Football Manager 2021 Official Feedback Thread

[samdiatmh]

I kinda wish a popup would come up if you don't do a teamtalk

My mouse kinda double clicks, which sometimes mean that I start the second half without saying anything
Just a brief "you haven't given a team talk, are you sure you want to continue" would be suffice here

Of course, the spacebar method still works, just slightly annoying (although another sign that I need to change this mouse)

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, callpress said:

Before raising it as a possible bug (because it might be something I've done wrong with my tactics), are other people seeing GKs completely ignoring instructions to keep it short? I have them instructed to pass it to CBs or WBs but I constantly see them boot it down the field to my striker, who then inevitably loses possession because aerial is not their strength. Just really frustrating how many chances are conceded from them not following instructions.

Seeing a similar thing with players clearing it despite having passing options open when I have very short passing ticked. Again, frustrating, but might be related to tempo?

Seeing the same & it's driving me nuts

At first I blamed mentality, but right now I'm experimenting with a Cautious mentality, then I thought about the role so changed him to just a standard keeper & right now I've told him to kick it short & distribute to the backline which is something I've never had to do before 

If that doesn't work I'll log it because I'm deliberately playing with a possession tactic & him hoofing it long isn't helping 

[Johnny Ace]

6 minutes ago, samdiatmh said:

I kinda wish a popup would come up if you don't do a teamtalk

My mouse kinda double clicks, which sometimes mean that I start the second half without saying anything
Just a brief "you haven't given a team talk, are you sure you want to continue" would be suffice here

Of course, the spacebar method still works, just slightly annoying (although another sign that I need to change this mouse)

It does now doesn't it? It was new this year because If I was in comfortable lead I wouldn't give a team talk & had to keep confirming it 

[southside]

2 hours ago, southside said:

Is it just me or since full release have a lot of the crowds reverted back to the red and orange clothing colours of last year(im celtic just now)? Also noticed a wee bit of lag at times in 3d that wasnt there in the beta

Nobody else no?

[samdiatmh]

5 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Seeing the same & it's driving me nuts

At first I blamed mentality, but right now I'm experimenting with a Cautious mentality, then I thought about the role so changed him to just a standard keeper & right now I've told him to kick it short & distribute to the backline which is something I've never had to do before 

If that doesn't work I'll log it because I'm deliberately playing with a possession tactic & him hoofing it long isn't helping 

I've noticed a tendency to "keep possession" if you're playing on Cautious, rather than "Attacking" which sees a bit more hoof-ball
I've only trialed the cautious approach for 2 games, but it's pleasing to see my players actually retain possession

Kinda seems weird to me that basically ManCity would be "defensive/cautious" IRL, but that's the way FM sets it up

[frukox]

5 minutes ago, samdiatmh said:

I've noticed a tendency to "keep possession" if you're playing on Cautious, rather than "Attacking" which sees a bit more hoof-ball
I've only trialed the cautious approach for 2 games, but it's pleasing to see my players actually retain possession

Kinda seems weird to me that basically ManCity would be "defensive/cautious" IRL, but that's the way FM sets it up

Because except for your attack-duty players, your team won't take too much risk and will adopt a safer approach when they pass, shoot, dribble or go forward. These kind of tactics need balance when it comes to in-possession and out-of-possession instructions.

Edited November 29, 2020 by frukox

[Johnny Ace]

Absolutely, Cautious is the low risk in possession mentality, ideal for a possession based tactic, I'm just messing about trying to create one that a) keeps possession b) defends well c) still has some bite. One of the main sources I'm losing possession is my keeper he's only on an 82% pass rate when the team overall is 91% 

I've just created a report so hopefully we can find out what's going on 

[RinusFM]

To my understanding this article explains the mentalities really well.

https://www.fmscout.com/a-mentality-analysis.html

For counter-tactics you want to use attack, positive etc, and for possession / tiki-take you want to use cautious/defensive, etc. 

