Using shouts in Football Manager

Embed from Getty Images

We’ve all shouted at our players at some point when playing Football Manager. Well, actually, it’s not so much “shouting at our players” as it is “screaming profanities at a computer screen as our significant other enters the room and wonders what the hell we’re getting so worked up about”.

Of course, I’m not discussing actual shouting in this post. I’m talking about those in-game ‘shouts’, which you can use as motivational tools to give your team the mental edge over the competition.

At various points, you may need to deal with players who are looking anxious, aggressive or arrogant, and use appropriate shouts to raise their confidence, calm them down, or refocus their minds. You can also criticise your team when they’re underperforming, and even drop some praise when they deserve it.

You have eight shouts at your disposal on Football Manager 2021. Some of you probably only use two or three, but every option has its merits and drawbacks, which I will explain below. Continue reading “Using shouts in Football Manager”

Rule Bretagne: The Unbeatables

Embed from Getty Images

Welcome to the last installment of this mini-series about my Football Manager 2021 beta save, where I took charge of Rennes and conquered France – and almost the whole of Europe too.

In Part 1 and Part 2, I wrote a season-by-season summary of everything that happened at Roazhon Park during those four years. Today, I will take a closer look at my tactics and players from that incredible final season, where we won the domestic double, reached the Champions League Final, and completed an entire league campaign undefeated.

So, let me introduce you to ‘Les Imbattables’ – The Unbeatables! Continue reading “Rule Bretagne: The Unbeatables”

Rule Bretagne: Four Years At Rennes – Part 2

Embed from Getty Images

Welcome to the second part of this mini-series summarising my Football Manager 2021 beta career with Rennes. I’ve spent four seasons trying to progress Les Rouges et Noirs from Ligue 1 contenders to champions, while continuing to develop players through the youth system.

In Part 1, we looked at my first two seasons with Rennes, in which we had a few wobbles but gained some valuable learning experience. Could we now kick on in the third and fourth seasons, or would I be leaving France empty-handed? Continue reading “Rule Bretagne: Four Years At Rennes – Part 2”

Rule Bretagne: Four Years At Rennes – Part 1

Embed from Getty Images

Since the beta dropped in November, I’ve been playing a lot of Football Manager 2021 over the last two months.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me post regular updates from my beta save with Rennes. I took charge of an exciting young team that was embarking on a maiden Champions League voyage after finishing 3rd in Ligue 1. My targets were to challenge Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance of French football, and also to establish Rennes as a force in Europe, while making use of their renowned youth system.

This save was only meant to run for two or three years, but I enjoyed it so much that I played on for a fourth. Now that my French adventures are finally over, I’ve put pen to paper – or rather, fingers to keyboard – to tell you all about the four seasons.

No… not them. Anyway, in today’s post, I will summarise the first half of an eventful career in Brittany. Continue reading “Rule Bretagne: Four Years At Rennes – Part 1”

My thoughts on Football Manager 2021

It’s been a while, hasn’t it, folks?

There hasn’t been much blog content on Fuller FM lately, mainly because I’ve had a little break from writing… but also because I’ve been playing Football Manager 2021 almost non-stop since the beta came out in November.

For me, two months is plenty of time to get stuck into the most in-depth football management simulator on the market, and see how it compares to previous versions. Releasing a new game in the middle of a global pandemic was always going to be a real challenge, but how have Sports Interactive fared in these unprecedented times?

Have they romped ahead of their rivals like Rangers, or have they had an unmitigated disaster like Sheffield United? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but here’s what I think about FM21…
Continue reading “My thoughts on Football Manager 2021”

Preparing for pre-season on Football Manager

Embed from Getty Images

Pre-season is an often underrated but very important part of Football Manager. It’s during those first few weeks of a new campaign that you have arguably the best chance to set your team up for a successful year.

Your players will return from their post-season holidays refreshed but unfit. It’s up to you to sharpen them up physically and tactically through training and friendlies, so that they can perform to high standards from the first league game onwards. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

In this article, I will give you some tips for an effective pre-season, while also taking you through how I typically get ready for a new campaign. This isn’t a silver bullet that works for every team, but if you roughly follow my advice, you can’t go too far wrong. Continue reading “Preparing for pre-season on Football Manager”

Setting up a new game on Football Manager

Football Manager 2021 is being released in just a few days’ time. While thousands of FMers are already getting stuck into the beta, many of us are already thinking of what our first save game will be after the game officially drops on Tuesday 24 November.

There are a lot of questions we ask ourselves before creating a new football universe? How many leagues do I want? How many players? Can my computer cope with it? And, most importantly, will the game run fast enough for me to enjoy?

I hope this guide will give you some useful tips and advice for when you go into the save creation process. Continue reading “Setting up a new game on Football Manager”

My plans for Football Manager 2021

It’s almost time, folks! After what feels like an eternity, the Football Manager 2021 beta is expected to drop any moment now, which means we’ll soon be falling in love with our favourite game all over again.

With excitement levels now as high as they will be when they start allowing fans back into stadiums, I am now ready to formally announce my plans for FM21’s game cycle. As usual, I’m planning to have a short-term beta save, and then I will begin a long-term career after the game is officially released on 24 November. Continue reading “My plans for Football Manager 2021”