The eagerly anticipated Football Manager 2021 will be available in stores on the 24th of November, and those who pre-order the game digitally will be able to play the beta around 2-weeks earlier. As is common in recent releases of the franchise, the Football Manager team have been announcing the new features for the 2021 instalment during October.
Fans of the series can't wait to get stuck into the new game when it comes to this time of the year. While you wait for the upcoming release of FM21, we have brought you a list of the latest features to have been announced for the latest instalment of the franchise.
There will likely be more features released in the build-up to FM21's release day on the 24th of November, so keep your eye out for more of our football Manager 2021 content.
Here is a list of the new and/or improved features in FM 2021, which we will go through a selected few in more detail.
- Gestures
- Quick Chats
- Press Conferences
- Face to Face Conversations
- Matchday
- Pre-Match Build-Up
- Team Talks
- In-Match Presentation
- Animation and Graphical Improvements
- xG and Post-Match Reaction
- The End of Season Experience
Contents
Gestures
Body language has been introduced into FM 2021 conversations with the idea that it will allow managers to expand on what they are trying to get across to their players or the media. The available gestures change depending on the situation a manager finds themselves in. If you are trying to show just how angry you are you could throw a water bottle or bang the table, but if you want to appear a little more welcoming, you could smile warmly or adopt open arms. Gestures are bound to add more depth to the relegations between manger, their players, staff, and the media, which can only be seen as a positive thing.
Quick Chats
Extra detail has been added the quick chats with the new options for a remote quick chat and a in-person quick chat. The ‘in-person quick chat' is a one on one, more personal style of chat that might best be saved for times in which you need to praise or criticise one of your players. The ‘remote quick chat' could be used when dealing with the media when discussing transfer rumours. Gestures work within quick chats and allow the manager to define the type of atmosphere a conversation takes place in, according to Sports Interactive PR Manager Tom Davidson.
Press Conferences
The press conference system has had a radical overhaul. A press officer will now brief you before you face the media to let you know about possible topics that may come up and whether or not the club wanted to talk more about them or simply avoid any related questions. The press officer will also choose which journalists get to ask questions, and sometimes you will be joined by one of your team leaders or the captain to discuss the big matches. Gestures will also take part in the new press conference style, both on your end and the journalists.
Team Talks
The new gestures system has been incorporated into team talks as well, which should help managers inspire their players before a match. On the pitch team talks can be given during extra-time and penalty shootout situations. The new body language addition means you will be able to see which players look more confident before selecting your penalty-takers, which is very handy. When giving team talks in any other situation, the new layout in FM 2021 means you will now find yourself in the centre of the dressing room when addressing your players.
In-Match Presentation
The match UI has endured some redesigns as you would expect, with the Football Manager team now saying it will be much easier to manage each of your players individually during matches. The addition of the ‘show me' button always manager to quickly access a statistics menu for their team or the opposition's, as well as the match stats. VAR decisions will now be shown on stadium screens just as they are in the real world, which is another nice touch from the guys at FM.
Animation and Graphical Improvements
One thing the FM boys are yet to crack is the match engine. So often fans are promised and therefore expect a more realistic match engine only to be let down on release day. FM21 claims to have improved the match engine, putting an end to the strange sliding effect players seem to do instead of running so often in FM20. Shadows have undergone improvements that make them more realistic, as have stadiums and everything around them, such as all the different camera types and furniture.
End of Season Experience
Improvements have been made to the end of season experience, offering more details about the recently completed campaign.
Your team will now also perform a lap of honour as is a tradition in England after your final home game of the season. Trophy presentations have also been enhanced, and if a title is won due to another team dropping points then you will celebrate your success at the end of your next game.
Days after your season is over you will receive a full season review, which will highlight the best and worst moments of your teams' season. As always, this will include a best starting eleven and an evaluation of your transfers, both the ins and the outs.
There is plenty to look forward to in the latest instalment of Football Manager, and more features are likely to be released prior to the game hitting our stores. FM21 is sure to be the most detailed version of the franchise to date and is bound to be one of the top-selling games of the year. Remember to pre-order your copy of FM21 as soon as possible if you want early access. In previous years, the early access for pre-order customers usually provides 2-weeks playing time before the actual release date.
