Football Manager is a game that offers you a completely different take on sport than FIFA, Madden, or NBA 2K.
You don’t kick the ball, you lay out your strategy and attempt world domination. It is chess, not checkers.
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However, it is also locked into the annual release cycle that all sports games suffer from. This often leads to players feeling taken advantage of, that it is just “the same old game with a roster update”.
So is Football Manager 2020 just another game in the sporting cycle that shuffles names round and changes little? Or have Sports Interactive tweaked the formula enough to create a truly fresh vision of what life is like in the hot seat?
Familiar feel
The layout of FM20 has a familiar air to it, but that’s no bad thing. It’s not a struggle to find your way to the transfer market or assign your coaches and scouts with new tasks.
If you played FM19 then the training system will be as you remember it and implementing your own regime will be simple enough.
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These facts alone will be enough for some to criticise, but not me. Sports Interactive have a user-friendly layout and changing things for the sake of it would only spoil a very effective interface for players.
For those new to Football Manager the sheer amount of information on display can be overwhelming, but the induction system for tactics, transfers, training, and basically everything is superb and is there to guide you through anything you are unfamiliar or unsure about.
New features add realism
The first new features you will come across in your managerial journey are the Club Vision and the Code Of Conduct. These are two documents that you can negotiate on and agree with first the board and then the players, and they both help to add a layer of realism and accountability to the game that was lacking last year.
The Club Vision brings depth to your set of targets and a long-term aim for the club. A team like Manchester City will want you to keep them a dominant force in the Premier League, while Tottenham want you to push them up the league and challenge for that elusive league title.
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In the lower leagues, the ideal path to the top is plotted out over the course of 5 years, with promotion, survival, competence, and more promotion all glistening in the eyes of the Chairman.
You can negotiate this, and ask for the board not to judge you on competitions like the FA Cup if you are a big team, or that you be allowed to play a more defensive style.
It adds accountability for your role, and this is something you then pass on to the players.
Gone are the days of your combative midfielder getting annoyed because you fined him after a 6th red card. Now you can layout just what each transgression will cost.
A straight red? That is 1/2 a week wages fine for a first offence, and 2 weeks for each one after that. Sent off for a second yellow though, well that’s just a warning.
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As long as you stick to this agreed Code of Conduct the players will have no reason to become upset with your discipline.
There is also a much more in-depth set of squad roles for players, from star to fringe squad player, and this helps prevent the playing time complaints that plagued FM19.
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