A little introduction first. Some of you might know me as Crusadertsar from writing for SI’s Byline blog. At one time, I was also a writer on the FM fansite “DictateTheGame”. When not posting there, I would also chronicle my FM saves over at SI Football Manager Forum. There you might have read my guides on various tactical styles, be it pragmatic Mourinho-inspired “Defence-First” Football or Cruyff-infused Total Football. Over the years, all of these tactical journeys have led me to saves with one club, that’s become special to me, Real Sociedad. Now with FM26, Real Sociedad de Fútbol has a new home at GaffersLounge.
“Sometimes, for a manager, it’s just one club that suits them.”
– John Toshack, manager of Real Sociedad over nine seasons.
Despite trying hard to think of new save ideas for FM26, La Real (Erreala in Basque) has called me back once again. This will be my fourth time managing Txuri-Urdin (White and Blues). I would love for you all to join me on this journey and let us bask in glory together!
Why choose Real Sociedad?
A few good reasons:
1) Erreala allows me to play with a “big” club without turning FM into “easy mode” like with other elite clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern. Whatever version of FM, Real Sociedad always presents me with interesting starting challenges, whether it is keeping my best players, surviving in Champions League, or reintroducing the Basque-only policy for transfers. It helps that with Sociedad’s Continental reputation and large stadium, talented players are easier to attract and keep at Anoeta than at other similar clubs.
2) Club’s superb training and youth facilities help in saves focused on bringing in 5-star newgens with each “Cantera” academy intake and developing them to their full potential. Developing exciting newgens is my favourite aspect of Football Manager so I might be a little biased towards a club with a long history of youth development. Sociedad only abandoned its Basque-only policy in 1989, meaning that its youth academy (or Cantera in Spanish) has had a long reputation of feeding talent to the First Team. Some recent notable products: Xabi Alonso, Oyarzabal and Antoine Griezmann. And there are more in the pipeline!
3) Sociedad is a club with rich history of success going back to their last league title in 1982. There were some recent struggles too. It is not quite a sleeping a giant but it definitely has a lot of room in the trophy cabinet for a new manager to fill. And the fanbase is very passionate, given how the club is interconnected with local Basque communities. It still has that grassroots, member-run feel which is becoming more rare as corporate-owned clubs become commonplace.
So without further ado, let us welcome the arrival of FM26 with La Real! And let me give you a little preview of what to expect from this FM Story in 2025-26.
Main Themes of this FM story?
My plan for this season of Football Manager is to once again use my Real Sociedad save as a rich source of guides on realistic tactics, squad management and other long-term FM strategies. Some of the topics will include:
1) Squad management – especially long term squad planning. My objective in FM26 is to really immerse myself in Sociedad’s unique club culture. Phase out non-Basque players gradually and build a truly world-beating First Team squad of Basques to win major trophies.
2) Transfers and Recruitment. Real Sociedad does not start with a strict Basque-only recruitment policy (like its rival Athletic Bilbao) but I always tended to manage them like Athletic anyway. It’s just more fun that way. Truthfully, I have been lax in FM24, eventually buying some foreigners to stay competitive with Barca and the two Madrid clubs. In a way that’s reflective of Real Sociedad’s own history where they stopped their Cantera policy in 1989. So my mini-objective for FM26 Real Sociedad is to stay true to club’s Basque roots. I won’t be resigning any of our non-Basque players once their contracts run out. And if any offers come in before, I will automatically accept them.
3) Youth Academies and B Teams. I love youth academy saves! I have always been a huge proponent of youth development in FM games. My best FM save memories have always been those where I develop my own superstars from home-grown grassroots. This is even more important when managing a club with a self-imposed transfer policy. I absolutely want to see some great newgens come from Real Sociedad’s “La Cantera” academy.
I’ve had some amazing players (like Cristian above) in previous games, and so have big hopes for FM26.
B Teams are vital for youth development. I am glad that Sociedad has a reserve team in a competitive league. In fact, that was one of the reasons that made me choose the club for the first time back in FM22. Invariably your reserve team (but only if it’s in the football pyramid) becomes a testing ground for all those talented youngsters. I have a whole system worked of how I transition my youth players from the academy (u19) to B Team, C Team (Real Sociedad has one in the pyramid too!) and then finally to 1st Team. I intend to give you detailed insights into my youth development method in future blog updates.
4) Football History. My favourite theme in all of my FM blogging. I’m a history nerd (guess that happens when you dedicate half a decade in university to studying the dusty past!) and an even bigger football history buff. If you read my blogs over the years, then you know what to expect. So here hoping that I can spark some of your interest in Real Sociedad and Basque football history. Truly, Euskal Herria is an amazing region steeped in long football tradition and simmered with passionate fan support. So it’s rather easy to discover interesting stories and people throughout Basque football’s long history.
There are many exciting stories of fierce derbies and dramatic title races. If nothing else, it grounds my FM saves within historical reality and helps even more with immersion into FM’s virtual world. So expect a healthy injection of these little juicy historical tidbits in my blogs.
5) Creating FM26 Tactics! On a chilly October morning, is there anything sweeter than tinkering with a tactic till your heart’s content? Nothing like a scent of hot coffee and the fresh, new FM release to get those tactical theory juices flowing. ¡Vamos!
As always I will try to do step-by-step tour of how I go about creating tactics. I expect there will be much tinkering with the new goodies in FM26 tactical toolset. I’m especially excited about crafting even more realistic tactics with different in-possession and out-possession formations. Quite a few things changed from FM24 so there is a lot to learn here. I am eager to create some interesting tactical systems to get best out of Real Sociedad’s squad.
6) Defining unique “Basque” Football Style – My biggest objective for this blog series. And probably something that I am not 100% clear on yet. Honestly, it will probably be a work in progress for most of my time with FM26. My goal is to come up with a tactical style that I could truly call “Basque” in how it reflects the region’s footballing history and its people’s stalwart nature.
To help me in this quest for Basque Football, I am hoping that this blog’s comment section will become a good meeting place of tactical minds and Basque football fans alike. I want to hear about your own Real Sociedad (or even Athletic) saves and the kinds of tactics that you use. Let’s have some fun together with FM26 and find a consistently successful tactical style that truly merits the name “Basque Football”.
The Gaffers Lounge 
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