You’re standing at the top of the table, the board is singing your praise, and suddenly, you hit a wall: a wall of draws, whitewashes, and countless close defeats. Sounds familiar? Several Football Manager 26 players complain about the same situation where nothing seems to go their way. Reading up on some tips certainly helps, but sometimes these slumps aren’t just quick fixes.
However, there is good news. In Football Manager 26, these slumps aren’t permanent, nor do they have to go on for a while. With just a few dedicated changes, starting from a tactics overhaul to tweaking player psychology, you can regain your winning streak once again. Here are some things you can implement to end your losing streak in Football Manager 26.
Boost Team Morale
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Nothing destroys the flow of your game and your results faster than plummeting team morale. A few back-to-back losses, and suddenly your striker is unhappy and not performing up to par. Training also suffers because of this, and the losing cycle continues. In FM26, this has even more of an effect because individual player confidence directly influences match sharpness.
To start improving morale, you have to start with the Team Meeting screen. Click Squad, select your team (First Team/Under 18, etc.), and select Hold Team Meeting. If you want the team to regain confidence after a string of bad results, then be sure to target that.
Mind you, a team meeting isn’t always a cure-all elixir for bad morale. In fact, there will be times when it will do more harm than good, so be sure to pick your spots.
Alternatively, you can interact with individual players. If a player is on a good run of form or has been putting up good ratings in training, praise them for it. If a player is below a 6.70 rating in training or hasn’t been playing well, be sure to point out that they need to be better.
Change Your Tactics
In Football Manager 26, tactics are deeper than ever before, thanks to the in-possession and out-of-possession system. However, the better you play over time, the higher your club’s reputation will grow. And once it reaches a certain point, almost every club with a club reputation lower than yours will deploy cautious, low-block tactics against you. Once that happens, your tactic can be exposed by teams looking to hit you on the counter.
To fix this, go back to the Tactics screen and try these changes: Drop your central midfielders into defensive midfielder roles in possession to guard against transitions. Against weak opponents, push your midfield higher up and increase your tempo. Against stronger opponents, drop deeper and attack on the counter. You also have to stay dynamic, so keep swapping player roles too: an inside forward becomes an inverted winger, or a wing-back becomes a traditional full back.
It also helps to be familiar with various tactics, such as high-pressing and counter-attacking tactics. And don’t rush to change everything at once. Test one or two changes in the next friendly or cup game so your players can adapt to the tweaks.
Manage Player Fatigue
In FM26, fixtures are more congested than ever — especially if you’re a top team competing in Europe — and the game punishes managers who play their best XI every match. Fatigue starts to creep in around that 10-game mark, resulting in sloppy passes, missed tackles, and injuries. Review the Training tab’s workload overview after some matches; any player hitting “Very High” risk needs to be swapped immediately.
To prevent fatigue, rest your important attackers after two or three matches in a week, regardless of their form. Utilize the “Rest” instruction freely and monitor the Fitness and Sharpness bars consistently.
Pair up squad rotation with targeted training: switch to “Recovery” or “Match Preparation” focus during busy periods. Now your squad depth will become your secret weapon instead of a weakness.
Fine-Tune Training And Nail Impactful Substitutions
You can’t just set-and-forget training in FM26 anymore. Rather, training has some level of depth to it and should be set according to your team’s performance. If you’re on a winning streak, shift focus toward “Attacking Movement” or “Defensive Shape” sessions, and schedule lighter sessions mid-week to keep players fresh.
Most significantly, master the art of impactful substitutions. FM26’s match engine rewards timely changes, especially if you have athletic players waiting on the bench that can either shore up your central midfield or stretch an opposing back line.
If you have applied all the important tweaks, consider yourself done with the hard part. Now, make sure not to repeat the same mistakes and start treating every loss as data on how to win the next game.
Published: Apr 6, 2026 02:05 pm