Squad Planner and Team Report

Use the Squad Planner early in FM27 to get an instant overview of positional strength and squad depth and identify investment priorities. A lower star count indicates insufficient coverage in a position, helping you identify areas that need attention as you establish your tactical style and philosop

Evidence: 8 community-reported · Last verified: 2026-11-11 · Sources: 1

The Squad Planner and Team Report is an early-save assessment tool for Football Manager 27 (FM27). Use it to get an instant overview of your squad’s positional strength and depth, then identify the areas that require the most attention as you establish your tactical style and philosophy.

The key indicator is the star count assigned to each position. A lower star count means that coverage in that position is lacking, making it a useful signal when deciding which parts of the squad should receive priority.

How to Complete

Use the Squad Planner at the beginning of the season, before making major decisions about how to shape your squad. The tool is designed to provide a clear overview of two connected areas:

• Positional strength: How well the squad is covered in each position.
• Squad depth: Whether there is sufficient coverage across the positions you may need to use.

The purpose of this review is not simply to identify the strongest positions. It is to find the weaker areas that could affect how you build your team and define your preferred tactical approach.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

1. Open the Squad Planner early

Begin your save by reviewing the Squad Planner as part of your initial squad assessment. The early stage of the season is the most useful time to do this because it gives you direction before you settle on your priorities.

The Squad Planner provides an instant overview of positional strength and squad depth, allowing you to assess the squad as a whole rather than focusing only on individual players.

2. Review every position

Work through the positional information shown in the planner and consider the level of coverage available in each area. Pay attention to both the strength of the position and the depth behind it.

Avoid treating one strong player as complete coverage by itself. The purpose of the planner is to show the broader state of the squad, so consider whether each position has enough support when establishing your overall team structure.

3. Identify lower star counts

Use the star counts to locate positions that need attention. A lower star count indicates that coverage in that position is lacking.

These positions should become the focus of your assessment. They may not all require the same response, but they clearly deserve more consideration than positions with stronger coverage. Mark them as the areas to investigate first when setting your squad priorities.

4. Establish your tactical direction

Review the lower-rated positions while you establish your tactical style and philosophy. Positional coverage is crucial during this process because the squad’s current strengths and weaknesses can influence how practical your preferred approach is.

Use the planner to compare your intended style with the coverage available in the squad. If a position important to your tactical thinking has a lower star count, treat that as a priority when deciding how to develop the team.

5. Set investment priorities

Once you have reviewed all positions, turn the findings into a short list of investment priorities. The Squad Planner is intended to provide clear direction on which areas should be invested in and prioritised early in the season [src-84cde24e42].

Start with the positions showing the clearest lack of coverage, then distinguish them from areas where the squad already has adequate strength and depth. This keeps your attention on the needs revealed by the report instead of spreading your priorities evenly across the entire squad.

6. Use the report to guide early decisions

Keep the Squad Planner’s findings in mind as you make your initial squad decisions. The value of the report is that it connects a general squad overview with practical priorities: it shows where coverage is lacking and helps you decide which areas need attention first.

The report should support your broader planning rather than replace it. Use the positional overview, star counts and depth assessment together when shaping your tactical style and deciding where investment is most important.

Tips

• Check it before setting priorities: Review the planner early in the season so your initial decisions are based on the squad’s actual positional coverage.
• Focus on low star counts: Lower star counts are the clearest warning that coverage in a position is lacking.
• Consider depth as well as strength: A position should be assessed as part of the squad structure, not only by its most prominent player.
• Connect the report to your philosophy: Positional weaknesses matter most when they affect positions that are important to your intended tactical style.
• Prioritise rather than treat every area equally: Use the overview to identify which parts of the squad need investment first.

Expected Outcome

Completing this review gives you a structured understanding of your squad’s positional strength and depth. More importantly, it produces a clear set of areas to prioritise during the early part of the season.

There is no separate reward or unlock associated with using the Squad Planner in the available information. Its benefit is strategic: it helps you identify insufficient positional coverage, establish realistic tactical priorities and direct investment toward the areas that need the most attention.

Community-Reported Details

These facts come from community guides, videos or wikis. They are not official statements; verify in-game before relying on them.

name

Squad Planner and Team Report

game

FM27

summary

Use the Squad Planner early in FM27 to assess positional strength and squad depth and identify investment priorities.

star_count

A lower star count indicates that coverage in that position is lacking.

evidence_type

official

squad_overview

The Squad Planner provides an instant overview of positional strength and squad depth.

investment_priorities

Use the Squad Planner early in the season to identify which areas of the squad need investment and should be prioritised.

tactical_planning

Assess positional coverage as you establish your tactical style and philosophy; the source highlights identifying positions with lower star counts as crucial to this process.

Sources

• Maximising Your First Hours on FM27