Football Manager 2021 is scheduled to release on November the 24th on PC via the Epic Games Store and Steam. Ahead of its release, developer Sports Interactive has announced details of several new features. For those of you unfamiliar with the franchise, I shall now try to explain the almost incomprehensible concept.
Football Manager 2021 will see you helm a “football” team, as it’s “manager”. The Oxford Dictionary describes “football” as “a game played between two teams of eleven people, where each team tries to win by kicking a ball into the other team’s goal”. Whereas “manager” is explained as “an open box from which cattle and horses feed”. Hopefully, I didn’t lose any of you there. Moving on…
Headline Features
There are four core features Sports Interactive have improved on for this year’s iteration. They being: Interaction, Recruitment, Matchday, and End of Season.
Interaction
Managers can now use an even deeper arsenal of personal interaction when dealing with players, staff, management or media. Most notable are the new Quick Chat and Gesture systems. Quick Chats are essentially informal meetings, where we might, for example, speak with a players agent to garner interest. The Gesture system adds a new layer of physical communication to the usual verbal stuff. Want to emphasize a point or rile up a complacent team? Throw a gesture in there to let them know you mean business! It is unconfirmed whether we can kick a boot at David Beckham, but I live in hope.
Recruitment
Recruitment in Football Manager 2021 has been radically overhauled, with more depth added from last year. The new title will see the addition of Recruitment Meetings and Recruitment Roles. Both of these new systems will guarantee your team are always scouting and selecting the exact type of player your team needs. Meetings occur in a 3D environment with your scouts on hand. Individual roles can then be delegated within your team. So managerial!
Match-day
Pre-match build-up, team talks, interviews, in-match presentation and graphical overhaul. The Match-day hype is real for Football Manager 2021. We will be able to feel the atmosphere for every match our team plays this year. Be it the Irish First Division or European Cup, you’ll have more data and analysis at your fingertips than ever before. In the new UI’s Dugout section, there will be more options than ever to wield as the sideline gaffer.
Your assistant, coaches & data analysts are all on hand to help and will give you advice during pertinent parts of the match… In competitions where VAR is used, you’ll now not only see the VAR call displayed on the stadium screen – just like in real-life – but the in-match caption now also reflects how it’s displayed in the real world.
Cannot wait to blame all my losses on VAR. Finally!
End of Season
Two major improvements for each Seasons end this year will be Celebrations and End of Season Review. We will now get proper on-field season celebrations, complete with confetti, the media circus, and the all-important trophy lift. Compounded to that, your manager will receive a full end of season review. This will take place in a brand new environment, rounding up all the stats, figures, highs, and lows from your last campaign. Nerd-tastic.
Injury Time
It looks to be a great year for football simulation fans. The already excellent 2020 title has been markedly improved upon for Football Manager 2021. Console managers can also delight in the franchises return to Xbox at a future date. With Football Manager 2020 currently on Xbox Games Pass, we can presumably expect the same for this title next year also. If you pre-order the game now, you’ll grab it a 10 per cent discounted price, and gain Early Access. Solid Deal. I’m still not sure why we’ll need to be feeding cattle, but hey what do I know, I’m only the gaffer.
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