Tag: Football Manager

Assessing and developing youth intakes in Football Manager

Published on by Chris Fuller

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It’s youth intake day, and you’re hyped for a potential golden generation. You’re dreaming about bringing through a 200 PA striker who will make Erling Haaland look like Yaya Sanogo. Then you open up that inbox message…

“Pfft, the best players only have 3* potential. They’ll never make it. What’s our Head of Youth Development doing – rounding up random kids at bus stops?”

Back in 2020, I wrote an FM Mythbusting article about youth intakes, where I explained what a ‘golden generation’ exactly is, and why even the best academies don’t churn out wonderkids every year. I also gave some advice on improving your academy and increasing the chances of your club producing quality talent.

Today, I’m going to expand on that. I’ll show you how to assess your intake players and decide which ones are worth signing – and why you shouldn’t blindly trust the star ratings. There’ll also be some tips on how to develop your new talents, even those who don’t immediately look like hot prospects. Continue reading “Assessing and developing youth intakes in Football Manager” →

Football Manager: What’s in a name?

Published on by Chris Fuller
This was an actual advert for Championship Manager 96/97 – and all those names belonged to actual Premier League players!

Now for something completely different here on Fuller FM!

Football has had its fair share of amusing monikers over the years – from the 19th-century England forward Harry Daft to the aptly-named Celtic flop Rafael Scheidt, via the iconic Paraguayan right-back Chiqui Arce. And as that very real Championship Manager advert from 1996 shows, the Premier League used to be full of innuendo!

There are over 600,000 people in the Football Manager database, so there are bound to be plenty of weird, wacky and wonderful names. Many of these can even be passed onto newly-generated players, so the possibilities for amusing names are truly endless.

Today, I’ll be looking at some of the more unusual names you can find on FM22. I’ll tell the tales of the players behind the names, and even explain some of their origins. Any name that sounds very suggestive in English probably means something perfectly innocent in its native language… Continue reading “Football Manager: What’s in a name?” →

Improving international management on Football Manager

Published on by Chris Fuller

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Let’s talk about international management in Football Manager.

Club football might be the bread and butter of our sport, but there is nothing quite like the international game. Representing your country is always a high point in a player’s career, and winning the World Cup can lift an elite player to legendary status – like Pelé, Diego Maradona, or Bernard Diomède. For a manager, becoming a World or continental champion can make them a national hero.

Why, then, does international management feel so dull in FM? Managing a national team in the game is so bare-bones and tedious that it’s difficult to stay interested in it for long – and even winning a World Cup feels much more hollow than it should.

Just before the release of FM22, Guido from Strikerless went on “a bit of a rant” about FM’s take on international football, and what he would do to improve it. As we head into another international break, I feel it’s now time to share my thoughts and ideas – using some of Guido’s suggestions, and some others from the wider FM community. Continue reading “Improving international management on Football Manager” →

Retro databases in Football Manager: Awesome, but impractical?

Published on by Chris Fuller

Let’s talk about retro databases in Football Manager.

When we discuss which features we most want to see added to FM in the future, one of THE most popular requests is for Sports Interactive to add official historic databases.

The ability to manage a football team at any point in history – or even just during a specific time period – is something that appeals to many FMers. I’m sure some of you would like to go back to the 1970s or 1980s, or perhaps to the start of the Premier League era in 1992. Even the 2000s hold plenty of nostalgia for those of us who grew up at the turn of the millennium.

Unfortunately, despite numerous requests over the years (and indeed decades), it seems that SI won’t allow us to manage in the distant past for the foreseeable future. There are just too many legal and technical issues that stop this feature from being a viable addition.

In this post, I will try to explain why adding historic databases to FM is an awesome idea… but also an impractical one. Continue reading “Retro databases in Football Manager: Awesome, but impractical?” →

FM Mythbusting: Are English Teams Overrated?

Published on by Chris Fuller

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It’s time to resolve a debate that has been raging across the Football Manager for years. Are English teams – and English players, for that matter – too overpowered?

Some people argue that Premier League players are rated too highly compared to their counterparts in La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga. They often see PL clubs winning more Champions Leagues than anyone else, England competing for major international trophies… and Callum Wilson becoming the best non-Norwegian striker in world football.

