Football Manager 2021

“Football Manager 2021 combines the best elements of previous games and undergoes a dramatic improvement that cuts deeper than the superficial. It's heavy, detailed, and been given a new texture by a more personal take on management.”

“Football Manager 2021 fully retains the soul of this franchise with a history of more than 20 years, which only develops gradually in some details. It is not suitable for all players, and even many players who love football will be dismissed. Only those who really want to become hardcore football fans are willing to patiently study and fall in love with this game.”

“Football Manager 2021 is a winner and a real worthwhile upgrade not only for those who played the previous game but also those who might have lapsed in recent years. This is the most realistic version yet, with deeper player interaction and more varied communications with your team and key staff making you feel even more like a real manager.”

“The impact of Covid-19 could have lead to a transitional entry of the famous sim, but Sports Interactive has produced its finest performance”

“New tricks will make the headlines, but Sports Interactive's best move is to breathe new life into the brilliance that's already there.”

“By making some interesting changes and staying true to its nature, with its solid database, Football Manager 2021 is, as expected, the game that every football fan will need and play, without being disappointed.”

“With Football Manager 2021, Sports Interactive have once again delivered a game that countless fans will happily be pouring hundreds of hours of their lives into.”

“Football Manager 2021 is a deep, detailed football management sim that rewards you for paying attention to your team. From the board of directors to your under-18 team, if you are willing to put in the time to achieve success, every win reaps tons of satisfaction.”

“It's an improvement over Football Manager 2020, but even so, it might be difficult to justify an upgrade to Football Manager 2021 except for dedicated fans who are willing to shell out, even if it only means minor additions and upgrades in the grand scope of the franchise.”

“Football Manager 2020 is another confirmation of Sports Interactive's ability in crafting a great title every year. No revolution is to be expected, but many smaller improvements bring the game ever closer to technical perfection. FM 2021 is clean and optimized, probably also thanks to the fact that the game will also release on Xbox One and Series X|S.”

“Football Manager 2021 is by far the closest representation to the beautiful game you can find. With an improved matchday engine, improved AI and even more datapoints than ever before, all represented in a more digestible method, making it more accessible than ever before. However, there's still no doubt that the series is still going to have a high barrier to entry, and it has some irritating issues, such as repetition in the press conferences and other interaction aspects. Issues aside, this is yet another improvement and superior entry to the series.”

“Football Manager 2021 may not revolutionise the series, but instead it adds countless quality-of-life improvements – including ones to the match engine – that make it the best Football Manager game to date.”

“With a newfound litheness on the pitch and deep data analysis, FM21 gives you an easy excuse to relapse.”

“A noticeable improvement over last year's installment. Football Manager 2021 addresses many of my personal peeves with the series whilst keeping the core design philosophy of the franchise intact. However, it is lacking a little in the way of new game-changing features and the few added haven't been implemented too well.”

“Despite a lack of big ticket new features Football Manager 2021 delivers its best ever matchday experience and the series' most realistic on-pitch simulation of football.”

“Football Manager 2021 is the best episode ever of the series on the pitch, where the experience is nearly perfect in terms of simulation, while off the pitch the game has really a clumsy and obnoxious user interface. Overall, the experience is great and the football world feels tense, realistic and dynamic as never before, but there's still more room to improve the game in terms of narration, flow and emotional storytelling.”