Football Manager 2024: Beginner Mistakes To Avoid

Highlights

  • Don’t neglect the Development Center – hidden gems can be promoted from the Reserves or Youth side for free.
  • Pay attention to weekly training – match the schedule with the team’s condition to manage tiredness and avoid injuries.
  • Avoid changing formations frequently – players need time to adapt and develop cohesiveness on the field.


Players who have just started to play Football Manager 2024 will often find themselves overwhelmed by the many things to do in the game, from the big decisions such as setting up formations to the micro-decisions such as fining players for not performing well in training. However, these decisions can make or break a season for all teams, including the top ones.

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With the multitude of teams available in Football Manager 2024, it’s hard to know which ones are the best to pick.

Therefore, it is always important to know which mistakes to avoid making as a beginner in Football Manager 2024. By avoiding these pitfalls, players can expect their team to do well throughout the season without hiccups, leading the team to a respectable finish.


7 Neglecting Development Center

Young, Useful Players Can Be Found For Free Here

An Image of Football Manager 2024: development-center

A beginner player can sometimes be too fixated on the transfer market looking for budget options for the midfield without bothering to look internally first. Most of the time, there will be a hidden gem or two that can be promoted from either the Reserves or the Youth side into the first team to cover some holes inside the team.

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Although they can be unreliable at first, these players can also be developed properly and sold to other teams for a profit, since they came from the academy. Moreover, they can also be first-teamers instead, should the manager find the perfect position and niche for that player.

6 Ignoring Weekly Training

These Weekly Trainings Can Decide A Season’s Success

An Image of Football Manager 2024: training-schedule

When looking at the news section of the game, a new player can get overwhelmed and start to ignore the plethora of information that can be found in it, such as the Assistant Manager’s weekly reports, and most importantly, the training schedule of the squad. By ignoring it, a manager can find themselves in a real mess sooner than later.

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It is always important to match the training schedule with the condition of the team to properly manage their tiredness, the squad’s tactical familiarity, and their development as players. Teams who are not in multiple competitions can choose to have heavy training between the matches, while a team in multiple competitions should try to keep their training light to avoid piling up injuries.

5 Changing Formation Frequently

Players Can Get Confused By The Manager’s Changing Plans

An Image of Football Manager 2024: tactic-change

Just like in a real-life football system, players can take time to fit into the manager’s vision of playing football, especially if they played with a very different system in the seasons before the new manager took over. In Football Manager 2024, tactical familiarity is crucial for players to try to find cohesiveness on the field without looking lost while the opposition players dribble past them.

Changing a formation too frequently can be tempting for a beginner, especially when their initial formation plan is not working out. However, it is important to ignore such urges and try to let the formation play out for several matches first before starting to tinker with it again.

4 Putting Players In Wrong Positions

Playing A Forward In The Backline Will Often Result In Disaster

An Image of Football Manager 2024: 2024-wrong-position

Sometimes it is tempting to have a new budget defender that has been bought cheaply try to slot into the midfield when an injury crisis happens at that position. However, it can lead to disastrous results, as the defender might not necessarily have the attributes and competence to play in the midfield area.

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Therefore, it is important to avoid playing players in the wrong position. It is better to play a young backup player in a midfield position rather than trying to slot in a veteran defender who is out of position in that area.

3 Not Hiring Competent Staff

Hire The Best Staff From Around The World To Help

An Image of Football Manager 2024: staff-hiring

New players tend to ignore various parts of a team, since it can be both overwhelming and, at the same time, feel pointless to focus on them while they are struggling to learn other parts of the game. However, staff are one of the most important parts of a team, since assistance from them can tremendously help a manager to bring their squad to glory.

For example, having the best Physios and Sport Scientists is crucial to both reducing injury times and the frequency of injuries in the team. Coaches can also drastically improve a player’s attributes, should a manager manage to find one that has a rating of 4 1/2 stars and over in their specific field of training.

2 Not Arranging Enough Friendly Matches

These Friendly Matches Are Important To Get A Team Going

An Image of Football Manager 2024: friendly-schedule

Friendly matches are sometimes thought to be unimportant and just a part of filler activities before the league starts. That could not be further from the truth, as friendly matches serve as multiple important points of the team’s development. The first would be to improve the team’s formation familiarity, as it can be boosted by playing a match against any team.

Second would be the gate receipts that a team can receive from the friendly matches. Oftentimes, struggling teams in both financial and on-field aspects will be desperate to raise funds. One of the income streams that they can rely on is to invite big teams for a friendly at their home stadium to try and generate huge ticket sales.

1 Splurging On Old Players

Due To Their Twilight Age, A Reinvestment Will Not Be Beneficial

An Image of Football Manager 2024: expensive-old-players

New managers who are struggling with their team’s on-field performance can sometimes try to seek help from established veteran players to gain a semblance of stability in their squad. Although it is a good mindset to have and would likely succeed in the short-term, the veterans themselves can be prone to injuries and have no re-investment potential, as their old age prevents them from having a huge resale value.

Therefore, it is not wise to splurge a huge sum of money on a player who is entering their twilight years. It is far better to buy some budget players instead, and spend the rest of that money on the future, such as by buying young promising wunderkinds.