Sports Interactive are based in London, and a large portion of their research team is English. So is there any substance behind these claims that they overrate English teams and players? Are there some valid explanations for their success in FM? Or this simply a myth that has been blown out of proportion?

I’ll be using Football Manager 2021 to try and answer these questions. This article’s gonna be quite a long one… but if you love data and charts, you’re in for a treat. Continue reading “FM Mythbusting: Are English Teams Overrated?” →

Developing your own coaches in Football Manager

Published on by Chris Fuller

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One of the most exciting aspects of any Football Manager career is when you develop young prospects to reach their full potential. Bringing through an academy wonderkid into the senior team and on the road to superstardom is one thing… but what about developing your coaches?

When starting a new save, many FMers like to overhaul their backroom staff, bringing in the very best coaches, scouts and physios they can afford. But hey, what’s the fun in that when you can reap the benefits from growing your own coaches?

In this guide, I will give you some advice to help you successfully move your veteran players from the pitch to the touchline – and even educate a new crop of managers to take football by storm. Continue reading “Developing your own coaches in Football Manager” →

The story of Football Manager’s newgen faces

Published on by Chris Fuller

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Let’s talk about newgen faces in Football Manager.

It seems like with every passing FM, there’s a fierce debate about the 3D faces that are assigned to youth intake players. Some people in the FM community hate them; others just tolerate them.

Having played this series for over 20 years, I consider myself an FM historian who loves to look back and see how the game has progressed over the years. I’ve gone through every version from Football Manager 2015 up until the newly-released Football Manager 2022, tracking the evolution of FM’s newgen faces. I’ve also provided some thoughts on how (and where) these faces could be improved for future games… Continue reading “The story of Football Manager’s newgen faces” →

My thoughts on Football Manager 2022

Published on by Chris Fuller

After a quiet few weeks, Fuller FM has returned for another season! I took some time off from blogging after finishing my journeyman series, partly to recharge my batteries, and partly because of a family crisis, but now I’m ready to get going again!

Football Manager 2022 has been officially out for just over a week now. Unlike last year, I decided to forego the beta and not pre-order the game straight away. The demo came out alongside the full game on 9 November, so I waited for that so I could try before I buy.

I’ve now spent the past week or so playing through half a season with Millwall, seeing for myself how FM22 has changed – for better or worse. These are my initial thoughts on the new game… Continue reading “My thoughts on Football Manager 2022” →

Women’s football – coming soon to Football Manager

Published on by Chris Fuller

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As many of you may well be aware, Sports Interactive announced last week that they have begun work on introducing women’s football into Football Manager in the future.

Studio director Miles Jacobson has set out SI’s roadmap for incorporating women’s competitions into FM, explaining the sheer amount of detail that will go into making the experience as in-depth and realistic as possible.

This process will take time, and we’ve been told that women’s football WILL NOT be included on Football Manager 2022. The plan is for it to be introduced in a future FM, either on release or as free mid-season DLC – but not as a standalone game.

Women’s football is consistently one of the most requested new features FMers have asked for. The announcement of its future arrival was met with widespread praise… but also with some loud opposition.

I’ve had some time to take in this news and collect all my thoughts. So here’s what I have to say about these exciting new developments… Continue reading “Women’s football – coming soon to Football Manager” →

FM Mythbusting: Common Misconceptions

Published on by Chris Fuller

If you’ve been playing Football Manager for a while, you might have a good idea of what works and why. But there are always a few gaps in our knowledge – a few areas where we can still learn. Hey, I’ve been playing since Championship Manager 3 in 1999, but I couldn’t tell you what a carrilero does!

If you are rather newer to the series, though, there are some things about FM you might believe are true when they actually aren’t. A player with 6 Finishing isn’t necessarily a bad striker. Three minutes of injury time doesn’t always mean three minutes. And of course, having more shots doesn’t mean you should score more goals.

In today’s post, I’ll be discussing nine common Football Manager misconceptions and misunderstandings. Most of these are specifically about FM, but there are also a few rules and regulations from real-life football that some FMers may not fully understand.

Just to be clear, I’ve not written about anything related to tactics. One of the tactical gurus on the Sports Interactive forums has already written about 20 common misconceptions when building tactics in FM, so please give that a read as well. Continue reading “FM Mythbusting: Common Misconceptions” →