The manager's dictionary
Football manager glossary
The 44 concepts people look up most when they start running a club: what each one means in football and in an online manager, and how it works in ELDT.
Players
- AttributesAttributes are the numeric characteristics of a player: how fast he is, how he passes, marks or finishes. Weighted by position, they produce his overall.
- Fitness and fatigueFitness measures how tired a player is. Fatigue rises with minutes played and demanding training and falls with rest; an exhausted player performs worse and gets injured more often.
- FormForm is a player's current level of performance: if he has been playing well he is in form and gives more; if he has been poor or not playing, his form drops and so does his output.
- InjuryAn injury is when a player gets hurt in a match and is out for a period that depends on its severity. While injured he cannot play or train normally.
- MoraleMorale is a player's state of mind: how confident and content he is. It rises with wins and good performances and drops with defeats, poor games or a lack of minutes.
- Overall (rating)The overall (also called rating or OVR) is a number that sums up a player's general quality in his position. It lets you compare players at a glance, although it never tells the whole story.
- PotentialPotential is the quality ceiling a player can reach with proper training and game time. It is not his current level: it is how far he can still grow.
- SpecialitiesA speciality is a standout trait that sets a player apart from the rest, such as being a header of the ball, quick or a natural goalscorer. It tells you which role he suits best.
- Yellow card and suspensionA yellow card is a warning from the referee; accumulate them and the player is suspended and misses the next official match. A red card sends him off and also brings a ban.
Tactics
- 4-3-3The 4-3-3 is a formation with 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards, usually a centre-forward and two wingers. It is an attacking system built to press high and attack down the flanks.
- 4-4-2The 4-4-2 is a formation with 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 strikers. It is the classic, balanced system: it covers the full width of the pitch and keeps two men up front.
- 5-3-2The 5-3-2 is a formation with 5 defenders (three centre-backs and two wing-backs), 3 midfielders and 2 strikers. It is a system built to defend with numbers and break quickly.
- CaptainThe captain is the player who wears the armband and acts as the team's reference on the pitch. In manager games he usually gives the side a bonus.
- Counter-attackThe counter-attack (or playing on the break) is a plan in which the team defends close to its own goal and, when it wins the ball, attacks very fast into the space the opponent left behind.
- FormationA formation (or system) is the way the ten outfield players are arranged, counted from the back: defenders, midfielders and forwards. A 4-4-2 has 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 forwards.
- High pressThe high press (or pressing) means going to win the ball back in the opposition half, closing down the defenders the moment they have it, to steal it near their goal.
- MentalityMentality is the team's tactical attitude: how much it risks to attack and how much it protects itself at the back. It runs from very defensive to very attacking.
- PossessionPossession is the percentage of playing time in which a team has the ball. As a style, possession football means keeping the ball with short passes to control the match.
- Starting eleven and substitutesThe starting eleven are the 11 players who begin the match; the substitutes wait on the bench and can come on during the game. In ELDT the bench has 7 places.
Transfers
- AuctionA player auction is a sale in which several clubs bid money for a player for a fixed time, and at the close the highest offer takes him.
- Free agentA free agent is a player with no contract at any club, so he can be signed without paying a fee to another team.
- Market valueMarket value is an estimate of what a player should cost given his quality, age and position. It is a reference: the real price is whatever someone is willing to pay.
- Release clauseA release clause is an amount written into a player's contract: if another club pays it, the player is free to leave even if his club does not want to sell.
- Transfer marketThe transfer market is the system where clubs buy and sell players. It is the main way to strengthen the squad or to raise cash.
- WagesThe wage is what the club pays each player and employee under his contract. It is a club's most important fixed cost and has to be covered every week, win or lose.
Club and finances
- FanbaseThe fanbase is the mass of a club's supporters. In a football manager, the more fans you have, the more people come to the ground and the more you earn.
- Gate receiptsGate receipts are the money a club takes at every home match: mainly tickets, plus what people spend inside the ground on food and merchandise.
- Manager (head coach)The manager (or head coach) is the person who decides how the team plays: he picks the starters, the formation and the tactics. In a football manager game, the manager is you.
- Online football managerAn online football manager is a strategy game in which you do not control the players with a pad: you run a whole club, from tactics to finances, and compete against other real managers.
- Pay to winPay to win is a game model in which spending real money gives you an advantage over those who do not pay: better players, more resources or faster progress.
- SponsorA sponsor is a company that pays the club in exchange for displaying its brand. It is one of the most important fixed incomes of a football club.
- StadiumThe stadium is the club's ground. In a football manager its capacity and its improvements define how many people get in, how much you earn and how much home advantage you have.
Competitions
- Club World CupThe Club World Cup is the tournament that gathers the champions of each continent to crown the best club in the world: in ELDT, 8 clubs, four from the Americas and four from Europe, in single matches at neutral venues.
- CupA cup is a knockout competition: in every tie the loser goes out and the winner goes through, all the way to the final.
- Fixtures and matchdayThe fixture list is a competition's full calendar: who plays whom on each matchday. A matchday (or round) is each set of games in which every team plays once.
- Intercontinental FinalThe Intercontinental Final is a one-off match between the best club in the Americas and the best in Europe: the two continental champions of the previous season, at a neutral venue.
- League pyramidThe league pyramid is the structure of a country's divisions: few leagues at the top and many below, connected by promotion and relegation.
- PromotionPromotion means moving from one division to the one immediately above at the end of the season, by winning the league or by winning an extra tie such as the play-off.
- Promotion play-offThe promotion play-off is a match between a team fighting for promotion and one from the division above fighting against relegation. If the lower side wins, the two swap divisions.
- Reducido (Argentine play-offs)The Reducido is a short knockout tournament among the teams that finished behind the champion, which awards a second promotion place.
- RelegationRelegation means dropping to the lower division at the end of the season, normally for finishing among the last in the table.
Academy
- AcademyThe academy is a club's youth setup: the place where it develops its own players from a young age until they are ready for the first team.
- ScoutA scout is the person who travels around grounds looking for talented players to recommend to his club. In the academy, he is the one who brings the youngsters in.
- Youth playersYouth players are the young players in a club's academy who are not yet part of the first team. They train and compete separately until they are ready to step up.
How to use the glossary
A football manager game has a language of its own: overall, potential, morale, form, fatigue, auction, academy, play-off. If you come from real football most words will sound familiar, but in a manager game each one has a number behind it and weighs on results. Open any term to see what it means in football, how it works in an online manager and how ELDT uses it.
If you are just starting, begin with the player concepts (overall, potential, form and fatigue), move on to the transfer ones (auction, market value, loans) and finish with the club ones (sponsors, stadium, academy). That covers most of what happens in your first season.
Frequently asked questions
What a player's overall rating means
The overall (also called rating or OVR) is a number that sums up a player's general quality in his position. It lets you compare players at a glance, although it never tells the whole story.
What a player's potential is in a football manager
Potential is the quality ceiling a player can reach with proper training and game time. It is not his current level: it is how far he can still grow.
What fitness and fatigue are in a football manager
Fitness measures how tired a player is. Fatigue rises with minutes played and demanding training and falls with rest; an exhausted player performs worse and gets injured more often.
How a player auction works in a football manager
A player auction is a sale in which several clubs bid money for a player for a fixed time, and at the close the highest offer takes him.
See also: online football manager · guides on the blog