Every manager wants to have the best players at their disposal. However, it’s not always possible. Whether you’re taking charge of your local lower league side or managing in an exotic location where you are unable to draw in the world’s top talents, you’ll have to make the best of the players in your squad and the signings you can make. That’s not always an easy task; players in lower reputation leagues haven’t always got the most complete skillsets and require careful managing to succeed. Rock’s End FM outlines some simple strategies to maximise the ability of more limited players.

The way you assign responsibilities to your staff can change the way you play Football Manager. Giving over more control to your Director of Football not only adds more realism to your game but also helps you get the best from your squad. Dan Gear explains how it’s done.

When Football Manager’s "In The Studio" feature showcase was released, something ‘Mr Transfer Deadline Day’ himself, Fabrizio Romano, said was quite striking: "Sometimes players are untouchable in June and on Deadline Day they're available on loan". 

Until now, common Football Manager wisdom said that you do your business early. Sign pre-contracts in January, make some smart deals that look like bargains in June and watch the world go crazy as the window draws to a close. That’s all changed now though, with Football Manager 2022's new Deadline Day feature opening up new possibilities. 

Whilst there are still benefits to be gained from moving quickly in the market, Rock’s End FM explains the advantages of getting your last business done as the final hours tick down.

In a previous piece, we touched on the attacking insights you can take from Football Manager 2022’s brand-new Data Hub. 

As Football Manager players, we usually put a lot of thought into our tactical approach. Not just the formation, the player roles and the instructions, but also how and when to press the opponent (enhanced by FM22’s new pressing system), if we should pass short or long and if certain roles should principally Defend, Support or Attack. It’s a beautiful thing when you are winning but it can be a nightmarish puzzle to solve when you are on a losing streak. 

The rapid rise of the popularity of analytics in football is now reflected in-game through a variety of useful visualisations in the Hub. You can maximise this feature to give you deeper insight into how your team are playing in every phase of play and in every part of the pitch. 

Historically it can be difficult to figure out exactly where things are breaking down, but FM22’s new Data Hub can empower you to easily see some of these challenges and tweak your tactic to get more from your system and your current players. It’s worth bearing in mind that the better analysts you have, the more information you’ll have to play with.

In this second part of his series, FM Stag explores how you can obtain key Defensive Insights from the Data Hub.

Now that the game has been out a little while and you’ve had a chance to test out the new features, we know that a lot of your attention will be turning towards long-term saves, meticulously planning out the moves you’re going to make to snap up the next big wonderkids.

Something you can’t plan for, just like in real life, is a takeover at your club. We’ve seen a couple of British clubs make headlines this year after substantial investment from overseas but as a manager it can be difficult to know where to start when the cash comes flooding in. So, to give you some pointers, Joseph Douglas has put together a list of the top five things to do when your team gets brand-new owners in FM22.

Data is becoming an increasingly popular topic in football. No longer is it just the remit of deeply analytical fans but now an important reference for fans, journalists, pundits and modern-day managers. And, of course, Football Manager players. 

It’s also not just passes, assists, dribbles and goals that are considered as data. When any action that any player or team can perform in a football match is counted and written down, that is data. Analysts all over the world review not just video highlights and pages of numbers, but also visualisations which can really bring those numbers to life.

Lots of these metrics have been recorded in Football Manager for a number of years, but after the introduction of xG in Football Manager 2021, your data experience has been completely revolutionised with the introduction of the Data Hub for Football Manager 2022. FM Stag explains how you can see these numbers come to life in new and meaningful ways, helping you better manage your team’s path to glory, squeezing out those marginal gains to tactically outfox your opponents.

It's that time of the year again. A new Football Manager launches and you can't wait to dive into it. There are so many possibilities, so many objectives to chase, so many paths to walk; but who do you play with? To try and help make that decision a bit easier for you, Rock’s End FM has devised a Football Manager Save Generator. Let’s take a closer look at how it works…

As most footballers will attest, there's quite nothing like the joy of representing your nation; every sweat-drenched shirt and every tear shed (of happiness or hurt) in the name of your country means more. Rock’s End FM breaks down international management in FM21, allowing you to lead your nation to glory and a place in immortality.

Training is one of those areas of Football Manager that a lot of us look at, think about, and then leave to our assistant. Of course, if you have a decent assistant, your team will trundle along nicely through training, certainly not regressing, but definitely not excelling. Training not only sets your team up for future success by working on players' attributes but it can also be used to fine-tune your team for big games, improve team cohesion and turn an average season into a great one.

Training can often be overlooked in Football Manager. It’s understandable; it doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of developing a groundbreaking tactic, nor does it give the same adrenaline rush you get when making a top-quality signing. Nonetheless, it’s every bit as vital to your team’s success. Without the right training schedule, that revolutionary tactical style you’ve developed won’t work as it should and you won’t get the most from your stars. Rock’s End FM details how you can maximise training by developing your own custom schedules. 

FM21 offers the ultimate football management experience; tinker with your tactics, complete deals in the transfer market and revolutionise training schedules on your way to success. However, with so much immersion provided by the current game and so much detail at your disposal, it’s inevitable that even the most experienced player will have missed some of the tools and information in-game. Rock’s End FM details six that you might have missed.

For many years now, the ability to edit data in Football Manager has been a vital part of the FM experience. Whether you use the Pre-Game Editor (PGE) to update your favourite team with the latest transfer movements (so that you can start a season with your club’s latest signing already in the squad), create the European Super League you’ve always dreamt of, or save yourself the hassle of asking the board for a larger transfer budget (by simply increasing it yourself), the application allows to play the game your way. Here, Luke D’Alton offers some advice on how to get the most from the FM21 PGE.