The latest edition of Football Manager features a host of new features and options but what difference do they really make?
The newest instalment of Football Manager is finally here, and we’ve had plenty of hands-on time with the game during the beta period. Newcomers and veterans are in for a treat with added statistics, more realistic engagement during matches, and the addition of the Champion’s League all making a huge impression on the overall feel of the game.
We played through our campaign as though we were completely new to the game, so started with a popular team we had plenty of knowledge about, namely Manchester United. With plenty of budget to hand and big goals to meet, the first objectives in the game include creating tactics, checking in on the club’s vision, and monitoring the supporters’ confidence in the manager.
Helpfully, the game gives you the option to arrange the squad screen anyway you want, bringing in columns of information that you might find more helpful than the standard view. The useful colour-coding of players means you can quickly and easily see who’s available to you, who’s on loan, and who’s injured. Ability and potential star ratings, along with the best position column, are included to help get the best performance from each player. This can be combined with the squad planner, which clearly shows strengths and weaknesses and will help yield the best results for your blossoming management career.
The squad screen also gives the option to view the strongest players by position, so you can identify specific areas of weakness and launch a recruitment focus from the same screen. You can then select where you want the player to be based, what standard they’re playing at, and their age – amongst other criteria.