FM26: How to win it all in a WSL save

Follow our writer's journey as they juggle new formations and new signings in the search for success with Arsenal

Credit: Football Manager

It’s August 2025, and the world of women’s football has been left reeling from some bombshell news. Hot off the back of masterminding a historic UEFA Women’s Champions League success, Renee Slegers has left Arsenal.

Even more shocking than the news of Slegers’ departure is the appointment of her replacement – none other than me, The Cutback’s Max Radwan, who has swapped a career in journalism for one in football management, and will now be subject to intense scrutiny by his now-former colleagues in the media.

Fear not, Slegers, remains in charge of Arsenal. I will still be the one asking the questions at press conferences, not answering them. The version of events described in the opening lines of this piece exists only in the world of Football Manager 26, which introduces women’s football to the game for the very first time.

In my imaginary reign at Arsenal, I’ll be setting my sights on bringing the iconic UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy to north London once again in 2026. Over a four-part series I’ll be documenting my journey. Will my tactical prowess lead to victory? Let’s find out.

Scratching an itch

Before we continue, a disclaimer. While I am someone who has had my fair share of experience playing FM in the past, this was my first foray into the game since FM20. This isn’t to say I hadn’t earned my stripes playing the game in the past – my FM Magnum Opus goes all the way back to FM13, where I led Reading to UEFA Champions League glory. Adam le Fondre scored the winner in the final. All of this is to say that I came into this a little rusty on how to best navigate my way around an FM game.

In some ways, tackling the latest instalment to the franchise with a (relatively) fresh pair of eyes has been helpful. For example, FM26’s new User Interface (UI), is something I have been able to get to grips with relatively easily. As always, there’s an element of trial and error when getting to grips with a new game, but I have found navigating FM26 to be a relatively smooth experience, with the bookmark tabs on the top right being particularly useful.

Setting up my save, I decided to go down the route of full authenticity, turning off the summer transfer window and inheriting a scenario that mimics the real world, including a Leah Williamson knee injury. With no transfer window spending spree to rely on, I would have to show off my coaching prowess if I was to get the sort of results that would satisfy an expectant Arsenal fanbase. Enter FM 26’s overhauled tactics portal.

Formation overload

Unlike previous iterations of the game, where a team’s formation selection primarily covered the in-possession side of the game, FM26 affords the player greater scope to shape their team in their image, with both in and out-of-possession formations covered. Playing around with the latter was something I particularly looked forward to. My go-to shape near enough mimics that employed by Renee Slegers - a 4-2-3-1 in possession which becomes a 4-4-2 out of possession. In terms of a playing philosophy, I selected the ‘gegenpressing’ preset, looking to play the sort of high-octane brand of football that has produced some of Arsenal’s best moments in recent years.

I enjoyed discovering what the various out of possession roles had to offer and played around with these over the course of pre-season. For example, I have settled on deploying Mariona Caldentey as a tracking centre forward out of possession, meaning that she will form part of the team’s high press, but dropping back when the team is sinking into a block.

With a lot of information to take in, I resisted the urge to skip through pre-season – which included a tour of the USA.

My go-to shape near enough mimics that employed by Renee Slegers - a 4-2-3-1 in possession which becomes a 4-4-2 out of possession. In terms of a playing philosophy, I selected the ‘gegenpressing’ preset, looking to play the sort of high-octane brand of football that has produced some of Arsenal’s best moments in recent years.

I used these pre-season matches as an opportunity to try some slightly more experimental tactics.

Ok, the first one isn’t actually that experimental at all, it’s the same formation but with a lower intensity both in and out of possession, with a greater emphasis on control.

My logic here is that 90 minutes ‘heavy metal football’ every week won’t be sustainable from a physical standpoint, and my players may need to coast through some of the lower-end WSL games. Though it must be said, this formation didn’t work in the games which I tried it, producing some uninspiring, pedestrian football.

The other formation up my sleeve was a little more experimental. In the real world, something I would like to see Arsenal try to employ is a ‘six and two eights’ midfield model – mimicking the setup favoured by the Arsenal men’s team under Mikel Arteta. The hope is that this would bring the best out of the likes of Kyra Cooney-Cross and Victoria Pelova.

In the world of FM, I can live out that dream. How did it go? Well, the formation’s only outing to date resulted in a 4-4 draw in a pre-season friendly. Jenna Nighswonger played as the six. In other words, it might be worth shelving phase two of my master plan until the January transfer window, where signing a top defensive midfielder is priority number one.

With those experiments producing decidedly mixed results, I reverted to the familiar for the final game of pre-season. That is, a 4-2-3-1 in-possession ‘gegenpress’, tweaking the out-of-possession shape slightly to an asymmetrical 4-4-2, dropping the player on the right of my double pivot slightly deeper out of possession to provide some coverage in front of my central defenders. A 4-0 win provided some positive momentum going into the season opener against London City Lionesses.

In terms of starting lineup headlines, I opted for a central defensive partnership of Lotte Wubben-Moy and Laia Codina, the latter’s selection informed by a lack of match fitness for Steph Catley. In midfield, I started the much-clamoured-for (in real life at least) Cooney-Cross, who partnered Kim Little in the double pivot. Further forward, I started Mariona in a free role in the No.10 position, behind a front three of Olivia Smith, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo.

Would my team selection be vindicated? The answer was a resounding yes, as by halftime, my Arsenal side found themselves 4-0 up, eventually recording an emphatic 6-0 victory. A tactical masterclass, then? Not exactly. Unbelievably, my team were 4-0 up at the break, despite creating less than one expected goal. Those numbers went up in the second half, but the real dream debut didn’t come from the dugout, but rather on the pitch, as Smith managed an extraordinary four-goal salvo.

Will this over reliance on individual brilliance and strong finishing come back to bite me in the future? Only time will tell.

Coming up in the next instalment, the European title defence begins, old rivalries are resumed, and new ones emerge thanks to a pre-match war of words.

This is a paid partnership with Football Manager and The Cutback.