Based on the mostly negative Steam reviews, Football Manager 26 could not have had a more terrible start. It’s certainly a very polarizing game, one that has a highly rewarding match engine that is unfortunately let down by its clunky UI and terrible quality-of-life aspects. Those are just the core issues, but players are also frustrated with little things like the absence of touchline shouts.
We covered this issue previously when the game was still in Beta, and fan reactions surrounding it have not changed. In the r/footballmanagergames subreddit, one very frustrated player said the following:
“Nearly every player is missing this, but guys in SI office didn’t. They don’t play their game, and that shows in most parts of the game.”
A Rough Start, To Say The Least
As someone who is passionate about games and tends to be forgiving towards more issues, I take no joy from berating a game. With that said, out of FM26’s nearly 3600 English reviews on Steam, only 26% of them are positive. That means the game is rated even lower than MindsEye on Steam, which, in my opinion, was the worst AAA game launch of 2025, right behind Sony’s Concord.
We published a review of FM26 just today, and our very own Christian Smith actually praised the match engine, graphical improvements, and the overall tactical evolution. However, he also discussed how the UI and its cumbersome menus seem to fight against you. Not a good look for a game that is basically played inside menus.
The removal of touchline shouts is just an addition to the massive pile of issues this game already has. On the Reddit post referenced earlier, one user pointed out how touchline shouts felt like they didn’t even accomplish anything in the first place. Another user then argued that the effectiveness isn’t what matters, it’s what touchline shouts add to the feel and immersion of the game. But user Rundas-Slash had the most grounded take on the matter:
“Or you know, crazy idea, they could have made them… Do something? Is it so hard to give a small mental boost of +/- 2 on some relevant stats depending on the player’s morale during the match?”
Let’s be real here, Football Manager games have always been dated. Graphics have never been the best, and because Sports Interactive seems to ignore polish, there are a myriad of issues with each release. This time around, it just so happens that there’s more bad than good for a lot of players.
