Football Manager 2021 Early Access Beta Official Feedback Thread

[LucasBR]

Why are we obliged to promise something when first meeting the squad? I've tested a bunch of saves and in 90% of them every time um promise something the result is negative.

[0141607]

Hi guys

Possible longshot here but I've bought them game from HRKGame.com and was wondering if anybody else had done so?

Like a fool I rushed into buying it and didn't even notice there is no mention of early access/beta so I have raised it with them. That was 6 hours and still looking into it. I don't want to activate the code on steam yet in case I can still get a refund and purchase it elswehere.

Just wondering if anybody has bought FM21 from that site and if so does it come with early access/beta??

Cheers

[Mikal]

I've put a couple of hours into the game now and I've only played a few friendlies, but would like to give some feedback so far around the match day. Appreciate most of these will have already been mentioned.

Match Day

Pros

• I may have missed this on previous versions, but during pre match selection, having the option of making changes for “next match only” is really useful
• The player reactions from tactical decisions is a nice touch
• I'm a big fan of the new look as the match begins, everything from the team sheet (something I particularly love), layout to the ease of use, the real-time information via dugout or Touchline Tablet, the substitute visuals, the on-screen decisions (e.g. booking). I think it’s really nice, clean and intuitive.
• xG shot maps are a thing of beauty
• Not sure if this was already a thing, but the replay options are nice, choosing the events to show and particularly fond of not showing opposition replays
• I’m a fan of the new heart/condition icons and star suitability system

Cons

• Pre-match team selection – the actionable area is too cramped. There doesn’t need to be such a sizeable border around the tactics area, I can barely see some of my players’ names
  • Solution: extend the workable area
• While the visuals are fantastic, the lack of access to information in-play does take away from the positives somewhat. I know we can view match stats on the fly, but not being able to look at the xG shot map for example in real-time other than when it appears in the dugout (or at HT), and not being able to look at average positions except for half-time etc. is a confusing decision.
  • Solution: allow us to view the analytical data in real time
• In-game I'd like to have the Match Stats (the panel accessible when clicking on the timer/score top left) customisable like you can in the Touchline Tablet. I’ve found myself having the Match Stats on the left showing (because it’s fixed) but also using one side of the Touchline Tablet for more Match Stats because I can’t see them from the fixed.
  • Solution: have this part customisable, or allow a pop-up which brings up the full customisable list (see spoiler below).

Spoiler

• Team talks. This layout with the players scattered across the room isn’t the most pleasing of views

• During team talks, after you’ve addressed the room and have the option to select individual players to talk to, this option shouldn’t be selecting everyone, when you then have to deselect all the players you don’t want to address. I just had to deselect 10 other players to talk to 1 specific underperformer.

  • Solution: let us select the players we want to talk to, not those we don’t.

• Passes map via the dugout is pointless. You cannot extract any information from it, it’s just a mush of circles (spoiler below). I know this has been mentioned a few times!

  • Solution: just use the assistant wording, or give us an option to extend the graphic, like it allows us with the xG information

Spoiler

Outside of the match day UI pieces, I think the match engine itself looks very nice and more refined. The animations look more fluid and the inclusion of new animations as well are also a positive.

Some other quick notes:

• Game feels a lot faster 
• New interviews/press conferences are decent, but very sharply will be handed to assistant
• The default skin is good except the huge white fields on emails, scouting centre and processing. Real eye sore.

[HUNT3R]

Just now, 0141607 said:

Hi guys

Possible longshot here but I've bought them game from HRKGame.com and was wondering if anybody else had done so?

Like a fool I rushed into buying it and didn't even notice there is no mention of early access/beta so I have raised it with them. That was 6 hours and still looking into it. I don't want to activate the code on steam yet in case I can still get a refund and purchase it elswehere.

Just wondering if anybody has bought FM21 from that site and if so does it come with early access/beta??

Cheers

Beta is guaranteed with the list SI has posted in the announcement thread, pinned to the forum.

