Dev diary · October 2026
1.4

The Manager

Every opposition manager now plays his own way and changes things when the match calls for it. And players tell you how long they want to sign for.

At a glance
  • Opposition managers have their own way of playing and set up their side to face you.
  • When they fall behind or go down to ten men, they change shape mid-match.
  • Players want a set contract length. Get it wrong and it costs you wages, or they turn you down.
  • Qualify for Europe and a letter lands on 1 July with your competition and starting round.
  • Other clubs now promote more academy graduates to their first-team squad.
In numbers
33%of matches in which a side changes shape. In real football it's 29.6%. Before, every side changed shape in every match.
1.8×as likely: a manager changes formation after a defeat compared with after a win. In real football it's 1.4 to 2.1 times.
59%of new managers bring a different formation with them. In real football it's 59 to 60%.
2.5academy players a season, on average, now make the step up to the first team at the top clubs. Before it was 1.7.
209clubs used to have a manager who didn't fit his own line-up: defensive with three up front, or attacking with a back five. Now there are none.
21.7%of players used to carry a name from an unchecked list or from another country. Now every single name is checked, and not one is wrong.
780players used to share their exact name with a fellow countryman. Now none do.
What went wrong while building it

Suddenly the names were different

I noticed it myself while testing: until then every player had the same name every time you started, and suddenly some names were new. The check for it was green, because it only ever looked at one world, never at two careers side by side. Now the starting world is fixed, on every phone and in every career. Then I noticed something else: some 19-year-olds had grandad names. Now the name fits the age too.

All changes in 1.4
New
  • Every computer-controlled manager has a favourite formation and a way of playing that suits his country. He picks the shape for each match from his idea, his squad and the opponent: more careful against stronger sides, braver against weaker ones. You see it in how they play, not on a screen.
  • A side that falls behind or goes down to ten men changes shape and gets more dangerous in the last half hour. That goes for every match in the world, including the ones you don't watch live.
  • After a defeat the computer-controlled managers change things more often, after a win they stick with it.
  • A new manager keeps some of the club's tradition: clubs with a big name tend to stay with their way of playing.
  • In contract talks the player tells you how long he wants to sign for. Offer something else and he wants more wages, miss by two years and he says no. Older players are happy to sign for longer. You find it under Team → player → Renew contract, and when you sign a player after agreeing the fee.
  • Qualify for Europe and a letter arrives on 1 July: competition, starting round and how you got there. The fans talk about it in the feed.
  • Every career starts in the same world. Start twice with the same club and you'll find the same players with the same names, ages and ratings, the same academy and the same managers. Things only start to differ from the first matchday.
  • That starting world now stays the same in every update. Play often enough and you get to know your players and the other teams, and we want to keep it that way.
  • Names sound like the country they come from. A Croatian has a Croatian name, a Serb a Serbian one, and first name and surname always go together. Managers too. Careers already under way keep their names.
  • Every generation has its own names. Players are named like people born in their years, managers like people of their generation. No 19-year-old is named like his grandad any more.
  • All names are made up, so no real professional plays in our game. And within one country, no two players share the exact same name.
  • Bring a player in on loan and the press reports it under News → League, with the length and any option to buy.
  • "What's new" is a line in the main menu with a gold dot after an update. Behind it are the key points, the way into this diary and "Rate us on Google Play".
Better
  • Big and mid-sized clubs promote more of their own academy players to the first team.
  • Computer-controlled clubs hand out contracts the way real clubs do.
  • Managers who play a back three stay true to it: a full-back can play wing-back, they sign real wing-backs and no longer sell their full-backs first.
  • The scout now says "Would be a big step up for us" instead of "A level above us". He rates the player's level, and the talks show whether the player will come.
  • The request to rate the game comes earlier, after a league win when the board is happy, and no more than twice.
  • Pop-ups that open on their own now wait until the previous one is closed.
  • If the keepers are carrying knocks, computer-controlled clubs play the injured pro first, then a young keeper, and only then an outfield player.
  • No club signs an extra player just to cover a short suspension.
  • Every matchday is calculated as fast as in 1.3.
Fixed
  • An offer from a computer-controlled club for one of your players no longer falls through because the buyer runs out of money during the week.
  • After a scouting report was finished, the player card showed no rating.
  • No computer-controlled club starts the season without a keeper who can play.
  • After a cup win, the result screen shows when the next round is again.

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