Player personality types in Football Manager can appear to be somewhat ambiguous and mysterious if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
Many managers will tend to focus closely on a player’s visible attributes and their scout or coach-reported star ratings, and pay far less attention to their FM23 personality and what this might mean for their development and performances.
Something many FM players don’t know is that there are several hidden attributes assigned to each player that, along with the visible determination and leadership attributes, define their overall character.
That’s right, it’s not just the numbered 1-20 attributes that determine how valuable a player will be to your squad.
The way that managers can determine the makeup of hidden attributes is primarily via the player’s personality description on the right side of the attribute profile screen.
The hidden attributes include:
- Professionalism: How professional a player’s attitude is on and off the pitch.
- Ambition: How much a player strives to succeed and further themselves.
- Pressure: How well a player handles high pressure situations, such as finals, derbies, top of the table clashes and relegation battles.
- Temperament: How well a player remains calm and disciplined when things aren’t working out for him.
- Loyalty: How much a player values loyalty and a long term allegiance.
- Sportsmanship: How honest and scrupulous a player is.
- Controversy: How likely a player is to speak out for or against their teammates, club or manager.
This article will give you the lowdown on the best FM23 personalities and what they mean for your player’s behaviour and attitude.
We’ll also look at some of the worst personality types in FM23, as well as those that are neither great nor terrible.
Professional
Professionalism is arguably the most important of the hidden attributes, due to its profound impact on a player’s career from start to finish. It dictates how young players develop, how well all players apply themselves in training, how they behave on and off the pitch, and how able they are to prolong their careers by maintaining their physical condition as they age.
For this reason, a simple ‘professional’ or even a ‘fairly professional’ personality is one of the best in the game.
The former will also ensure that the player has at least an average temperament, which means their behaviour on the pitch will always be measured and well thought out.
Professional personalities tell you little else about a player though, so they may still struggle in pressure situations or show no ambition to further themselves if they are lacking in these attributes.
Nearly all of the positive personalities will have a moderate to high level of professionalism.
Professionalism is an essential prerequisite to success. Without it, the best wonderkids in Football Manager 2023 like Jude Bellingham are far less likely to reach their full potential.
Model Professional
Players with this personality represent the pinnacle of professionalism. They will have the maximum 20 for professionalism, while also having average to perfect temperaments.
A great example of this type of player would be Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who has maintained an incredible physique, even as he enters the twilight years of his career, which is represented in FM23 with amazing physical stats for a 33-year-old.
Resolute
As with other positive personalities, resolute players will have a high level of professionalism too, but their overall character is defined by great determination, rather than a good temperament.
This is really an “either or” situation, when compared to the professional personalities.
The resolute player will fight to the end and never let their teammates down, regardless of the score line, while a professional/model professional will stay calm when faced with circumstances that would cause others to lose their discipline.
Both are positive character traits and both personality types have that all-important professionalism.
Perfectionist
A perfectionist is essentially a resolute player with high ambition too, which has both positive and negative aspects.
On the one hand, an ambitious player will strive to better themselves and therefore work hard in training.
Combined with professionalism (as it is in a perfectionist), this can lead to significant progress towards a player’s full potential.
However, a highly ambitious player will be more likely to seek a move to a bigger club, demand higher wages and insist upon those around them being of sufficient quality too.
The perfectionist personality tells you nothing about the player’s temperament or their performance under pressure though. This information must be determined by coach reports, how the player handles the media or by their behaviour on the pitch.
The archetypal perfectionist is surely Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Now 37, he’s still in incredible shape, has an obsessive determination to win and demands everything from his teammates.
Model Citizen
The model citizen is easily football manager’s best personality. It simply has it all and this personality type helps further the visible stats of some of the best players in the game.
They are determined to win and won’t down-tools as soon as things go against them. They exude professionalism on and off the pitch, meaning they’re always in peak condition and ready to perform. They excel in high-pressure situations that come with competing for the biggest prizes.
When others are becoming frustrated and losing their cool, the model citizen remains calm and focused. They’re loyal to their club and manager, whilst also showing the ambition necessary to reach the top of the game, and they’re a gentleman on the pitch.
The epitome of a model citizen has to be Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante.
He never makes a fuss, never loses his temper or gets involved in ugly confrontations, and never lets his teammates down. He just performs at the highest level, week in, week out. A manager’s dream.
Honourable Mentions
Outside of the top five, an additional mention must also go to the iron willed, spirited and light hearted personalities, as they all offer positive character traits that may benefit the team.
Iron willed players are a rare sight when it comes to personalities in Football Manager 2023. If you find one, take a picture! They have the maximum 20 for their ability to deal with pressure and they also have very high determination, so they’ll perform in the big games, even when the chips are down.
Spirited players are able to handle pressure well too, but they also display a decent to very good level of professionalism. If you find one with a high determination attribute as well, you’re on to a winner.
Light-hearted personalities can also offer a lot — if combined with other strong attributes. They have a great ability to handle pressure, a good temperament and they’re very sporting. You can’t tell directly what their professionalism is like, but if they appear to be performing well in training or their body language on the pitch appears professional, and they have a high determination attribute, this could be a great overall character.
Neutral & Negative Personalities
There are lots of fairly neutral personalities that offer some moderate benefits, but tell you little about the rest of a player’s character.
For example, jovial, driven and ambitious indicate good attributes in pressure, determination and ambition, while the balanced personality simply tells you that they neither excel nor underwhelm in any particular area.
Players with neutral personalities shouldn’t be avoided if the rest of their profile is strong, but they’re also not worth seeking out in new signings.
Then there are the truly negative personalities. These are for players with attitudes that will genuinely harm their development and performance, and the performance of the team they play for.
Casual and slack personalities lack professionalism and determination.
Those with the personalities of spineless or low self-belief lack determination and cannot handle pressure…at all, in the case of spineless players!
Temperamental players will lose their discipline easily when things are going against them, while an easily discouraged personality represents those who have low determination and ambition.
It’s important to note that existing, real-life players will rarely be assigned these highly negative personalities and, unless they are known for particularly positive character traits, a lot of players will begin the game with the balanced personality.
The negative personalities will begin to appear more frequently as the game progresses and ‘newgens’ enter the database.