 

https://www.sega.com/sega-approved-partner-list

[samdiatmh]

got some interesting manager movements in my 2026 holiday

 

Chelsea: Lampard (sacked season 1), replaced by Allegri (sacked season 4), replaced by Tuchel

Spurs: Mourinho (sacked in 2022), replaced by Bielsa (sacked 2023), replaced by Mancini (sacked end of 23/24), replaced by Guardiola (who didn't make it to Xmas 24), replaced by Cocu

Everton: Ancelotti (sacked 2021), replaced by Howe (sacked 2023), replaced by Puel (who resigned to take the England role after WC26)

Liverpool: Still have Klopp (who has only won the League once since the save started - despite being in 2026)

ManUtd: Ole still at the wheel - although has FOUR league wins (miraculously),

ManCity: Guardiola (sacked at the end of 23/24), replaced by Riese (although realname Flick)

Southampton: Hasenhuttl won the "sack race" in season 1, lasting until Xmas, who was replaced by Laudrup (who went to Lille in 2022), and he was replaced with Gerrard (insert Southampton Liverpool jokes here)

RealMadrid: Zidane left (after WC24) to take the role at Bayern, who then appointed Valverde (ex Barcelona manager Valverde), although he did have a stint with the national side between them

Barcelona: Koeman is still there?!

Internazionale: Conte still there, despite winning nothing (well, an Italian Super Cup in 2024?!)

Juventus: Ivan Piazza (or Pirlo) still there, although they've won the league 6 times in 6 seasons (so nothing new)

 

[XaW]

5 minutes ago, LucasBR said:

Why are we obliged to promise something when first meeting the squad? I've tested a bunch of saves and in 90% of them every time um promise something the result is negative.

I said "no promises" and they got a bit downcast, but then I said we could survive in the league (as I thought would be a good thing) and they were very happy with it. And when I finished, everyone were happy in the end.

[Freakiie]

Of course United has 4 league wins, this is FM!

[marioNOW]

@Neil BrockHello Sir! Any info if there will be any updates to the beta based on the bugs reported before the final realease, or reported issues will be fixed (hopefully ) only with full release on 24 Nov? 

[Neil Brock]

6 minutes ago, marioNOW said:

@Neil BrockHello Sir! Any info if there will be any updates to the beta based on the bugs reported before the final realease, or reported issues will be fixed (hopefully ) only with full release on 24 Nov? 

In all honesty it hasn't been decided yet - as always there's a balance between dedicating time to prepare tweaks/fixes and being able to update. If we choose to update once or say multiple times, it means less time can be spent logging and fixing any outstanding issues - this is simply down to the person-power and time required to prepare and release an update. 

There's arguments and reasons for both sides of it and frankly, it's by no means my decision. But if you are, the first places you'll find out about it are here and our social channels! 

[lex311085]

why is Michael O'Niell manager of Liverpool? I accidently became Liverpool rather than starting unemployed so I resigned and Michael O'Niell took over Liverpool. Doesn't seem like a bug but a very unrealistic managerial signing, barely has 3 stars for reputation and has done nothing of note. Last job was stoke

[RandomGuy.]

11 minutes ago, samdiatmh said:

Juventus: Ivan Piazza (or Pirlo) still there, although they've won the league 6 times in 6 seasons (so nothing new)

 

Good to hear this, tbh. 

Managing in Italy was always a bit underwhelming as Juventus never really matched what they are in real life.

Out of interest how did all the "dominant" sides (Bayern, Celtic, Juventus, PSG) get on in terms of titles?

[anagain]

Can we have the option to cancel the friendly against our second XI? I almost never play this friendly because I usually have matches arranged in short time.

For some reason the cancel button is greyed out for this friendly.

[f.zaarour]

This feels like a real new game from FM20, which is awesome. 

Pros: 

- I really like the Visual play of each role, it was just something i adviced doing and seeing SI inverting it into the game is just amazing.
- Intake with the boad about transfers is a nice new experience. 
- The teamspeech with players around you gives you something of a real life experience which is just cool.
- And mostly happy to see the ME being improved!

Cons: And this is a must change...

- The grey area in 2D, it has to be solved, having that stadium feeling around the pitch, please get that back! 

Well done SI, this is just the Beta so hopefully it will be much better when the full version will be out. 

[Dagenham_Dave]

1 minute ago, anagain said:

Can we have the option to cancel the friendly against our second XI? I almost never play this friendly because I usually have matches arranged in short time.

For some reason the cancel button is greyed out for this friendly.

Aye, I noticed this was mandatory now, I'm hoping that's just for the first season. 

[g-meechan2]

Really loving the game so far, lots of great new features.

One thing I'm not really a fan of... can anyone tell me if there is a way to customise the match day screen {during a match}. I watch the match commentary only and prefer to have the commentary front and centre.

Is there anyway to minimise the touchline tablet, I have tried clicking the little tablet at the bottom of the main touchline tablet but nothing happens?

Edited November 11, 2020 by g-meechan2

[Jack Deal]

2 minutes ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

Aye, I noticed this was mandatory now, I'm hoping that's just for the first season. 

It's not mandatory. You can choose not to arrange it in the welcome pack, or you can delegate it to your assistant within the inbox item.

[GOODNAME]

Anyone here can tell us about transfers in the 2nd 3rd seasons of big clubs?

[Jack Joyce]

Hey all, just to clarify a couple of things i've seen come up:

1. There are some known issues with offside calls, particularly when trying to work out if a player is interfering with play or not. We already have some fixes for this but if you see any, please raise them in a bug thread with a PKM attachment and we'll test our fixes against them.

2. The pass maps are also a known issue, we agree they're not readable.

Hope you're all enjoying the game otherwise! (Particularly the ME )

[anagain]

I thought the purple with the text made the screen hard on my eyes, then I finally continued and hit a white screen for social feed.

How bright was that in contrast to the purple?

SI, what are you trying to do to the eyes of the nation? Do you have a deal with specsavers? That was like looking at the sun.

You have an ageing player base, many of whom are likely to game for hours at a time, please think about the colours and brightness of your UI.

You know how when you look at a light and can see that image for a while afterwards? Well, I will be seeing that social feed screen for the next six hours.

[Dagenham_Dave]

4 minutes ago, Jack Deal said:

It's not mandatory. You can choose not to arrange it in the welcome pack, or you can delegate it to your assistant within the inbox item.

Yeah I know, it was more that you can't cancel it once it's been arranged like other friendlies. 

While you're there - Can you confirm if the 'reverse' camera angle is gone for good? 

[samdiatmh]

Just now, RandomGuy. said:

Good to hear this, tbh. 

Managing in Italy was always a bit underwhelming as Juventus never really matched what they are in real life.

Out of interest how did all the "dominant" sides (Bayern, Celtic, Juventus, PSG) get on in terms of titles?

Scotland - Not loaded buuut.... Rangers prevented the 10-straight (winning it season 1), and have won it 4 times

Germany - Bayern with 4 titles (and finished 2nd the other two times), with Leipzig and Dortmund filling it out (shock horror). Hoffenheim and Leverkusen have appeared in the "top 3" ranks, but only 3 times

Italy - Zebre/Juventus (6 titles) beat Inter (5 second places), who beat Milan (3 third places) - Lazio & Napoli are the other contenders (Lazio 2nd season 1)

France - Lyon won the title season 1 (somehow), although PSG won the next 5 - Lille and Monaco are also contending

[XaW]

Oh, I just love this ME! I get so many nice goals, and this lovely lay up and chip is simply great.

[frank_olaf]

I'm struggling to see the ball in the 3d match view, the white ball blends into the light green grass. 

Is there a graphics setup I could use to make the ball easier to see? Thanks.

[anagain]

10 minutes ago, Jack Deal said:

It's not mandatory. You can choose not to arrange it in the welcome pack, or you can delegate it to your assistant within the inbox item.

Well why is my cancel friendly button greyed out then? I honestly do not recall seeing an option to organise this friendly.

The thing with the welcome pack is that a lot of players, that have been FMing for years now, tend to speed through that process to get in to the game. We've all started multiple games.

