by MaddFM.
September/October is a funny time of year for Football Manager enthusiasts. In some ways it’s our favourite time of year as @MilesSI’s narrative changes from “We haven’t announced any future editions of the game yet” to “the Beta will be out when it’s good and ready”, while in other ways it’s often a stagnant and somewhat frustrating time of year as the previous edition comes to the end of its life cycle and our attention span for continuing our old saves concludes knowing that the end is nigh and a new game approaches on the horizon.
The positives far outweigh the negatives. Football Manager 2022 was officially announced on Thursday September 9th 2021 with a confirmed release date of Tuesday 9th November 2021, meaning that at the time of writing there is just one month to go until FM22 hits the shelves and our screens, with the Beta likely to appear some two weeks in advance of the official release date.
Having had SI release an official statement to confirm the existence of FM22 and two subsequent videos hosted by the excellent @JamesAlcott, we thought it might be useful to reflect on what we have learned so far about the new game and in this post we will continue to keep you updated as & when new features and information are published by the team over at @SIgames.
Making a Video Game
A statement released by Miles on 17th September drew our minds back to last year when, amidst all the chaos caused by a global pandemic which none of us ever expected to experience in our lifetime, the Sports Interactive team not only confirmed a new game would be produced despite their entire team working in the confine of their own homes, but managed to produced a wholeheartedly excellent game, which despite a few minor flaws was an undoubted improvement on FM20. This time around, we learned that in addition to moving to a brand new office, the team have evolved to a more agile approach from their previous “waterfall” production method wherein “feature pods” have been established to focus entirely an enhancing how new game features are developed by combining product owners, designers, engineers & artists and working in a “sprint” model akin to how engineers often work in technical production environments. What this means is we benefit from a more holistic approach to feature development as well as what has clearly been an investment by SI as they expanded their team adding a host of designers and UI/UX experts to their ranks.
Transfers and Mobility
This statement also eluded to changes on how the game facilitates and processes transfer activity to again reflect a more real-life representation of the challenges facing clubs at present. We have observed clear examples of clubs struggling massively in the aftermath of the pandemic which has greatly inhibited their transfer activity and forced them to sell and recruit perhaps unwillingly, and according to Miles this will also be reflected in-game wherein “many more clubs than normal will start the game with much smaller budgets available or still being in the position of having to try to sell players”, with “others struggling to reduce their squad sizes and wage bills”. Will this mean the end of back-to-back unrealistic promotions and transfers that you’d never see in real-life?
Data Hub
After implementing XG in FM21 last year, the FM22 trailer was our first introduction to the new Data Hub in Football Manager, a welcome addition having seen some of the data issues and discrepancies which arose early in FM21. Data enthusiasts are rejoicing at the idea of an improved data management system in FM22 and subsequent videos have given us a sneak preview into some of the new features and functionality available - Match Momentum, Improved Passing & Possession Maps, Requesting Data from Analysts - all of these are geared towards presenting data in a much more digestible and user friendly way, which will make data far more useful and accessible to the average FM player assuming that prior data issues have now been remedied and corrected since FM21.
Deadline Day & Agent Activity
HERE. WE. GO. Not only were we introduced to a new Deadline Day screen in-game which will greatly enhance how we experience arguably one of the biggest days in the football calendar (Harry Redknapp leaning out the window, Jim White’s tie, Mike Ashley’s helicopter and now Fabrizio Romano’s tweets). It’s fair to say that social media has revolutionised transfer deadline day and FM22 will see a much improved deadline day experience which will hopefully lead players like me away from hitting that “Decline” button when it comes to taking part in the deadline day madness. Early screenshots and previews not only show a wonderfully designed yellow-themed landing page (not unlike the Sky Sports News layout), but also a far more interactive and engaging experience to replicate the energy, rumours and multitude of events & chaos that often occur on the day before the transfer window closes.
Hate them or love them, Agents play a huge part in modern day football and SI are also bringing this to the fore in FM22 with the introduction of Agent Offers. FM21 saw a new “Ask Agent About Availability” option whereby one can now enquire as to a player’s interest and availability for a transfer, and FM22 takes this one step further with a newly added feature wherein those crafty agents will now approach you as a club to tout their players’ services - this previously only used to happen with free agents but will now see player representatives stirring the pot in order to potentially ignite a move as is common place in real life particularly around deadline day. It also appears that players attracting interest will be collated on one screen making it easier for you to assess your outgoings as well incoming transfers.
Transfer Values
For me one of the newer features of FM22 that has slightly flown under the radar is the change to player transfer values, wherein we will no longer see a specific value allocated to a player but rather a value range to capture and illustrate their worth. This is quite a big change - think about it, where previously you would have a clear idea of a player’s value to decide how high you are willing to go, now you will have to test the water and make your own assessment on how much exactly you think a player is worth. Get it wrong and you could potentially be spending a few million above and beyond what you may need to; looks like negotiation skills will be essential when orchestrating transfers in FM this year.
Staff Meetings
Most of us spend hours scouting and building up our backroom staff, surrounding ourselves with trusted scouts, coaches, ex-internationals and club legends to drive success behind the scenes. With the help of former Sheffield United Manager Chris Wilder, we were recently introduced to the new Staff Meeting feature in FM22. We previously had recruitment meetings added as a feature in FM21, and while overall this is not a brand new functionality in FM it most certainly collates multiple interactions and staff responsibilities into one consolidated meeting which you can schedule weekly, bi-weekly, monthly etc. Are you a conference room or pints-down-the-pub kind of manager?
New Roles & Tactical Evolution 😲
Three words. WIDE..CENTRE..BACK. We’ve long been aficionados of a Libero here at 5 Star Potential meaning a fondness for three-defender formations - the introduction of a new Wide Centre Back role is mouthwatering given the additional opportunity to tailor and tweak your tactic, allowing you to make use of technically gifted ball-carrying centre-halves and further capitalise on how you deploy wing-backs either on the overlap or in an inverted role. This could be game-changing, nay, game BREAKING 🔥.
“A plug and play gegenpress system is going to be a thing of the past” says Nic Madden, Match Producer for SI Games. An increased codependency between player stamina and pressing means that tacticians out there will have to be extra-careful with how they deploy their team in terms of pressing and tactical setup. Default tactics are fine but there appears to be an increased focus required on your player attributes combined with tactical style and pressing mentality - i.e. it’s your tactics mate! If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear 👀.
Animation
Debut of a new animation engine. More fluid gameplay. More natural dribbling and first touch. More player freedom. Nothing bad here, more of the same please.
Versus Mode
We haven’t heard much about this addition to the full-fat version of Football Manager, however with the recent news that Football Manager Touch will not be released in FM22, this will hopefully create a more stable and streamlined means by which players can play online and potentially open up some new possibilities in terms of tournaments and competitive Football Manager. While we have only gotten a glance of Versus mode on the home screen (FMFC members only?), one can only hope this brings a new layer to PvP especially with the massive surge of interest in online and competitive Football Manager in recent months. We live in hope!
Overall thoughts? No groundbreaking features or surprise announcements just yet, however a hell of a lot of “quality of life” improvements as well as a clear focus by the SI team to improve on specific areas that have caused issues in the past as well as much tidying up and consolidation of existing functions to reduce clicks and streamline gameplay. No complaints over here just yet - as and when more updates and announcements are made we will add them here for continuity. Roll on the beta!
Be sure to follow 5 Star Potential on Twitter for reaction to the latest FM22 updates as well as all our latest content as we gear up for the next edition of the beautiful game.