Welcome back to the Shimizu S-Pulse save, where I have completed the 2026/27 season. In case you want to binge previous posts in the style of a Netlix series, I have linked them below:
If you do not fancy reading all of that, I will quickly remind readers of the previous aims of this save and how I have got on so far:
1. Sign young Brazilians
Despite the grand plans laid out in the opening few posts, I am somewhat thwarted at every turn in FM26. The relaxed restrictions on fielding foreign players, to my surprise, only applied to the 2026/27 season. So, any future time in this save would see reduced Brazilian recruitment because 2027/28 returns with the stipulation that only 5 foreigners can be fielded in J1 matches. I currently have twelve Brazilians in the squad, and have signed a total of nineteen foreigners in the save! I am not sure why 2026/27 had no restrictions, but perhaps it was a research oversight. Note - I also had no transfer window in the Winter break, not really sure if this was intended or not…but no further signings arrived since the last blog post.
2. Salary cap
Additionally, implementing a salary cap has also been a hard task in FM26 so far, given that many players seem to have stratospheric contract demands in this cycle. For now, I am keeping my MVPs happy with big contracts (well, big for Shimizu) and letting others remain unhappy. Sports Interactive do believe they have addressed this via a patch.
3. and 4. Survive and win things
Survival was the first goal of this save, but it was quickly evident that Shimizu S-Pulse were to take J1 by storm after promotion…going on to win three trophies in the first 18 months of this save:J1, the ‘special J1 tournament’ and a domestic Super Cup. There are still more trophies to win though, notably the Asian Champions League and the domestic Emperor's Cup. Could we do it this season? Read on to find out…
Season 2026/27
So, I outlined the new signings last time out in the blog…so I think it makes sense to go straight into how we did for my own posterity. First up, J1…
Sadly, I could not win a third straight J1 league title for Shimizu S-Pulse. A 2nd place finish may look like we were in a title race, but in reality we were 4th, 5th and 6th most of the season. It was only in the last few weeks where we picked up enough form to leapfrog the chasing back in the penultimate gameweek of J1. Annoyingly, it was the draws that killed it for us…just too many games where we conceded a stupid late goal.
Asian Champions League
Shimizu S-Pulse were still able to get decent results in the ACL during the dip in domestic form. Finishing 3rd in the Eastern division we then had a knock out run to the Semi Final stage, before losing out 0-1 to fellow J1 side Kashima. The lesson I learned here was to make sure my squad is fresh, with the SF coming only a couple of days after the QF win Vs South Korea’s Jeonbuk. Several players were quite tired but I still fielded them in order to hope it would get us through. Still, a Semi Final appearance is a great achievement considering we were a J2 side two years ago.
Domestic Cups
The common thread between the two domestic cup runs is FC Tokyo. They knocked me out on penalties in a thrilling two-legged Semi Final in the Emperor's Cup…but I got revenge in the League Cup Final, beating them 2-0 thanks to Team Brazil coming up trumps for me:
The goals are shown above. Goal number 1 was all about Yuri Leles (49 appearances, 11 goals and 23 assists this season), with an assist going to fellow countryman Fessin. Roger Ibañez doubled our lead 3 minutes later with his 7th headed goal of the season. Once again this goal was made in Brazil too, thanks for Yuri Leles’ corner. It is a nice culmination to the save seeing the Brazilian recruitment come good in a cup final 🏆
Overall, a successful season.
Passed the 5-year plan!
Save’s all-time manager stats at Shimizu S-Pulse.
My future FMing
I deliberately had a month off from FM26 whilst the game saw several patches applied in December 2025. I was hoping that I would feel differently about the game in January 2026 compared to how I felt when I was playing in November 2025. Sadly, the game remains dull to play with significant issues in almost every aspect.
Sports Interactive said they would “leave some players behind”, and after some real effort not to be in that crowd…maybe I have to accept that I am. To me, at least, it feels like Sports Interactive have left a lot of the community behind; perhaps more than what they originally envisaged. There is a tiny glimmer of hope: a free content upgrade coming as part of the 2026 World Cup which could re-energise the fanbase somewhat, and also a FIFAe tournament too. But my confidence in these things actually being good is at an all-time low.
Football Manager 26 is not a game I want to continue playing. In my opinion it is the worst Football Manager title ever released. I will therefore pause the S-Pulse save and perhaps come back to it later on in 2026. Or maybe never again.
Thank you for reading/sharing and caring.
Tony / FM Grasshopper