In the past we have had the ability to say say "you know what, I didn't really want to do that" and we have then cancelled the intra squad friendly. I see no reason why the button needs to be greyed out.

It's just an options thing. I just feel players need a back up to some options.

Edited November 11, 2020 by anagain

[NickmarJr]

Plenty of positives but one big negative that has been mentioned a few times is the pre-match tactics screen. So much wasted space, can't see most of the info you need, very frustrating when they have done all the other bits so well! Hopefully it is sorted for full release and they bin the window in window tactics screen and go back to full screen. 

[santy001]

14 minutes ago, lex311085 said:

why is Michael O'Niell manager of Liverpool? I accidently became Liverpool rather than starting unemployed so I resigned and Michael O'Niell took over Liverpool. Doesn't seem like a bug but a very unrealistic managerial signing, barely has 3 stars for reputation and has done nothing of note. Last job was stoke

It would be classed as a bug, I'd get it logged in to see what they can find out.

[XaW]

2 minutes ago, frank_olaf said:

I'm struggling to see the ball in the 3d match view, the white ball blends into the light green grass. 

Is there a graphics setup I could use to make the ball easier to see? Thanks.

You can edit the colour of the ball in preferences -> custom skin colour

[SazoJohnno]

5 minutes ago, XaW said:

You can edit the colour of the ball in preferences -> custom skin colour

Such a lifer saver, didnt know you could do this. 

[samdiatmh]

15 minutes ago, GOODNAME said:

Anyone here can tell us about transfers in the 2nd 3rd seasons of big clubs?

from my 2026 sim

 

2021s most expensive - Salah (to Barcelona) for 103m GBP

2022s most expensive - Frenkie DeJong (to ManUtd), for 117m GBP

2023s most expensive - Tonali (to Juventus), for 198m

2025s most expensive (and current record), is Sancho (to PSG) for 210m GBP

 

Barcelona make me sick... Salah, Havertz, Mbappe and Griezemann are their front 4 in 2026 (welp)

Edited November 11, 2020 by samdiatmh

[XaW]

1 minute ago, SazoJohnno said:

Such a lifer saver, didnt know you could do this. 

You're welcome. The functionality was there in FM20 (possibly earlier!) as well!  

[McClane29]

I may be alone here, but I've made a point of providing feedback on the FM21 default skin and its lack of colours which used to be represented in the titlebar in past games.

Anyone else disappointed or finding every screen too similar due to the club/nation/competition background colours being absent from the skin?

https://community.sigames.com/topic/532884-which-teams-colours-will-you-be-wearing-none-apparently/

Would be useful for others to comment if you feel the same way about the skin.

[0141607]

43 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

Beta is guaranteed with the list SI has posted in the announcement thread, pinned to the forum.

 

https://www.sega.com/sega-approved-partner-list

 

Thanks for this. Looks like I'm waiting 2 weeks so!!!

[AndreTheShadow]

I'm enjoying the experience so far, but I'm wishing the "Skip Replay" button was front and center in the match engine. Some times I don't want to watch a replay of my team's abject failure.

[Womaz]

The match engine is really good, much better than I could have hoped for .

I have it set on Medium quality for graphics in the preferences, so I changed it to high and it looked amazing. ......however had the odd glitch. I would imagine a really high spec machine will make FM21 matches look tremendous

[SmurfDude]

Can't tell you how happy I am to finally see 1vs1's not totally sucking. Now, more often than not, a quality through ball that cuts open the defence is rewarded with a good finish by the forward, instead of being aimlessly smashed straight in to the keepers chest!

[Weller1980]

I've been disappointed with the last 2 match engines to the point that I've only played fm18, I have to say this current match engine is brilliant to the extent I'd be happy for no more updates I can't remember a time when the match engine was this good so early on. Everything in the match engine blog is true and I'm proved wrong. Well done SI I'm loving fm again. 

I'm seeing lovely little through balls and 1 on 1s being scored with some nice finishing, goals and assists are more varied which adds to the fun. It's no longer a crossing and set piece simulator. 

I play with a high defensive line and I love it when I see the other teams taking advantage and playing the ball into the space. I've been caught out a few times and it's great to see. Previously striker movement and central play wasn't good enough to take advantage of a team playing a high line. 

SI please don't mess around too much with the engine. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Weller1980

[anagain]

Why does FM continue to have scouts suggest players from far off countries only for me to try tos cout them and find they're outside of my scouting range?

I have one scout that spent a very short time playing at a Thai club during his near 20 year career 8 years ago. It therefore seems a crazy stretch to me that he would pull an unknown current Thai player out of the hat in a scout meeting.

I think perhaps the chances of scouts with basic knowledge of a country suggesting a player from that country might need tuning downwards. This would especially be the case the lower down the pyramid you are. Suggestions should ultimately reflect your scouting package.

[dominoes012]

I think that FM21 is a really refreshing game in comparison to the past especially just remembering how many issues everyone had with FM20 beta. Overall, I think this game is really well done. I would like to make it clear I've only played about just over half a season of gameplay so perhaps the sample size is a bit small. 

Pros-

-Match Engine itself is great especially how fluid a team plays in passing and slightly better defense/more interceptions

-Rating system is revamped in that goalkeepers can get over 7.0 as well as players being rewarded for good passing/shots/gameplay rather than just set ratings for goals which was basically what FM20 was for the most part. 

-More realistic statistics where in FM20 if you were at home against a really poor team in comparison, your team could shoot upwards of 50-60 shots. Although I have played barely over half a season I am no longer seeing these unrealistic numbers.

-My last point brings me to this point in that the finishing is much more crisp/higher conversion rate and this pretty much cancels out the needed 50-60 shots from FM20 to obtain the same amount of goals/scores. Shot distribution seems to be much more realistic and accurate in FM21 in comparison to FM20 as well. My strikers and wingers are for the most part taking a lot of shots in comparison to before where sometimes your midfielders just start jacking up longshots or you get a million corners and your center backs end up with 8+ shots each. I believe this is one of the reasons why we aren't seeing a ridiculous and seemingly unreasonable amount of shots/shot on targets in the game. The added chip from the players is really nice.

-Getting rid of the circles for how well your player can play a specific role and replacing it with star rating. From previous FMs certain players would be very flexible in terms of what positions they play think Raheem Sterling or Ferran Torres from City in that this season they have played on the left right and as a striker because of injury issues or whatever. Other players have also shown this capability in real life and it would feel really bad sometimes in FM20 to want to play players in other positions without having at least half a circle or if you get man sent off or injured without another sub and wanted to play more defensively and drop the wingers deeper. It felt really punishing to move your players in previous FMs whereas in this one you feel like your player will still perform and is just much less punishing overall.

-More Match engine thoughts- I really like how teams look to play the ball over the top for through balls and while some get through this year it seems like defenders are actively defending them much better than last year. The intelligence of players on defense seems a lot better than previous match engines and sometimes your team's players defend together which is really nice to see. 

 

Cons- 

-The removal of the timeline from games is a bit of a bummer but just a small complaint. 

-Kind of missing the text for your shouts in comparison to just having emojis. 

-I haven't really seen players take free kick shots onto goal and I haven't seen either team make one either. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HUNT3R]

Just now, dominoes012 said:

-Kind of missing the text for your shouts in comparison to just having emojis. 

The text is still there. Click on the players.

1 minute ago, dominoes012 said:

-I haven't really seen players take free kick shots onto goal and I haven't seen either team make one either. 

Have seen a few. Against me though 

[rmcf2017]

Hi, is beta available on Family share?

[GOODNAME]

6 minutes ago, HUNT3R said:

The text is still there. Click on the players.

Have seen a few. Against me though 

Could be any changes in the UI of match day? or that is not possible until FM 22?

[LucasBR]

So I'm just able to sub off from the line-up on the match 2 players at a time? If I want to sub all the team I have to enter the tactics and subs tab?

