9 Negative Player Personalities To Avoid in Football Manager

Player personalities in football manager are one of the key aspects that determine how a player approaches different scenarios in the game from training, transfers, and the social groups that he joins.

Having players who are professional in all they do without causing unnecessary rifts in the dressing room is invaluable and will make it much easier leading your team to promotion or the Champions League title.

Nothing is worse than getting a report of your wonder kids having acquired the dressing room’s less than desirable effects and his determination dropping by a solid 2 points. Therefore, in order to minimize the chances of this happening to your wonder kids, Avoid players in football manager with the following personalities;

Mercenary

True to his name, a player with this personality will have little to no loyalty for your club, no matter how long he plays for you. He will always be ready to pack his bags and leave for a different one.

Coupled with his low loyalty is very high ambition. He will kick up a fuss at the slightest inkling that the club is not showing the same ambition as him, be it missing on a Champions League place or failing to win promotion. Therefore, should you try to incorporate him into your team, be ready for a transfer request at the first sign of trouble.

Slack

No matter how good his stats are, please stay away from him. A player with slack personality has the lowest rating possible of 1 in professionalism.  His determination will also be less than 10 which is just not good enough.

If he comes through the youth system at your club, just cut your losses and release him. Low determination and professionalism will make the dreams of him realizing his potential nothing more than a pipe dream.

Spineless

A player lacking a spine is not what you need in a high pressure match. As expected, his rating of 1 in pressure is downright poor. Add a determination rating of less than 10 and that is not a player you want around your squad.

The big occasions will most certainly get to him, therefore expect very poor performances in derbies, cup games and any high stakes match. His body language in matches will range from “nervous” to “frustrated” and he will be more likely to make mistakes, ultimately costing you a win.

Unambitious

Ambition in football manager is definitely a double-edged sword. Too much of it and a player will look to leave for a better club, while too little of it will hold a player back from working to improve himself.

Therefore, a player who is unambitious should not be welcomed around in squad. He simply can not apply himself for the benefit of his team or himself. 

On the bright side, he has good enough loyalty ranging from 11 to 20, useful when trying to convince a player to stay at your club, but I would not recommend doing so given the very low ambition.

Low self belief

Only sightly better than a player with slack mentality, his professionalism is still very poor, greater than 1 but less than 5.  A determination rating of less than 10 is also inline with the slack mentality, and it is better if you avoid this kind of player altogether.

Low Determination

A rather straightforward player description, a player having this description will have less than 5 in determination. 

While this is definitely bad, I find determination to be the easiest attribute to improve through tutoring, therefore if you have a youth player who looks promising but has this personality, this might not be the end of the world, especially if you have the right tutors in your squad.

You have to weigh whether he looks good enough to be kept around the squad during the tutoring process, as there is always a chance his bad attributes might be picked up by a member or two in your squad.

Honest

An honest person is definitely someone to be admired in all situations in life, however this might not always be the case in football manager. His sportsmanship as expected gets the highest rating at 20.

Sportsmanship determines the moral judgement of a player in the course of a match, he will therefore never dive to win a penalty or free kick or try to get an opposition player carded.

The downside is that his determination will be less than 10, which is too low. However, as already pointed out, determination can be raised consistently through tutoring and having determined team leaders present in your squad.

Casual

One of the worst personalities present in the game. A casual player has no business being a handed a professional contract.

He will have a combination of low determination, professionalism and a low temperament. Having a low temperament will make it more likely for the player to lose his discipline in the middle of the game when things are not going his way.

It is better and much simpler to stay away from this kind of player rather than waste time trying to bring up three different ratings.

Fickle

Similar to a mercenary, a fickle player will have little love for your club(at least slightly higher than that of a mercenary) while still having very high ambition. He will therefore prioritize his career more than the progress of the club and should you slightly fail expectation, he will try to jump ship at the earliest opportunity.

If you are willing and confident of exceeding expectations, you can keep him around with the hope that his expectations will also be met and no club with a higher reputation than yours comes knocking for him.

Final Thoughts on Bad Player Personalities

While I have discussed pretty much every negative or bad player personality in the football manager game, their severity is obviously different and there are some like the mercenary or honest which you can put up with while others like casual or spineless are just best alone.

Ultimately you have to assess your squad as it is better to have a first team player who has no self belief rather than playing a youth player who is not ready for first team football in his stead, as you will be doing more harm than good to your team’s chances of winning football matches.