 

Please correct me if I am wrong. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by RinusFM

[frukox]

15 minutes ago, RinusFM said:

To my understanding this article explains the mentalities really well.

https://www.fmscout.com/a-mentality-analysis.html

For counter-tactics you want to use attack, positive etc, and for possession / tiki-take you want to use cautious/defensive, etc. 

 

Please correct me if I am wrong. 

You can use any mentality for any kind of play. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by frukox

[Johnny Ace]

19 minutes ago, RinusFM said:

To my understanding this article explains the mentalities really well.

https://www.fmscout.com/a-mentality-analysis.html

For counter-tactics you want to use attack, positive etc, and for possession / tiki-take you want to use cautious/defensive, etc. 

 

Please correct me if I am wrong. 

That fits with my findings over the years 

[Pav_Makarov]

Does anyone else gets an injury per game? I'm 5 games in my first season, loving ME so far (even though there are some ridiculous moments still), but having one injured player each game is suspicious

[Pattric_b]

In the year 2026 and just found Sarri was no longer a manager. 

This is a bug right? He has several staff roles that are grayed out. 

[LucasBR]

So, I'm already half way through the season and I still have players waiting for a promise I made for a player that is no longer at the club. Is that some kind of bug?

[Domoboy23]

Another curiously question. Anyone having joy with possession tactics? And if so what %'s etc

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, Domoboy23 said:

Another curiously question. Anyone having joy with possession tactics? And if so what %'s etc

In my last round of testing with Birmingham in the Championship was joint second in the chart with 57% & 4th in the league so it's very possible & a joy to watch 

[latrell]

during a match where can i see the attendance i can not find it i like to know my attendance 

[s1111]

1 hour ago, Pattric_b said:

In the year 2026 and just found Sarri was no longer a manager. 

This is a bug right? He has several staff roles that are grayed out. 

Why would it be a bug? He's 67 and wants an easier job, not many managers take on a new job at that age.

[Johnny Ace]

Just now, latrell said:

during a match where can i see the attendance i can not find it i like to know my attendance 

Sadly not 

[latrell]

3 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Sadly not 

makes no sense to take that away Imo

[Johnny Ace]

5 minutes ago, latrell said:

makes no sense to take that away Imo

I know, I think many think the same 

[Icy]

hace 25 minutos, Domoboy23 dijo:

Another curiously question. Anyone having joy with possession tactics? And if so what %'s etc

Yes, I'm Crewe in this save, top of possesion in my league with a 4-3-3 DM Wide and top in passing %

[JamieTC13]

9 hours ago, roykela said:

Having played 163 hours of this now (and there will definitely be more) i have gone from *meh* when they announced it, to excited during the reveals and back to *meh again.
It's because of a few things but one thing stands out.

- The match UI.

The match UI i find very boring and "gamey", so to speak. I don't feel like the manager at all. I feel detached from the players and my staff.
Information i used to have, being a manager in the dugout together with my staff, is harder to find.
When motivation is realism then this UI has taken a massive step backwards.
The Dugout pop-up isn't showing long enough for me to be able to react on, when i'm playing on Comprehensive Highlights. And that's how i play my game.
When the pop-up comes up in the lower left it is so late that the suggestion(-s) there can be old information.
I might somehow have managed to approve the the given suggestions in the Dugout popup but the same advice can still pop up 20 minutes later in the lower left. Having already actioned on it.

I don't get why i can't access all that information at will. I'm the manager. Together with my staff in the dugout. It feels like my staff is sitting at home doing their observations and analysis, trying to message me on the phone.
Only, the message is there for a minimum amount of time. If i don't see it quickly enough the entire message is erased.
And i don't have access to the messages at all any longer.
Why can i not access all that information when i want to during the match?

The pad screen. Yeah.....As mentioned; comprehensive highlights. It's quite useless at one half of the screen.
I don't use it anyway so it doesn't really matter for me, but it doesn't really give me a reason to use it either. It's pointless as i can't read what's on there.

Why, oh why can't i swap player's positions at the bottom by clicking and dragging?
For me that would be the most basic and logical thing to do.

Being at a new club where i don't know the players; why aren't their preferred positions shown in the match UI?
It becomes a lot more back and forth between screens during the match. So much for realism.
Lessen the amount of clicks needed. Also in general overall. You used to focus on that. Seems to have taken the backseat of a very long stretch limo these days.

Speaking of realism. If realism is the motivation, why does the game pause when i'm accessing certain screens?
When i play a match it'll run all the way through. Apart from when the game pauses it for me. I'm trying to be a manager. There is no pause other than those the referee give me.
I'm not saying eliminate pausing the game. That would definitely not be a good idea. But i want the match to keep it going. I'll pause it if i choose to pause it.
Not because the game does it for me.

If i change my tactics from one pre-made tactic to another i can do that quickly at the bottom left.
Then i have to go all the way to the upper right to confirm it. Why?
If it is a quick action, why do i have to confirm it at all?
If something happened, like injury, goal or a red card, between changing the tactic and before it got activated, it would make sense having to confirm or cancel the changes.

- ME

The ME itself is fantastic. No doubt about that. Playing as Billericay at the moment and it feels and looks like Billericay and not Barcelona.
Nothing other than praise there.

- Issues

I've mentioned it many times before and i'll mention it again.
Custom Views. For the love of all that is good; fix it.
Yes, there are priorities when solving issues and bugs. That's given. But i do understand the frustration amongst those who report and report and report, often the same issues year in, year out.
It sends the message that nothing gets done. Maybe in 10 years time when we revamp that area. It doesn't really motivate people to report bugs.

I started reporting UI bugs quite thoroughly but i stopped doing it. Because there are so many small things in this UI overall that don't work properly it got overwhelming.
I wouldn't do anything other than report bugs if i were to keep it up. I wouldn't get to play the game at all.

I still love the game and i will undoubtedly pour 100s of hours into it, but i don't feel like i'm part of the game.
I don't feel like the manager anymore. 
The team talk, as an example. Is designed for immersion. It brings no immersion to me. I feel less involved, due to the fact that i have to look all over the screen to see reactions.
It's cumbersome and hard to get a proper overview.

On the other side; several screens have so much empty space. Fill that space with information. Why so many "empty" screens?
Fill them up, remove them altogether or combine certain screens with other empty screens.

- Xg and advice

Xg - Wonderful idea. Couldn't care less. I find i don't use that at all. Maybe a quick glance at times but i don't use it at all.
Nor do numbers add up.
Attempts = 47
With feet = 15
With head = 7
Direct Set-Pieces = 3
How did they do those set-pieces attempts? With their schlong? And where are the missing 22 attempts?
Possibly a bug? Who knows. The game doesn't help me out anyway in what works how.

"We had a similar number of individual high quality chances to our opponent, which makes sense as there was not much difference in the average shot quality between the teams".
Yes, thank you for that information but i did see that myself. What exactly is this analyst bringing to my table with this? Nothing that i can't see myself.
"We've had a decent number of clear cut chances". I can see that but could you also tell my the analytical reasoning behind those numbers?
It doesn't really tell me anything. I have hired an analyst for a specific reason. So he can analyse and tell me all the whys and hows so i don't have to do it myself.
That's me segwaying to my next point.

- Information, advice and context

Information and context. A lot of the information i get from coaches are just the bleeding obvious or advice taken from seemingly thin air.
There's no context.
Why do i have to swap my DCL to DCR? Because he's in good form?
And who do i swap him with? My DCR, who will go to DCL? Why's that? Because he's in good form?
Well, why don't we keep them where they are then since they're both doing pretty well?
It's useless advice with no context at all, and the game is packed with this kind of useless stuff.

Analysis of my general performance.
"We are performing well below average across the board". Ok. What do you suggest we do then? I mean, that's why i have staff there. To help me out with advice and similar stuff.
No? Nothing? Where are my staff?
Give me advice, based on the analysis and observations made, about what i should do; and, most importantly, why!
What and how needs to be motivated by why. If there's no why, from the staff members that are paid to come up with why, then it isn't advice.
It's just a line of suggestion but it doesn't tell me anything.
"Do this". Why? "Just do it". Yeah, but why? I need to know why! What do you foresee will happen if we do it? "I have nothing. Just do it".

My staff members are just there to fill in for the stuff i don't want to do myself in the game.
That's all they're good for. Otherwise they are absolutely useless.
In my own experience, there isn't any reason to follow their advice at all.

- Recruitment meetings

Recruitment meetings. Don't see the point. If the board wants me to sign U23 players for the first team, why do they only recommend players that are +30?

I can use recruitment meetings as an example of different things and areas within the game that aren't connected at all.
If there are related things in the area then they have to be connected. Otherwise it'll just be conflicting information.

- Game overall and final thoughts

The game is good. It's very good but for me it has taken a step backwards.
It has gone backwards with the most important thing about this game. The manager.

It's about being a manager in the game of football. It strives for realism and does it well. I don't oppose it at all. I like that approach.
But it strives so much for it that it goes backwards in my own role as a manager. I feel more detached from my role as a manager as i've ever done.
I felt more like a manager in CM97/98 than i do now. Probably hyperbole but the point is true.
My experience though is that i feel less and less as the manager. Everything around it seems like it's more important.
In that case you're more interested in creating an alternative, simulated footballing world than to create an environment where i can play out my own fantasy of being a football manager.
If i'm not there as a manager, then what's the point in that simulated world?!

It seems like it's more important to bring features to the game (which is a must, of course) and that it is forgotten that i'm just a guy, at home playing a game by watching a screen.
Players around me in the dressing room because of realism.....on a 2D screen? Really? Is realism that much more important than making it better for the user to observe, watch and navigate efficiently?
In spite of how good the game and the game series is, i get the feeling, more and more, that the developers are increasingly in danger of forgetting where this came from. How and why it started and became the success that it is.
The foundation of why this game became so popular to begin with. It was about the manager.
Create as realistic of a world as possible. Absolutely. But do not forget the manager. It's what it's all about.
It's the core of this game.

I will still pour hours and hours into this game as it's still fun.
It's just not as fun because i feel like i'm a manager who's not really involved.

There might be stuff written here that possibly are factually wrong. I'm aware of that possibility.
But this feedback is just that. Feedback on the game based on my personal experience and feelings.

I have one wish as a final-final thought.
Fix bugs and issues that have been there for years. Just.....fix'em.

100% Agree with you, well said 

[d d]

40 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Sadly not 

 

 

42 minutes ago, latrell said:

during a match where can i see the attendance i can not find it i like to know my attendance 

You see it now before the match starts now.

[tiotom92]

3 hours ago, samdiatmh said:

I've noticed a tendency to "keep possession" if you're playing on Cautious, rather than "Attacking" which sees a bit more hoof-ball
I've only trialed the cautious approach for 2 games, but it's pleasing to see my players actually retain possession

Kinda seems weird to me that basically ManCity would be "defensive/cautious" IRL, but that's the way FM sets it up

I play on attacking always and my keeper plays it short most of the time (unless the opposition are preventing short goal-kicks).

[99]

2 horas atrás, Pattric_b disse:

In the year 2026 and just found Sarri was no longer a manager. 

This is a bug right? He has several staff roles that are grayed out. 

Dunno if it's intended like that or not, but I actually like it. Many managers after a certain age (sometimes even before) decide to embrace the role of Director of Football in a team. It's very clever.

If it's done on purpose, really nice detail for long term saves.

Edited November 29, 2020 by 99

[ajw10]

So three things. AMC's work maybe a bit too well, especially those that have an "arrive late into the box" PPM. Wijnaldum has 7 in 4.

I can't get strikers to work. Lacazette spent most of that game passing backwards instead of shooting, Aubameyang also does very little. They don't seem to move into channels like they are meant to. Strikers just seem so static.

Goalkeeper ratings are broken. Leno was at a 6.6 before the seventh went in and he magically went to a 7.1

[Dagenham_Dave]

Only you could find something to moan about after a 7-0 win 

[GOODNAME]

1 minute ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

Only you could find something to moan about after a 7-0 win 

He is right about the GK ratings tbh..

I won a lot of matches 3-0 2-0 and my GK got 6.2 6.3

[FM Addick]

Not read through all 30 pages and done a random search - anyone else found it way too easy so far?

I am playing as Wimbledon. First season, didn’t spend a penny. Couple of loan signings. And a squad predicted to finish 22nd finished 2nd

In the Championship, I’ve spent around £250k on a few players (price ranges £40-60k) and some half way through the season am 2nd in the Championship. I would like a struggle at some point. 

[ajw10]

8 minutes ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

Only you could find something to moan about after a 7-0 win 

It's not a moan, it is feedback

Also, if you provide feedback after a defeat then it becomes misconstrued. Feedback after a victory comes across as more balanced 

Edited November 30, 2020 by ajw10

[Pattric_b]

2 hours ago, s1111 said:

Why would it be a bug? He's 67 and wants an easier job, not many managers take on a new job at that age.

I don't know if it is or isn't that's why im asking. Have heard nothing about this and never seen the staff roles grayed out like that before. 

[FCP_Football]

Can anyone tell me how to view this graph on the screenshot? .

[XaW]

Man, @Jack Joyce, stop tearing up the Welsh leagues! It's impossible to beat TNS when you are scoring for fun!

[alian62]

10 hours ago, latrell said:

during a match where can i see the attendance i can not find it i like to know my attendance 

Tactics meeting before any match on top right 

[alian62]

13 hours ago, Bosey82 said:

So create stadiums that have generic tunnels. There is a thread about 2021 stadiums in the game and it proves my point. You can assign stadiums to teams that provide a creative representation of what they are in real life. So in my OP I suggested that Forest not have three tiers. I see this at Cardiff too for example. Yet many other clubs have stadiums that look somewhat similar. I get walking a fine line on IP but it's not like you would be creating specific aspects of any ground. The game clearly has numerous stadium designs set across the world. It's just a case of assigning a little more realism to the ones that don't look anything like the actual ones. After all this is a game that tries to do that with players already. And it allows editing functions that change the name to Juventus from the name that it gives in the game because of licensing. So the stadium issue shouldn't be anything like that by comparison.

This is why we need a stadium editor 

[Mr Tonio]

Can you please put the beta ME back, and some joy in my life. These are hard times.

[TheVerySpecialOne]

But in Beta ME morale made user OP if I understood it correctly? I'd rather have a bit worse ME which is challenging than a better ME where I win every game. I mean, yeah, ideally you'd have balanced combination of both, but If I had to choose, I'd make that decision.

[Icy]

Just saw something cool I had never seen before but maybe it was there...

I put one of my old players on high salary for sale and received an offer, then the player agent came back to me on day later saying that if I wanted his client to sign for that club, I would have to pay his client a kick back of X€.

Nice feature as it's probably how it works in real life.

[SpecialOne Miko]

il y a 5 minutes, Icy a dit :

Just saw something cool I had never seen before but maybe it was there...

I put one of my old players on high salary for sale and received an offer, then the player agent came back to me on day later saying that if I wanted his client to sign for that club, I would have to pay his client a kick back of X€.

Nice feature as it's probably how it works in real life.

That's not new tho, been in the game for some years.

[Pav_Makarov]

I've made up my mind on FM 21. It's a great example of an old saying "take away from a person everything and then give back the half and that person will be happy". After dreadful ME version of 19 and 20 we are happy to have  laughable UI on a condition that ME works as intended. I'm glad I can at least enjoy the game as I used to. And what about the interface? Well I'll get used to it

It's just sometimes I feel like SI have no UX/UI specialist in a crew, otherwise I have no explanation to little things like instructions, overlapping player's position in set-piece creator necessity to make 2-3 extra steps for actions, that only demanded a click before.

But anyway, ME is here, let's just hope nobody will screw it up with future updates

[Os]

For my pre match preparation I like to dig down into the match, team and individual stats.

 

There are numerous errors and tallys that don't add up therefore compromising the integrity of the game.

There are no stats on the assists graph in the analysis, numerous examples of the stats not reflected in the anaylsis

Why is this?

 

p.s There seems to be no relevant section in the bugs forum that covers this area of the game.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Os

[Sherkey]

30 minutes ago, SpecialOne Miko said:

That's not new tho, been in the game for some years.

Wasn't it new for this year? He isn't talking about a salary contribution, but a one-off payment.

[SpecialOne Miko]

Oh, for one-off payment I dont know, maybe you're right.

[CM]

4 minutes ago, Sherkey said:

Wasn't it new for this year? He isn't talking about a salary contribution, but a one-off payment.

Had not seen that before either.

[RHKC]

I really wish we were free to switch between tactics and team talks at half time 

 

I raised this in the bugs forum a couple of days ago but received no response.

[Johnny Ace]

43 minutes ago, Os said:

For my pre match preparation I like to dig down into the match, team and individual stats.

 

There are numerous errors and tallys that don't add up therefore compromising the integrity of the game.

There are no stats on the assists graph in the analysis, numerous examples of the stats not reflected in the anaylsis

Why is this?

 

p.s There seems to be no relevant section in the bugs forum that covers this area of the game.

I posted something similar in the ME bugs board, post it there & it'll get moved if need be 

[lpcinder]

Hi all

 

I have two questions:

I decided to play with Sampdoria, so I had a challenge with this aging squad. On top of that they have no money to spend so I to start buy loaning players. I am now in my third season and won the league and cup in the third season. 

1) Is it normal Italian teams get such low financial reward for winning the league? I got something like 3.5 million euros or something like that. 

2) I saved my game in two versions: one with normal budget, being close to nothing and one with a sugar daddy. When does a sugar daddy start showing an effect. I have had zero results from this, in fact, the board are rejecting all demands for extra budget.

 

Would be great if someone could answer this.

[JordanMilly]

48 minutes ago, Os said:

p.s There seems to be no relevant section in the bugs forum that covers this area of the game.

https://community.sigames.com/forum/828-all-other-gameplay/, if it doesn't fit into the ME bug forum.

[Pav_Makarov]

5 minutes ago, lpcinder said:

Hi all

 

I have two questions:

I decided to play with Sampdoria, so I had a challenge with this aging squad. On top of that they have no money to spend so I to start buy loaning players. I am now in my third season and won the league and cup in the third season. 

1) Is it normal Italian teams get such low financial reward for winning the league? I got something like 3.5 million euros or something like that. 

2) I saved my game in two versions: one with normal budget, being close to nothing and one with a sugar daddy. When does a sugar daddy start showing an effect. I have had zero results from this, in fact, the board are rejecting all demands for extra budget.

 

Would be great if someone could answer this.

https://community.sigames.com/forum/805-league-specific-issues/ - you can try to post it here (regarding prize money)

[keysea]

5 minutes ago, lpcinder said:

Hi all

 

I have two questions:

I decided to play with Sampdoria, so I had a challenge with this aging squad. On top of that they have no money to spend so I to start buy loaning players. I am now in my third season and won the league and cup in the third season. 

1) Is it normal Italian teams get such low financial reward for winning the league? I got something like 3.5 million euros or something like that. 

2) I saved my game in two versions: one with normal budget, being close to nothing and one with a sugar daddy. When does a sugar daddy start showing an effect. I have had zero results from this, in fact, the board are rejecting all demands for extra budget.

 

Would be great if someone could answer this.

Hi,

1) It is perfectly normal that you won't get a big prize money for winning the league as the italian SERIE A is not one very rewarding in this regard... Better count on European football cash prize ...

2) I believe it will all depend on the type of the Sugar DADDY, only a foreground (?) one should give you plenty of money ... all other types will just invest in infrastructures or help for a growth in reputation, but in a very limited time extend ...They also can wipe off bad debts but barely more than that ... And those are the most common sugar daddy types ...

Hope it can help you.

cheers