[redhawk]

5 minutes ago, LucasBR said:

So I'm just able to sub off from the line-up on the match 2 players at a time? If I want to sub all the team I have to enter the tactics and subs tab?

Have reported this bug.

[Mandy42]

I like the team talk with the players split into different positions on the screen. I understand it isn't the most visually attractive thing, or the easiest to interpret. However that is why I like it, I feel if I was having to give a team talk I would actually have to be looking at the players to determine their reaction. Not just scan a list like previous versions.

Not sure whether this is a bug or is the way it is intended to work. But I have just had a goal ruled out for offside, due to a player not involved in the play being too far forward. He is at the near post and is offside, while the ball goes to the far post and is scored by a player who is definitely onside. Now, is this:

an incorrect decision by the official?

The way the game calculates offside? IE any player beyond the last defender and the flag goes up.

Or does the game understand the "interfering with play" rule and therefore this is a bug? 

I understand that the interfering with play rule would be hard for the match engine to code, but surely not flagging offside for players who don't touch the ball could be coded in? 

 

Oh I also have little to no understanding of the xG graphs and maps, and there seems to be no real information inside the game on how to interpret the data

Edited November 11, 2020 by Mandy42

[anagain]

I feel like I have nothing to offer but grumbles here, and I apologise for that, but...

When I am on a window that scrolls (such as a loan offer news window) can it in any way be made to stay to where I have scrolled when I input an option?

Take the above window. I have scrolled down to the Notts County offer, I click the green tick and then click 'yes' on the next pop up window. Hey presto I am back at the first offer in the list and have to scroll down to Northampton again.

I am aware that we can choose to accept all. I like to view all the offers.

I admit I'm not a coder. Is it not possible to code for the window to stay where it is scrolled to?

[NickmarJr]

Not sure if this is a bug or not so checking if anyone else has noticed this. I have my most suitable captain as captain, but the 3rd most suitable captain as vice captain (due to a long term injury and probably not playing the player), so due to this in the tactical meeting before every game it says "I believe X player is a more suitable vice captain. It is worth noting changing the captaincy can have a negative effect on the team." then a button to "do it", however I can't see a way to dismiss it. Am I stuck with this "advice" until I sell such player? 

[redhawk]

Just now, anagain said:

I feel like I have nothing to offer but grumbles here, and I apologise for that, but...

When I am on a window that scrolls (such as a loan offer news window) can it in any way be made to stay to where I have scrolled when I input an option?

Take the above window. I have scrolled down to the Notts County offer, I click the green tick and then click 'yes' on the next pop up window. Hey presto I am back at the first offer in the list and have to scroll down to Northampton again.

I am aware that we can choose to accept all. I like to view all the offers.

I admit I'm not a coder. Is it not possible to code for the window to stay where it is scrolled to?

Was an annoying 'feature' in the last two editions too,

[91427]

Strikers on attack still not dropping back at all is very annoying. This is not how Premier League teams defend 

[zakbrown96]

53 minutes ago, anagain said:

I thought the purple with the text made the screen hard on my eyes, then I finally continued and hit a white screen for social feed.

How bright was that in contrast to the purple?

SI, what are you trying to do to the eyes of the nation? Do you have a deal with specsavers? That was like looking at the sun.

You have an ageing player base, many of whom are likely to game for hours at a time, please think about the colours and brightness of your UI.

You know how when you look at a light and can see that image for a while afterwards? Well, I will be seeing that social feed screen for the next six hours.

Might be worth  setting up a thread in bug forum you never know they might change something as I’m the same with bright lights. 

[KUBI]

vor 3 Minuten schrieb NickmarJr:

Not sure if this is a bug or not so checking if anyone else has noticed this. I have my most suitable captain as captain, but the 3rd most suitable captain as vice captain (due to a long term injury and probably not playing the player), so due to this in the tactical meeting before every game it says "I believe X player is a more suitable vice captain. It is worth noting changing the captaincy can have a negative effect on the team." then a button to "do it", however I can't see a way to dismiss it. Am I stuck with this "advice" until I sell such player? 

Please post everything that could be a bug in the bugs forum.