➤ Football Manager 2021 Back on the pitch! 🎮

Years and seasons pass, but sitting on the bench with Sports Interactive remains a custom. Football Manager 2021 is finally available, this is our review

By now we know, the last months of each year are marked by football games. After FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer, Football Manager 2021 also makes its debut on the market. The most played managerial game ever this year promises innovations and improvements to make the gaming experience even more complete. Will Sports Interactive have succeeded in its intent? Let's find out together in this Football Manager 2021 review!

Towards the golden bench

If you're reading this review, Football Manger shouldn't need any introduction, but we still prefer to do a quick recap for newbies to the game. FM has been the undisputed leading football manager game in its field (sorry for the sad pun) for more than 20 years. Although the heart of the game consists in playing the role of a manager intent on climbing to the roof of the world, under the hood of Football Manager hides much more.

In addition to coaching, the player will also have to devote himself to collateral activities such as relations with the press, transfer market and much more. FM is therefore a title deep and complex, at times too much, but thanks to the improvements made over the years it has allowed more and more possibilities to manage and personalize the experience at the helm of the club.

Having entered the franchise perspective, let's get ready to discover this new chapter of the series together. Once our coach has been created, we choose whether to start already with a club or leave as “unemployed” and wait for a proposal from some team. Once you have chosen your preferred mode and signed the contract of engagement, we are ready to get to the heart of the game.

Football Manager 2021 Back on the pitch!

Public relations – Review Football Manager 2021

After a few hours in Football Manager 2021, we realize that one of the most interesting news lies in the new way of managing personal relationships of our coach with staff and journalists. As is well known, interactions are a fundamental aspect of a manager / coach's day, and this year Sports Interactive has decided to give the modes a big shake up.

This year it is possible, for example, by talking to the players, to choose the "Body language" who will accompany our speeches in the locker room. We can therefore decide whether to be a coach with an iron fist like Mourinho or a more diplomat Ranieri. Staying in the field of relations with players, this year it is also possible to “delegate” a player to convince a watched person to join our team. For example, if you want to buy a Brazilian jewel, you can ask the Neymar on duty to get him to talk about the move.

These new modes of interaction have also been applied to print interactions, with the addition of a screen "feedback" which shows us the reactions of journalists to our words in real time. As every year it must be said that the dialogues with the press turn out to be monotonous and cloying after a short time, but as per tradition there is still the option to delegate our second coach to carry out the most boring tasks (like this one).

Football Manager 2021 Back on the pitch!

Between tradition and novelty - Review Football Manager 2021

This year in FM we find some interesting news, proof of the commitment of the developers in deepening and modernizing a title that begins to feel the weight of the years. First of all, it is clear that streamlining of menu management and submenus. By interacting with any counterpart, an overlay window will now open from which to manage interactions with extreme simplicity, without having to jump between dozens of menus.

On the preparation side of the match, however, a new screen was implemented with the analysis of the opponents, with the probable deployment and suggestions from the staff. Once on the pitch we notice a small restyling of the interface, which sees a somewhat more orderly organization of the controls during matches. All this has probably been designed to make the gaming experience more accessible even to newbies.

As per tradition, Football Manager is a complex title and not always accessible to everyone. This doesn't mean that the game isn't enjoyable, but it might take a while to get into the realm of dynamics. Also this year some operations remain rather confusing or “to be found” in the menus, thanks to a somewhat dated aesthetic appearance. In case of difficulty, however, it is always possible to decide to approach the career in a lighter way, delegating many of the operations to the staff.

Football Manager 2021 Back on the pitch!

A little technical refresh - Football Manager 2021 Review, Back to the Field!

Going on the pitch at the helm of the team, as already mentioned, we notice a decidedly more orderly match management menu. The management of formations and tactics was also slightly improved, with more information on the status of the players and on the match in progress. Despite this, the randomness of the results still remains a stumbling block to overcome, and during the season it happens to run into absolutely unthinkable results (for better or for worse). However, we are looking forward to a corrective patch in the near future.

Technically, Football Manager 2021 remains almost unchanged from its predecessor. It's nice to note a few small things like cosmetic improvements, scenes accompanying season endings and big games, and small aesthetic finishes. Also improved the animations of the VAR and some camera movements. The game's 3D engine is also slightly tweaked. Players on the pitch enjoy a number of new animations, and the game's AI makes matches slightly more realistic than in the 2020 version. streamlining and optimization of the game, which is much more fluid and smooth.

Football Manager 2021 Back on the pitch!

Votes and report card

Well, at the end of our review we are ready to take stock of this Football Manager 2021. It is clear that Sports Interactive is constantly looking for perfection, in a title that is now starting to feel the weight of the years. Perfection not yet achieved, but definitely closer thanks to the efforts and dedication of the development team. Although the innovations are not substantial, they contribute to a path of continuous improvement that fans of the franchise have certainly noticed and appreciated.

Like every year, Football Manager 2021 is confirmed as a huge, deep and complex title, which certainly takes more than a few days to understand, but which promises a simulative experience absolutely top notch. Novices, therefore, will have to deal with the stumbling block of an experience that is still not too user-friendly, but still simplified compared to the last chapter. The absolutely affordable price, as well as the minimum system requirements, make FM21 a title absolutely recommended for all football fans.

We hope you enjoyed this Football Manager 2021 review, we as always greet you and invite you to stay connected on techigames for more reviews, news, guides and much more from the world of video games. See you next year, coaches!

8 Another step towards perfection