In Possession, Out of Possession: FM26’s New Tactical Evolution

In and Out of Possession Formations

Your first taste of FM26’s new tactical options comes the moment you create a tactic.

The setup flow will feel familiar to returning players - you’ll still begin by choosing your preferred tactical style. But this time, you’ll pick two formations instead of one, starting with your In Possession shape. Think of this as your base structure for when your team has the ball, laying out where your players position themselves as you build from the back.

Once you’ve locked that in, the game will suggest three Out of Possession formations. These are shapes that naturally complement your In Possession setup and show how your side will look when defending in a settled block.

For example, a team using a 4-3-3 with the ball might be guided towards a 4-1-4-1 off the ball - a natural, low-effort transition for your players.

Of course, the choice is entirely yours. FM26 gives you far more freedom to tailor your setup exactly as you want. Go ambitious, go experimental - even ask a player to attack on one flank and defend on the other. If your ideas stretch the limits of what’s practical, your backroom staff will flag that your approach carries risk. But ultimately, you decide how bold you want to be.

A Clearer Picture of Your Team

FM26’s redesigned Tactics menu puts unprecedented control at your fingertips, with four distinct views of your team’s setup: In Possession, Out of Possession, Both, and Combined.

The first two are pretty self-explanatory, so we’ll just focus on the latter two. The Both view allows you to see your two shapes side-by-side, making for an easy visual comparison of how your team are intending to transition. 

Combined shows the average position of your players between your two formations. It’s your one-stop shop for team selection tinkering, because any personnel changes you make in Combined will be made across both of your individual formations. 

Introducing the Visualiser

The new player roles really come to life through the Visualiser - a powerful tool that shows exactly how your formations and tactics play out on the pitch.

You’ll find it in the Team Instructions menu, where the pitch is divided into three vertical zones, each representing a third of the field.
The Visualiser offers separate views for both In Possession and Out of Possession. Clicking on any of the nine grid squares reveals how your team’s shape shifts as the ball moves across the pitch. Because it’s powered by training match scenarios, you’ll see an authentic preview of how your tactical ideas translate in practice - and where you might need to fine-tune things to perfect your approach.

Every player role is displayed in the Visualiser, giving you a clear picture of how positioning and behaviour shift as play moves through each phase.

For example, take Manchester City’s In Possession setup. Here, Nico O’Reilly is deployed as an Inside Wing-Back. When the team have the ball deep in their own half, he initially takes up a traditional left-back position.

As the ball moves further up the pitch, O’Reilly’s role sees him drift inside into a Defensive Midfield position. The Visualiser captures this transition perfectly, giving you clearer insight than ever into how your players actually behave - and the confidence to tweak your setup before heading into a match.

The same principle applies Out of Possession. Take Brighton, for example, with Carlos Baleba deployed as a Pressing Defensive Midfielder. In a settled defensive shape, he holds his usual position at the base of midfield. Once the team presses high in the final third, his role pushes him further forward to actively support the press - a shift the Visualiser brings to life in real detail.

Player Roles, Evolved

To fully support the addition of In and Out of Possession formations, FM26 overhauls player roles.

If you’ve been keeping a close eye on our FM26 content, you may already have noticed some fresh role names - these are part of our redefined in possession system.

To provide a better, more accurate and modern understanding of how these roles perform, we reviewed our entire list of In Possession roles from FM24. Some have stayed as they were, some have new names – it's goodbye to the Mezzala, Enganche and Trequartista – some have new functionality – like the Inside Forward. And some, like the list below, are entirely new:

• No-Nonsense Goalkeeper
• Ball-Playing Goalkeeper
• Overlapping Centre-Back
• Playmaking Wing-Back
• Advanced Wing-Back
• Midfield Playmaker
• Wide Central Midfielder
• Wide Forward
• Channel Forward

In Possession roles define how your players move and position themselves as play develops up the pitch.

