FM26 Training Guide & Schedules by JonasMorais

FM26 Player Development Guide

by JonasMorais

I have been testing extensively since the FM26 Beta release, focusing on Training and Player Development.

This guide condenses everything I have learned so far. These are my personal findings and observations, not absolute truth, but they should give you a solid foundation for building your own approach.

If you have read my previous Youth Development Guide from FM24, you will still find plenty of new and important details here.

The fundamentals of player growth remain consistent. Attributes still progress by age, potential, and exposure. What has changed is how we influence that process now that we no longer control B team, reserve, or youth training directly.

This guide will help you adapt to FM26’s new development system.

You will also find an updated set of Training Schedules that are fully compatible with the new structure and can be adjusted to your team’s needs throughout the season.

Watch the video or keep reading.

For clarity, we will use a Top Team setup as our reference.

Let’s start where every good development setup begins. Coaches.

COACHES

Coaches have always been crucial to development, but in FM26 they matter more than ever. With reduced control over youth and reserve squads, the quality and number of staff directly influence how players progress at every level.

Your first priority should be to fill every available staff slot, including both coaching and medical departments. The right mix of staff makes a huge difference over a full season.

Coaches: Provide focused, high-quality training
Sports Scientists: Reduce injuries and manage conditioning
Physios: Improve recovery and give accurate injury feedback

Always monitor the workload in each training category and aim to keep it Light or Average. A heavy workload lowers session quality and slows growth. Pre-season can be especially demanding, so adjust staff or reassign temporarily if needed.

If your club allows it, fully optimise your Coach Responsibilities. Keep training and player development under your control wherever possible.

SORTING YOUR TEAMS OUT

This is where FM26 changes things the most.

You no longer have full control of training for your B, reserve, or youth teams. This means your development approach must adapt.

The underlying rules of how attributes grow have not changed. Physicals peak earlier, mental attributes grow slower, and technical attributes remain steady.

The difference now lies in how much staff quality, squad size, and loan management influence progress.

Loans Are Now Key

Without direct control of youth and B team training, loans and first-team promotion have become the best ways to develop players.

Send players to clubs that have:

• Good facilities
  
• A decent league reputation
  
• A realistic chance of regular playing time
  

I always include a recall clause and make playing time a demand. Previously, I preferred to develop players in-house, but in FM26, carefully chosen loans outperform reserve training in almost every scenario.

Squad Structure and Numbers

For your first team, aim for around 25 players maximum. Two per position, plus three mentors — one defender, one midfielder, one attacker.

Depending on how much you want to micromanage your reserve and youth teams, here’s how to balance them:

Minimal Management:
Keep each squad between 15–18 players. This ensures regular playing time and steady growth.

Micromanagement:
You can go up to 20–22 players, two per position, but make sure you personally control match selections. Rotate your squads evenly — eleven play one match, eleven play the next.

Age and Development Balance

FM26 still follows familiar logic:

• Players aged 15–18 develop mainly through training and don’t need match ratings.
  
• Players aged 18+ progress faster through matches and ratings.
  

A first-team player you are developing doesn’t need a full 90 minutes. Playing 15 minutes is enough to receive a match rating. I usually substitute these players around the 60th or 70th minute.

Here’s an example structure I use:

• U18/U19: Ages 15–17
  
• Reserves/U23: Ages 18–21, close to first-team level
  
• First Team: Only promote 17–21 year-olds if they will actually play
  

Avoid letting young players train with the first team but play for lower squads. They will miss key sessions and lose up to a month of training time across the season.

TAKE CONTROL OF TRAINING

Even though youth and B teams training control is gone, you still have full say over first-team training, and that is where your influence counts most.

You should take control of training for all the other teams and control what you can, mainly, Individual Training and training intensity.

Step 1
Go to Training → Training Intensity and set your intensity to reduce injury risk and prepare for your schedules later.

Step 2
Set every player’s Intensity Level to Automatic.


Step 3
Assign every player to a specific Position/Role/Duty, not just a generic playing position. This helps the game focus training on the attributes that matter most. ( Do this for IN and OUT of Possession )


Once a month, I also praise or criticise training performance to maintain motivation:

• Praise ratings 7.5+
• Criticise ratings 6.5 or below

THE TRAINING SCHEDULES

Before using any schedule, complete the setup above. Skipping these steps leads to injuries and poor results.

Your Pre-Season should focus on physical readiness and team cohesion.

Schedule your own friendlies, one per week, on Saturdays. Start with 45–60 minutes for your main eleven, then switch to your second team.

During the season, alternate between attacking and defensive weeks to cover all match situations.

Keep workloads balanced and morale high. Training should support performance, not drain your players.

If you have a free week, use the Saturday schedule. For Sunday matches, manually add Match Review to the following week, as it cannot be pre-saved.

All schedules are designed to complement each other and can be adapted for your fixture list and squad depth.

Download the Training Schedules

The 10 Commandments of Training

1. Good coaches make a difference
2. Always train a specific position/role
3. Use Pre-season schedules properly
4. Keep training intensity at or below Medium
5. Let intensity peak two days after matches, then taper down
6. Physical attributes grow fastest, mental grow slowest
7. Have the right players in the right teams
8. Only promote players to the first team if they will play
9. Maintain two players per position, no more
10. Use these schedules consistently

If you would like to buy me a coffee and support me to be able to make more content like this it’s appreciated: