Hello everyone! I've recently created my own spreadsheet for FM24 that can be used as a tool to find players that are better than your current ones based on data and not attributes.
It's the first time I'm creating a FM spreadsheet (or at least completting one). Please also note that this is work in progress and will be updated over time. I am testing it myself as much as I can and hope by publishing it I can also get other opinions on what works well and what doesn't.
Disclaimer: This is NOT a tool that will independently find player targets for you. It simply gives you the values you should be looking for when using the scouting in Football Manager. It can also be used as a tool to analyse your own squad.
What are the main features at the moment?
Data Table with many unique stats that are not included in the game (e.g. Possession Won/Lost Differential, Goal Contributions, Indirect Set Piece Stats, many more)
Position group focussed percentiles compared to the top 5 leagues or any other pool of players
Scouting tool that provides you with useful values for scouting
Comparison tool where you can assess your current squad and potential targets
Possession-adjusted stats (optional)
Download
You can download the spreadsheet as well as the FM24 views and filters here!
Place the three view files in your views folder (Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2024 > views) - if it's missing you will need to create it
Put the two filter files in your filters folder (Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2024 > filters) - if it's missing you will need to create it
Import the views and filters into your game and make sure you use them when exporting players
Exporting Players and Setting Up the Spreadsheet
Go to the squad page in FM24, select the correct view and sort them by position (the last step is optional, but recommended)
Press Ctrl + A (if that doesn't work, go to a player profile and then back to the squad) to select them all, then Ctrl + P to print
Select web page and save it
Go to scouting and then to player search. Make sure you uncheck the "Interested in: Transfer/Loan" boxes to find all players. If you want to use the top 5 leagues as a comparison pool, you also need at least one Europe-wide scouting range.
Select the correct view and filter. I provide a filter for the top 5 leagues with 900 minutes played and one with 450 minutes for scouting during the season, but you can use any leagues you like. (max. 2000 players)
After filtering correctly, proceed in the same way as for your squad. Ctrl + A, then Ctrl + P and save as web page. You can then switch to the spreadsheet.
Open the squad list you have just exported, press Ctrl + A and Ctrl + C. Then go to 'Input' in the spreadsheet, select cell A1 and press Ctrl + V. The formatting and the link at the end do not matter.
Open the scouting list and copy it as well. Then go to 'Comparison Pool', select A1 and paste it.
Now you need to select the two distance stats (columns T and U) in EACH of the two sheets with inputs, press Ctrl + H and replace the 'km' (or the unit you are using) with nothing. This will remove the unit and convert the values into numbers for the formulas to work with.
One last step is required for the percentiles sheet to work. Go to Percentiles and select the preferred group for each player. With midfielders it is difficult to differentiate, so I have simplified the distinction to defensive and attacking midfielders. Use the group that best suits your player.
After that we are done with the setup and you can use the entire spreadsheet! Here is a brief introduction to what you can do:
Data Table
Here you can view your own squad and compare the players with each other. This is useful to find out which of your players are actually performing the best.
This uses not only the already extensive list of stats that FM24 provides us with, but also some that I have calculated myself. Have fun browsing!
The colour scheme is based on your own team, with green representing the best and red the worst performance in each category.
Percentiles
Now it wouldn't make much sense to compare your team only with itself. So here you can see the percentile rank of your players compared to the player pool you have selected. The higher the number, the better your player is compared to the rest of the top 5 leagues (or the leagues you selected). Remember the position group selection? This is also taken into account and a goalkeeper, for example, is only compared to other goalkeepers. I have to admit that it's not possible to do this 100% accurately, as some players have multiple positions and we don't know where they were actually used. But on the whole, the results should still be very useful.
For "negative" stats like lost possession or fouls, where a lower number would mean you are better, the percentile ranking works the same as for all other stats (higher rank = better).
Scouting
On the the scouting tab, you can select one of your players and up to 30 different stats. You must also select his position group and a desired percentile rank. You will then be shown the player's stats, your team's average and the average/maximum/minimum of all players in that position in your scouting pool.
It will also show you the percentile number, which you can then use to search for players in FM and find potential transfer targets. This is probably my main use for the spreadsheet as I needed a tool that would show me the numbers I should be targeting when scouting with stats rather than attributes.
Comparison
Here you can compare up to 10 players both from your own squad and from your shortlist. This tool can be used to identify your best players in each position and then to compare them with potential transfer targets. Now you don't have to constantly hop between FM and the spreadsheet anymore and can even use some of the exclusive stats on players from other clubs as part of your scouting.
With up to 30 different stats you can either go for a quick overview or a deep and detailed comparison.
Possession-adjusted stats
Now you can also opt to adjust defensive and offensive stats for possession. All you need to do is enter the possession values for your own team, the control group teams and optionally teams of any other players you import. Relevant stats will automatically be adjusted and show a more truthful picture of player performances.
Personally I find that simply entering all the team names and values by hand is the fastest and easiest way. Especially considering, that you will only need to enter most team names once and then only replace relegated teams over the years. Go to the team stats screen as shown above and enter all desired/needed values.
Some Important notes
As mentioned, this is an early version of this spreadsheet and work in progress, so some issues are to be expected. I use Excel and cannot guarantee that it will work as intented with other programs or older versions of Excel.
It is important that you use the same formatting in Excel as you do in Football Manager, otherwise the data will not be correct.
If you choose to import players from your shortlist using the shortlist view, it is recommended to remove the nationalities from the player names after the import. Using the same method as for the distance stats, select column A in the shortlist tab, press Ctrl + H, search for ' - *' and replace it with nothing.
The spreadsheet comes with all teams from the top 5 leagues already entered in the possession tab. If you also use this control group, you only need to enter the possession values. After each season all you need to do is update the values and replace the relegated teams. Please check if the team names are the same as they are for you in game, otherwise it won't work.
Also the values for the possession tab need to be without % and full numbers. (e.g. 50% possession would be entered as '50')
Something I should have done in the first version of this post is mention @Fmplaya, whose fantastic Statistics Spreadsheet I used before I decided to create my own. I'd be lying if I didn't take some inspiration from it and you could definitely say that some design choices are similar. However, I must also emphasise that this is not meant to be a copy of his work, but that I personally missed some features and wanted to make them available to me and you. I think the Football Manager community can benefit from both spreadsheets.
Definitely check out his work if you haven't already!
Feel free to share any issues you have when using the spreadsheet. Suggesstions for improvement are also apprecciated!
I hope this is useful for atleast some of you and have fun using it!
I had to correct some spelling and formatting errors anyway, so I added that as well. Now offensive and defensive stats are adjusted. I discovered MustermannFM a few weeks ago and he was a big reason why I started paying more attention to data when I play FM! I also use his skin for my current save.
