soccer games today

Let’s be honest, we’ve all been Mo Tautuaa at some point in Football Manager. You know the feeling—you’ve crafted the perfect tactical plan, you’re dominating the stats, and then, out of nowhere, the game engine throws a decision so baffling it leaves you staring at the screen in silent disbelief. “I’m not gonna say much. You all saw the play. I don’t agree with the call,” a dejected Tautuaa said after a controversial basketball foul. “That’s the exact opposite of the right call.” That sentiment, that raw frustration at an outcome that feels unjust despite your best efforts, is the heart of the FM experience. But here’s the thing I’ve learned after thousands of virtual seasons: success isn’t about avoiding those moments; it’s about building a system so robust that those calls become mere footnotes in your relentless march to glory. Based on my own triumphs and countless disasters, here are seven essential tips to unlock your potential and guarantee success in Football Manager 2020.

First, you must fall in love with your backroom staff. I don’t mean just hiring the best names. I mean micromanaging their responsibilities. Your Assistant Manager’s tactical knowledge and judging player ability attributes are non-negotiable; if they’re below 15, you’re flying blind. Delegate your training to a top-class coach with high “Working with Youngsters” and “Determination.” I made the mistake early on of handling it all myself, and my squad’s sharpness dipped by about 12% over a crucial winter period. Let the experts do their jobs. Second, and this is my personal hill to die on: abandon symmetrical tactics. The match engine in FM20 rewards clever asymmetry. A standard 4-2-3-1 is fine, but try shifting your left-back to a Wing-Back on Attack and your right-winger to an Inverted Winger on Support. This creates natural overloads and passing triangles that the AI struggles to track. It’s not just theory; in my last save with FC Utrecht, this tweak generated 27% more key passes from the right flank within the first half-season.

Third, embrace the art of the individual training focus. Don’t just set it and forget it. Every three months, I sit down and assess. Is that 19-year-old wonderkid’s “Finishing” at 11? Drill it. Is your ball-playing defender’s “Passing” stagnant? Change his focus. I once took a midfielder with 9 Vision and, over two intense seasons, pushed it to 14. It transformed him from a squad player to my playmaker, adding roughly 15 assists a year. Fourth, your team talks and player interactions are not fluff; they are a direct lever on your squad’s morale and performance. I’m aggressive here. After a poor half, I often go with “Disappointed” or even “Angry” if the effort isn’t there. But you must be consistent. Praise training ratings above 7.8, promise playing time to unhappy stars—and keep that promise for at least 10-15 games. A happy squad, one with morale mostly “Good” or above, can outperform its attributes by a margin I’d estimate at 20%.

Fifth, scouting is more than assigning regions. Create a shortlist of key attributes for each position. For a pressing forward, I demand “Work Rate,” “Aggression,” and “Stamina” all at 15+. Use the “Player Search” screen with these filters before your scouts even file a report. I found a Colombian striker this way for £2.5m who scored 38 league goals in two seasons, a signing my scouts had completely overlooked. Sixth, manage the dynamics screen like a CEO manages company culture. A “Highly Professional” dressing room is worth its weight in gold. Avoid signing highly influential players with poor professionalism, no matter how talented. They are a virus. Instead, identify your “Model Citizens” and “Perfectionists” and make them tutors for your youth. The downstream effect on development is immense.

Finally, and this is the most underrated tip: use the data hub. Not just the pretty graphs, but the pass maps, the xG timelines, the defensive distance metrics. After a match where I felt robbed by a dubious penalty call—my own Tautuaa moment—I dove into the data. It showed my defensive line was 4 yards deeper than my tactical instruction, inviting pressure. I adjusted, and we went on a 14-game unbeaten run. The game will throw those frustrating moments at you, decisions that feel like “the exact opposite of the right call.” But by systemizing your approach—from staff to tactics, from training to data—you build a foundation that absorbs that randomness. You stop being a victim of the engine and start being its master. Success in FM20 isn’t a lucky streak; it’s the inevitable product of meticulous, intelligent management. Now go and build your dynasty.