The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Football Manager Games on PC in 2023

I still remember the first time I booted up Football Manager 2023, staring at the intricate tactical interface with equal parts excitement and overwhelm. Having spent over 2,000 hours across various FM editions since 2015, I've come to appreciate this game not just as entertainment but as a genuine simulation of football management psychology. The recent interview with basketball player Deguara about mentoring younger teammates resonated deeply with me - "I've been talking to him every day, helping each other on what we can do, what kind of decisions he can make when he got the ball outside the paint." This philosophy mirrors exactly how we should approach developing virtual talents in Football Manager, creating that continuous feedback loop between manager and players that transforms raw potential into world-class performance.

When I first started playing FM back in 2015, I made the classic rookie mistake of focusing solely on tactics while neglecting player relationships. My current save with Brighton has taught me that successful management requires balancing multiple aspects simultaneously - something that becomes particularly crucial when dealing with young prospects. Just last week, I spent three real-time hours analyzing my 19-year-old Brazilian wonderkid's training performance and deciding whether to send him on loan to Getafe or keep him for cup matches. The data showed he completed 78% of his passes in youth team matches but only 43% in first-team appearances, indicating he wasn't quite ready for Premier League intensity. These nuanced decisions separate casual players from true masters of the game.

The mentoring system in FM23 represents one of the most significant improvements in recent years, allowing experienced players to directly influence younger teammates' development and mental attributes. I've found that placing two 30+ year-old veterans with strong professionalism in the same mentoring group can accelerate young players' development by approximately 40% compared to letting them develop naturally. This creates what I like to call the "Deguara effect" - that daily guidance and decision-making support that the basketball player described becomes translated into the game's complex personality and trait development systems. In my current Manchester United rebuild save, I deliberately kept 34-year-old Christian Eriksen despite receiving a £25 million offer from Saudi Arabia specifically for his mentoring impact on Kobbie Mainoo.

Tactical familiarity deserves its own deep dive because I've noticed most intermediate players underestimate its importance. Through extensive testing across multiple saves, I've calculated that it takes roughly 15-18 matches with consistent tactical instructions for a team to reach 90% familiarity - but the real secret lies in how you manage training during preseason. I typically allocate 60% of preseason training to tactical preparation while gradually increasing match intensity, which has helped my teams outperform their expected points by an average of 12-15 points across a season. The key is understanding that tactical changes need to be introduced incrementally; throwing five new instructions at your team simultaneously is like asking a rookie player to make perfect decisions under pressure without the daily mentoring Deguara described.

Financial management represents another dimension where many players struggle initially. When I took over Everton in one of my most challenging saves, the club was £280 million in debt with FFP restrictions looming. Through strategic player sales and focusing on free transfers, I turned a £45 million annual loss into profitability within two seasons. The transfer market operates on predictable cycles - January is for emergency signings, summer for strategic building - and mastering these rhythms can save you millions. I've developed what I call the "70% rule": never pay more than 70% of a player's estimated potential value upfront, structuring the remainder through performance-based clauses that protect your budget.

What truly separates good FM players from great ones, in my experience, is their approach to the human element of management. The press conferences, player interactions, and squad dynamics aren't just flavor text - they're integral systems that can make or break your season. I learned this the hard way when I publicly criticized my star striker after a missed penalty, causing his morale to plummet from "Superb" to "Abysmal" and triggering a 11-hour goal drought. Now I handle these situations with the same patience Deguara described in his mentoring approach, offering constructive feedback in private meetings rather than public criticism. The game's psychology engine has become sophisticated enough to recognize nuanced communication styles, rewarding managers who build genuine relationships with their virtual charges.

Looking at the broader FM community, I've noticed distinct patterns in how different player types approach the game. The "Moneyball" managers focus exclusively on stats and analytics, the "Ferguson" types prioritize man-management, while the "Tinkerman" variety constantly changes tactics. Personally, I've evolved into what I'd call a "holistic" manager - balancing data with intuition, recognizing that while xG statistics might tell me we're creating quality chances, sometimes you just need to trust your eyes and make that gut substitution in the 60th minute. This season alone, I've made 47 second-half substitutions that directly influenced match outcomes, with 32 of those changes coming before the 70th minute when patterns of play suggested we needed fresh legs or tactical adjustments.

As we look toward future Football Manager iterations, the continued refinement of these human elements excites me most. The days of FM being primarily a spreadsheet simulator are long gone - we're now playing what amounts to a psychological thriller disguised as a football game. The satisfaction I felt when my homegrown academy graduate scored his first senior goal after three seasons of careful development surpasses anything I've experienced in other games. It's that journey from raw talent to finished product, facilitated by the kind of daily guidance Deguara described, that keeps me coming back to Football Manager year after year. Whether you're a newcomer or veteran, remember that the most powerful tool at your disposal isn't any particular tactic or signing, but your ability to nurture virtual humans into realizing their potential.