FOOTBALL MANAGER 2024: GUIDE TO STARTING A NEW SAVE IN FM24

Football Manager 2024 has a reputation for being one of the most detailed sports games in the world. Where some games focus on graphics over gameplay, Sports Interactive decided differently, continually improving the 'playing' aspect of Football Manager whilst the graphics are left behind. It's what makes it a fun game to play. If you want to start an FM24 journey in the lower depths of Brazilian football, you can - whilst you can also choose to manage Real Madrid and dominate every team in the world. The choice is yours, allowing you to challenge yourself to whatever level you want.

However, if you are just stepping into the world of Football Manager, it might seem confusing. There's so much detail - which is perfect for hardcore gamers - but it can be overwhelming if you don't understand the basics. Even choosing a team can be a struggle; you can choose from the power of Europe's biggest - and most well-supported - clubs or opt for a non-league in England, working your way through the leagues until you become champions of Europe. The options are endless - and that's just the start of the process in Football Manager.

Here at GIVEMESPORT, we have produced a guide on how to start a new save on FM24 - from which club to use, which settings to add and how to kickstart success at your club in the game.

Choosing a club

When you first start a save on FM24, you are presented with your most important decision - which club to use. You are given four options: club manager, international manager, club and international manager or unemployed. From there, you can choose anytime in the world - from the heights of the Premier League to the Malaysian Super League. If you are new to the game and don't know who to pick, we suggest you choose one of the stronger clubs in Europe. Managing a team like Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid or Arsenal will give you an impressive squad to manage without the expectation of winning the title.

The settings to use

Once you've chosen your club, you have to choose between three options, which have a huge impact on the opening months of your journey: Real World, Your World and Original. They change when and if real-life transfers happen in your save.

'Real World' states that transfers occur when they take place in real life. For example, if you start a save at the start of pre-season in the summer of 2023, Harry Kane would start the transfer window at Tottenham Hotspur, but he would eventually move to Bayern Munich on the eve of the new campaign. It means you might start the season without a key player if they signed on Deadline Day, which only added to the realism.

'Original' is the classic version of Football Manager. You start your journey with the team as it is at the end of the transfer window. It means you have a smaller transfer budget, but it allows you to easily work around the menus to work out who you need to upgrade or replace. It is the most popular method on FM24, providing a simple life.

Last, but not least, 'Your World' is a chaotic but creative way to play Football Manager. You start the summer of 2023 with every transfer that took place during the window erased. For example, Moises Caicedo starts the save at Brighton, whilst Declan Rice would be at West Ham. It allowed you to completely rewrite history with the transfer budget that the club had in the summer. It's a new way to play FM24 - but it doesn't give you a simple or easy life.

Once you've decided that, you have to choose which other leagues you want playable. For example, if you choose to manage Man City, the Premier League has to be active, but you can also add La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A if you think there's a chance you might switch clubs during your journey. However, the more playable leagues you have, the bigger the database, so your game will run slower.

Alongside this, you have to choose advanced settings. The main one to focus on is 'disable player attribute masking'. Attribute masking hides certain stats of players around the world until you have scouted them, making it more realistic and harder. If you disable this, you can see every stat of every player, making your life easier but less realistic. The choice is up to you.

Managerial Stats

Moving through the process, alongside creating what your manager looks like - which we won't talk about because there is a plethora of incredible options - you also have to choose your manager's managerial stats via your coaching badges and past player experience. It is recommended that you choose the coaching badge that is suggested to you depending on the club you've chosen. For example, if you manage Manchester United, you should have a 'Continental Pro License', but - if you start in the depths of non-league, you should have a 'National C License'. A similar idea applies to your past player experience.

The level of your coaching badge which you choose and your experience as a player change your coaching and mental attributes. The higher the level, the more points you have to upgrade your skills. These can be altered, and we recommend that you max out your 'Tactical', 'Technical' and 'Mental' stats to 20, providing you with managerial talent. Finally, your set-up in your FM24 save is complete.

Tactical plan

Once you've run through agreeing to the club's vision with the chairman and taking your first press conference, your first job is to set up a tactical plan. You can choose from 10 different tactical styles - ranging from 'gegenpress' to 'park the bus'. The best and most overpowering tactic is 'gegenpress'. It suggests that your team presses high up the pitch with aggressive and expansive football. Imagine Jürgen Klopp's style of play at Liverpool.

It allows you to quickly ease into the world of FM24, knowing the 'Gegenpress' system created by AI will be good enough to win matches on its own. You can tweak the system to suit the formation that you want to play. But if you are just starting, we recommend using either the 4-2-3-1 DM AM Wide or the 4-3-3 DM Wide, both of which provide defensive security alongside creating an attacking threat.

Recruitment

The first step when deciding what recruitment plan you need is to use the squad planner. This section allows you to see which players can play in which position. Football Manager players used to do this on a scrappy notepad on the side, but now you can do it within the game. It will highlight the stats of each player in each position, allowing you to work out who he needs replacing. The weak spots can be identified, and you can add to your squad planner with players from the academy. You can create a squad planner two years in advance, allowing you to see if you have a player that will break through in the coming seasons.

Once you've done that, you can create a recruitment focus for any players that need upgrading. This will tell your scouts to look at a particular position as they scan the world. You can be as specific or broad as you like, telling them to focus on a type of transfer (loan or permanent), age, current ability, height and home-grown status. The options go on, allowing you to tailor your plans to one specific recruitment plan. Once you've completed this, the scouts will go away and find the best options for you within weeks. It's a clever system that allows you to plan for the future with ease.

Option to delegate or dominate

Finally, you need to decide who organises which areas of the club during the season. It's the final job in the opening days of the job but one of the most important ones. You can choose to delegate (give the role to one of your backroom staff) several roles - from organising friendlies, accepting permanent and loan transfers, managing the academy and taking part in press conferences. You can choose to do as many of these roles as you want, often depending on how much free time you have at home.

However, the most important roles come in the form of training: general training and individual training. General training is complicated - and very time-consuming - so we recommend that you delegate this to your assistant manager. They will produce a weekly plan throughout the year to get your players in peak fitness for every match. Individual training is easier to understand, and you can set each player to train for a specific role. It can be done during pre-season and kept unchanged for the next 12 months, so it might be worth completing it yourself.

Either way, Football Manager 2024 is full of options and tweaks to your desire. If you want to have full control, you can, but if you want to work as a team with your backroom staff, you can do that as well. The world is at your feet on FM24.

2024-04-19T03:07:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd