This week, the waiting was over and the Football Manager team released the official beta for the latest instalment of their management simulator, and like millions around the world I jumped straight into it.

Usually, I have been able to wait for the full-release of the game before getting into my saves, however this year and with the amount of time I have spent this year on the game, I couldn’t wait any longer and got involved from the outset. I am fully aware that this is a beta version of the game, and all bugs and other issues will hopefully be squashed fairly quickly and nicely, however I wanted to document my first initial thoughts of this years game based on the very first hour (of many) in my first save.

In this post, I’ll be discussing some of the new notable features, my first save and my ambitions for that career, any issues I noted and I will round up with a mini-review score /10. For those undecided whether or not to get involved in this years’ edition, I would immediately say “hell yes”, but this may help demonstrate what you will be getting from the game this year.

So, without any further ado, let’s get going with the new game.

Ready Player 1

My first decision to make was regarding which club should I begin with, and which possible challenge could I undertake on Football Manager 2021. Unlike last years’ game, I am not anticipating to have as much free time as 2020 has provided, meaning I may not be able to go for a full-on non-league to Champions League style challenge, or a global expedition of the leagues around the world. Additionally, with this only being the beta edition, I feel like I should begin with a mini-challenge save until the full edition is released.

Taking this into account, I decided to begin my first ever Football Manager 21 save, as a UK challenge in which I will be trying to win all 4 major league trophies in the 4 UK countries; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I planned out a rough schedule of how I could complete this challenge, and decided that I would first need to win the Scottish Premiership in order to gain enough reputation to take on a Premier League job. Once done in Scotland, I can take on a role at whichever Premier League club will have me, and attempt winning possibly the biggest and toughest trophy of the bunch, before rounding off in Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.

I anticipate this challenge to take roughly 5-6 seasons, which will be a big task undoubtedly, however as the game is first out I will be going pretty serious into the game for the first few weeks meaning I can hopefully tick off this challenge. Additionally, I am reluctant to take the ‘easy’ route by starting off with a Celtic/Rangers and instead have opted for Motherwell F.C. The Well have been in Scotland’s top-flight since the 1980s, however they have never won the league and only have won 1 Scottish Cup in that time. Things are needing to be shaken up, and I’m hoping to be the man to do it.

*If you are unsure about which club to begin your Football Manager 2021 journey with, allow us to recommend one of our previous blog posts, ‘Football Manager 2021 Challenges’ in which we have covered 10 possible starting clubs/challenges you could undertake in this seasons’ game.*

What’s New?

We did make a post previewing the game, however once you are hands on, some of those changes and developments are really intriguing and unusual. First of all, I noticed the change in matchday experience. I quickly jumped into my first friendly match, setting the first team against the reserves, as I wanted a flavour of my squad (yes, I sat there with a notepad jotting down who was going to make the cut), and also a feeling of the game this year.

When setting out my pre-match team-talk, there is a clear change in how you deliver your speech to the squad, using still generic quotes and trying to pick which will give the correct motivation or kick up the arse. However, you deliver the message to the players who are all spread out as though you were in an actual changing room. This is a minor change, and I must admit, I have thrown a water bottle on a few occasions, just to see the reaction, and I can confirm, it doesn’t go down well at all.

Actually in the game, the screen filled with stats, updates, the squad performance and everything all in one, took me about 5 games to adapt to, as so much was going on in the build-up and aftermath of goals and highlights. My concentration was at its maximum focus which really took some adapting, however I honestly love the detailed and visual statistical graphs and figures. I love all this stuff anyways, however I really get a buzz watching the xG stat changing, and looking where shots are coming from and everything.

In the day-to-day menu and trawling through emails, not much else seems to be majorly different, which is completely fine, as if it’s not broke. This means the game feels almost like a natural progression, and doesn’t feel like you’re having to completely change up your style of play.

Personally, I love the changes that have been brought in. Admittedly, I feel like there are moments where the in-game screen is a bit chaotic and unorganised which means I often pause the game to make changes and just get an overview of the stats. However, it doesn’t take too much to adapt to, and I can still keep the casual nature or “space-baring” my way through the emails, whilst still sitting up properly and kicking every ball in the matches.

First Season Woes

In the first 10 games I played in this Beta (more than 1 hour but just go with me), I experienced the ups and downs in my Motherwell career. I would say that because I knew I wasn’t staying at the club past winning a title, I took little regard for the financial aspect of the club (first big mistake). I brought in Yaya Touré which meant any other transfer was having to be a loan move whilst not paying much of the wages.

On the pitch, my pre-season was a disaster, as I won just 2 out of the 6/7 pre-season matches I took part in. The goals weren’t going in, and I found my nemesis in the xG stat, as according to that, I should have won the majority of games, but I digress. So on-field the performances weren’t going well, and off-field the finances weren’t doing too good either. So, things needed to change, and thankfully they did in the opening 3 games of the season as I picked up 3 wins from 3. Motherwell have gotten going when it matters, and my 4-3-3 with 1 CDM and 2 CM has gotten things ticking over nicely (for now).

Now, unfortunately that’s all I can really say at this point, as just around 2 hours into the Beta and scribbling notes for this post alongside trying to actually play the game has been a challenge, but one I’ve enjoyed. If anyone reading cares more about the save, let me know and I’ll post a follow-up, or I’ll drop some tweets talking about the challenge (@NextGoalWinBlog).

Time To Review

Before we finish up, I felt like I should make this like a more formal review process, and give this Beta a rating /10. I would genuinely give the game an 8/10 so far, as I feel like I could jump straight in, it’s clear to see where changes have been made to the way I play, and I am yet to encounter any bugs, even in the Beta.

It’s a really enjoyable game that has done another cracking edition this year so it seems. It brings the same emotion out of me, and fills that craving for football when needed. If you played and enjoyed last years game, you’ll love this years.

I couldn’t go higher than 10/10 as I mentioned previously about being overwhelmed by the data in-game, and also it’s a Beta, so it feels wrong to go for the full-marks. But yeah, it’s fucking great, so go check it out. Let me know on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) and let us know what save you’re doing and how it’s going.

If you’re struggling for ideas on where to start your next save, please check out one of our other posts and you may find some inspiration…