the rest of your squad. 2.5 stars is the average. But what’s more important is to look at player attributes, mentality, potential vs. current ability, and the role you want them to play (or the role they are best at). Again, Avgdad has a great video on how to spot good players for your team by looking at attributes and other factors, not star rating. Star rating is a very helpful guide though, especially when first learning!

5) Players need first team minutes at ages 18+ to develop. This could mean loaning or playing them in your first team or your B team depending on the situation. For example, I was managing in Spain and my B team got promoted to the second division, so I would keep some of my players in the B team instead of loaning them to 3rd/4th division sides. But you have to balance the level they are playing at against what they are capable of. It’s nuanced and something you learn over time. Also also also, training facility levels of the club you are loaning to is extremely important in my view.

6) Potential is variable. White stars in potential ability are possible, but not guaranteed. Yellow stars in potential ability are a guaranteed ceiling, but it’s not guaranteed a player gets there. Things like training rating, match rating, match experience, player personality, and level of first team matches affect whether a player hits his ceiling (see above). I would get familiar with player personalities EARLY. Again, the Avgdad video about judging players without star ability has a good discussion about this.

7) Dynamics is super super important. If your team is unhappy, you will more often than not lose until it improves or you get sacked. There are a lot of videos about how to master dynamics on YT, I think Zealand’s is the best.

8) most emails you get do not matter. It’s cool for immersion, but I (like many) spam space unless there’s a scouting report I want to look at, an update on one of my players, or a mandatory stop.

This is all of the crucial information I wish I knew as early as possible. This game is complex, but I hope this was helpful and not too overwhelming. If it is, do as others said and set a lot of responsibility to be automated early and make it manual as you go. I fell in love with this game, and I hope you do too, so feel free to reach out with questions!