It should go without saying that matchdays have been improved substantially in FM21 to create a modernised presentation and renewed focus on your involvement through the build-up to matches.
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Football Manager 21 New Features: New Matchday Features
Your backroom team, for example, will provide you with more in-depth insight on your upcoming opposition.
“When you arrive at the ground and head into the dressing room,” FM has confirmed, “you’ll be presented with the confirmed team sheets for the game. You won’t be able to make any changes to your starting line-up to react to your opponent’s starting eleven but your backroom staff will point out any variation to their expected line-up and make tactical suggestions in response to team news.
“Your Press Officer will also provide highlights of the positive (and not so positive) reactions from social media to confirmed line-ups and major talking points to give you more of a sense of being part of the drama of matchday.”
Team-talks have also improved thanks to the Gesture system where you will be able to choose from a range of “expressive and motivational gestures” to help inspire your players or conversely, let them know you’re fuming after an appalling display. For example, you can either point your finger at the squad during pre-match pep talks, or launch a water bottle across the room, depending on your side’s performance.
As for the match itself, in highlights you’ll see there’s more of a focus on the match action and tactical options available to you in the Dugout section of the new UI.
“In the bottom left corner of the screen,” FM clarifies, “you have the ability to make quick changes to your team’s tactical style, formation, mentality and instructions with easy access to the full tactics screen if you need to make more in-depth tweaks.
“The final element of the Dugout section is the ‘Show Me’ menu which replicates the information that a manager can request to view during a match. From this menu you can bring up match stats, player stats for both teams, the opposition’s formation and, once your analyst (if you have one) is able to work out the information, the roles the opposition are using, as well as latest scores from games elsewhere and a live league table.”
Check out all of the new features coming to FM21 below:
Football Manager 21’s New Features: Player Interactions
Football Manager 2021 New Features: End Of Season Features
Football Manager 21 New Features: New Matchday Features
Football Manager 21 New Features: New Recruitment Features
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