FOOTBALL MANAGER 2021

A reading of the list of new features in Football Manager 2021 is rather underwhelming. The ability to use gestures during press conferences and locker room speeches? Nice but not much more than a simple rebranding of an existing system. Analysis of xGoals? Nice but not revolutionary. End of season recap? That's it? I'll make no secret of the fact that I was psychologically preparing myself for a version that would have little to offer to owners of the last two games in the series. If there wasn't something hidden in plain sight, some unseen factor that would elevate FM 2021 beyond the expected, the conclusion of the review was already set: Pass. But there was indeed something hidden, something invisible: Sports Interactive's substantial improvements to the match engine, the X-factor that did a remontada to my initial expectations.

Before we get to the essence of this year's version, it's worth pointing out that the rest of the game, apart from the match engine, has very few practical differences compared to last year's version. The new features are of secondary or even tertiary importance and functionality, to the extent that the most important of the changes is the interface during the match. FM 2020's menus have been modified to make many of their functions accessible with fewer clicks, although aesthetically there are some missteps. I appreciated the player list that has been added to the bottom of the screen through which it is very easy to make an immediate change or shout a command, however I was not as impressed with the new graphical elements that display player psychology and stamina. Plus we have various... coloured smilies for morale and an emptying heart to represent declining fitness during the match. I mean, the necessary information is indeed being relayed, it's just that these colored smilies and drawings look kind of... silly to me. Let's make the interface more presentable, but let's not take it to Pepa the Pig levels, okay Sports Interactive?

But everything else pales in comparison to the completely unexpected and undoubtedly drastic improvement of the existing match engine that may be enough by itself to justify the purchase of this year's version. Visually, the graphics engine has indeed been improved but in the familiar Bethesdian logic of "beautifying the existing system". In terms of appearance you should therefore expect something similar to last year but improved in the usual details, namely in the addition of new animations, more detailed stadiums, tweaking of player movement and so on. The core match engine remains the same so there is no change to the chronic issues that I complain about every year (ball physics, players "skating" on the grass, the timing of goalkeeper animations and more).

But the matches... The matches this year are great. This year, more than ever before, there is a sense that you are not watching the AI's mechanical representation of moves but a real match and this is mainly due to the much more rational choices of players, the execution of moves that we often see in real football and almost never in FM and the lack of serious issues that spoil the realism. For example, last year it was incredibly annoying the phenomenon of misfiring centre forwards who needed fifteen one-on-ones to score a goal, while the insistence of the wingers to keep trying shots from very tight angles instead of crossing into the box was infuriating. This year I'm happy to report that there are no serious match engine issues whatsoever and by and large players are making sensible choices on the pitch.

Also, it's clear that work has been done on through-ball play that was almost absent in previous versions of the match engine. In FM 2021, attacking midfielders often try to pierce the defence with through balls and it's infinitely easier to create a team that plays modern European football rather than the classic British style of previous Football Manager that focused on the wingers' crosses. The only minor issue I've identified but I'm still not sure if it's an AI issue or a result of my tactics is the tendency for backs or wingers to try passing to the opposite side of the pitch when they are already in a position to pass inside the area, looking for the free back or winger on the other wing instead of trying to feed the forward. Over the next few days I will try other tactics with less attacking backs and will report back in the comments on the results.

I also noticed an improvement in the plausibility of the defenders' movements, who are less likely to get carried away out of position or "freeze" when they can claim the ball. They certainly make mistakes, they are exposed to the clever moves of skilful and quick strikers but in a natural rather than canned manner. In previous versions of the match engine there were moves that seemed like they have to happen because the match engine had decided that way, not because the player in question judged it that way. This year the match flows much more naturally, which greatly enhances realism and the fun of watching a game.

So with that said, I now have to conclude whether Football Manager 2021 is a good buy for owners of previous versions. I'm having a hard time deciding and it would be much easier to avoid the issue with a couple of hypotheticals along the lines of "if you don't mind the price and will be playing FM 2021 all year then go ahead, otherwise wait for FM 2022". But I will say what I feel: the match engine improvement is so important to me, and so pivotal to the game itself, that I think it is indeed enough by itself to justify the purchase. At full price? Maybe not, especially if you're playing any of the versions from the last two years, but definitely once it comes out on sale. All the peripheral elements of the game come down to those 90 minutes where we expect to see the result of all our transfer, financial and tactical choices in action. This year, more than any other year, you'll have the opportunity to see all of your efforts produce something beautiful, and I think that in itself has a lot of value.

Thanks to Zegetron for providing the review code.