To complement them, FM26 introduces an entirely new set of Out of Possession roles, shaping how your players operate when defending. We won’t spoil the full list here - you’ll be able to discover them all once you get hands-on with the game.

A player’s suitability for any Out of Possession role depends on two things: their positional familiarity (how comfortable they are in that area of the pitch) and their key attributes for the role in question.

As always, every role - in or out of possession - is rated using Football Manager’s classic five-star system, with the ratings built directly into player reports. These Out of Possession roles define how your players slot into a high press, settle into a low block, or anything in between.

And that’s just the start. Because these roles link seamlessly into areas like Training and Transfers, their impact will help to shape your management experience beyond Match Day too.

The overhaul of player roles also brings wider changes across tactics. We’ve said goodbye to Duties - the flexibility of dual formations and role sets now gives you a far clearer picture of what your players will do in every phase of play.

We’ve also stripped back the number of hardcoded instructions tied to each role. That means you have more freedom than ever to customise - or even micro-manage - exactly how you want your players to act on Match Day.

Match Day Intelligence, Upgraded

To fully reflect the new freedom and flexibility given to you by FM26’s Tactics menu, we’ve completely revamped significant parts of the Match Engine under the hood. 

As mentioned in our Match Experience feature blog, FM26 features a rewritten pass risk assessment system. Players now better judge the danger of a potential pass based on their attributes, leading to more incisive line-breaking passes through the middle.

They’ll also show greater creativity when trying to bypass defenders - sliding passes around them, or lifting the ball delicately over an outstretched leg to avoid interceptions. The result? Passing patterns that feel sharper, smarter, and more varied than ever.

Dribbling has also taken a big step forward. Players can now stand up their marker, bait them into a challenge, then burst past at just the right moment. Inside-footed wingers cut inside more naturally to create shooting or crossing angles on their stronger foot, while all dribblers vary their carrying speed to unbalance opponents. Combined with upgraded ball-carrying animations, dribbling in FM26 has never looked more fluid or authentic.

Beyond passing and dribbling, FM26 also delivers a wave of attacking upgrades. Midfielders now time half-space runs far more intelligently to support wide players, while forwards are sharper at spotting and executing cutback opportunities from dangerous crossing positions. We’ve also introduced a brand-new team instruction, Pass to Feet, giving you even greater control over how your side builds attacks.

Defensively, the improvements run just as deep. Team structures and pressing shapes have been refined across the pitch, while interception logic has been reworked so defenders can stretch, lunge, and improvise more effectively to win the ball. Goalkeepers, meanwhile, feel more dependable than ever thanks to significant upgrades to their save logic, cross claiming, blocks, spread saves and distribution.

And this is just the start - FM26’s Match AI is packed with enhancements you’ll only fully appreciate once you’re in the dugout, watching your vision come to life. This includes, but is not limited to, improvements to defensive headers, covering and marking logic, doubling up, a new player ‘look at’ system, improved stepping up logic, improved near post defending at corners and new tendencies. 

Team Instructions: Revamped

To the right of the visualiser, you’ll notice another area that’s been entirely revamped - our display of Team Instructions.

Now far more visual, the display only shows the instruction areas relevant to the third of the pitch you’re focusing on and whether you’re viewing In Possession or Out of Possession formations. The layout is intuitive, making it immediately clear what each instruction affects as you craft your next winning tactic. For example, with instructions like Width, you can watch in real time through the Visualiser how your adjustments shape your team’s positioning and movement.

To give you even more insight in the dugout, the Team Instructions section now has a direct link to the Data Hub. By integrating the data more closely to the area of the game where you can maximise it, you’re empowered to make more informed decisions about your team more easily. 

FM26 delivers the most ambitious tactical innovation in years, transforming the way you set up your team to mirror how top managers approach the game.

With dual formations, redesigned player roles and powerful new visual tools at your fingertips, you can now see exactly how your team shapes up in different scenarios - and exercise unparalleled control over how they play across every area of the pitch.

FM26 changes the tactics. It’s over to you to change the game.