Jump to content

Football Manager 2021

Matthew Le God

By Matthew Le God,
in Computer Games

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 09/10/2020 at 02:08, skintsaint said:

Any ideas what is different about it or just a jazzed up database update?

Bit much for people to commit to buying with no info on the game at all!

It has not been publicly revealed yet what the new feature are. Shouldn't be long until it is.

Each year it is accused of being a jazzed up database update. But it always comes with a huge number of added features.

What do you expect to see in a football management game? Sydney opera house? Hanging gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain? 😉

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
skintsaint

skintsaint

Posted
Posted
On 11/10/2020 at 00:18, Matthew Le God said:

Each year it is accused of being a jazzed up database update. But it always comes with a huge number of added features.

Wasn't too much difference between 19 & 20 imo. Think people are more pissed at the price charged for these few updates. Most people I know wait till its 50% off at least before buying. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Match Engine AI in FM21

Lots of match engine improvements...

Quote

 

DECISION-MAKING

Part of what makes the match engine in Football Manager so realistic is the fact that the players and officials will each be making a decision every quarter of a second, which we call a “slice”. This constant stream of decision-making means that each player continually assesses the situation around them and performs the action that they think is best, based on their attributes.

In FM21, decision-making is more nuanced than ever before. This is all due to the fact that players in the engine will now be able to change their original decision mid-slice as the situation around them develops. This allows your players to be more reactive and make faster decisions which leads to a more realistic match experience with more fluidity and a greater variety of actions performed across the 90 minutes as a result.

This overhaul to decision-making works hand-in-hand with the improvements that the Animation and Match AI teams have made to the animation system itself in this year’s game. The Match team have reworked several elements of the decision-making code to supply the best information from the AI into the animation system so that those animations look better and smoother in action.

DEFENSIVE AWARENESS

One of the most impressive examples of the improvements to player decision-making is Marking in FM21. With the improved decision-making, defenders can now react more intelligently to attacking movement and can pass their marking duties on to another defender while they move to close down another player as the attack unfolds. This will occur in both open play and during set-pieces.

Defensive lines will also behave more like a single unit, working together to disrupt opposition attacks and isolate potential threats. Defenders will jockey players and prevent attackers from dribbling more often too as they look to make it much harder for attackers to move into dangerous areas. Defenders are now more adaptive when facing long balls forward and will contest aerial battles more frequently in these situations to try to avoid being left exposed by a flick-on or outnumbered during a direct counter-attack.

ATTACKING IN THE FINAL THIRD

Because of the extensive improvements we’ve made to the defensive AI, we’ve also had to bolster attacking AI to keep everything fairly balanced. Specifically, we’ve worked on improving the movement and variety of play in the final third to give attackers more tools to try to get the better of their defensive counterparts.

Let’s start with attacking movement. We’ve focused a lot of attention on improving the positioning of both AMCs and strikers and, depending on their role, they will now look to come to the ball more often and offer support for team-mates on the ball or drag defenders out of position. We’ve also tweaked the ‘Focus play down flanks’ instructions to improve the effectiveness of wide play.

Focusing play down either or both flanks or through the middle will now feature more obvious attacking movement as teams will look to overload certain areas of the pitch in order to exploit space in the corresponding opposite areas.

In general, FM21 sees much more movement in the final third as attackers look to create space or exploit gaps in the defensive line.

There are few things more satisfying in football than a perfectly weighted through ball and in FM21 you’ll notice more attempted through balls being played in the final third as well. Of course, not all of them will be successful but if you’re lucky to have one of the world’s best passers at your disposal you should find it much easier to unlock defences with a single pass.

It’s not just the build-up play that has been enhanced in FM21, there have been some notable changes to play inside the area too. Players are now much more aware of how much time they have to shoot and have better spatial awareness, especially in one-on-one situations. Speaking of which, when one-on-one with the ‘keeper, players will make better shot selections based on their angle to the goal and the position of the goalkeeper. You’re likely to see more dinks over the goalkeeper this year. Shot selection and spatial awareness are tied into the player’s attributes so more skilful players will have a wider variety of shots at their disposal and know exactly how much space they have to work in.

You’ll also see a higher percentage of players passing, and not shooting, from tight angles, depending on your tactical set up and the player concerned – some just want to try and score from anywhere, as they do in real life too.

Attacking players will also go to ground more easily in the box and not always if they’ve felt some contact from a defender. You’ll see them appeal for penalties to the referee for good measure as well.

There are more factors taken into account when VAR is used too. Previously, referees would have a very high percentage chance of making the correct decision when using VAR in FM but, as we’ve seen in the real world, there are some instances where VAR is subjective and referees don’t always make the decision that the majority would deem to be the “right” one. So, in FM21, referees will sometimes be more subjective when using VAR for anything other than offside calls and you’ll even see inconsistencies from one referee to the next when making calls on similar scenarios, just like in real life!

One other addition when it comes to offsides – players will now be more aware of when they’re in an obviously offside position and will avoid engaging with the ball as a result. Nice.

CENTRAL PLAY 

In FM20, we felt that the midfield action was being bypassed too often and that the play that did take place in the middle of the pitch often didn’t do enough to reflect the frequently chaotic nature of midfield battles we see taking place week in, week out in real life. This was something that was echoed in the feedback from you, the FM community, which is why it became a major focus for us to improve this year. For FM21, we’ve placed a greater emphasis on central play that results in a more authentic flow to events in central areas.

Firstly, movement in the centre of the pitch has been reworked for FM21. One of the most obvious examples of this is the way that we have increased the number of interceptions across the pitch but particularly in midfield areas. Players will also now actively look to block passing lanes rather than following the movement of the ball. This brings the number of interceptions in our match engine more in line with the numbers you’d see during a real match.

We’ve also rebalanced risk-taking from players in central areas. The entire philosophy around central play is now built around getting the most impactful attacking players on the ball quicker which means certain players will look to play riskier, more direct passes into team-mates occupying central attacking areas. This is in part due to a reworking of the ‘Focus Play Through Middle’ team instruction which now places greater emphasis on those progressive central passes.

Defenders are also now more aware of the threat of play in central areas and will react more instinctively to those scenarios which will lead to even more interceptions as a result.

GOALKEEPER INTELLIGENCE

Last but by no means least, we turn our attention to the heroes between the sticks. Goalkeepers in FM21 will be quicker to go to ground in certain situations, for example, if they decide that’s the best option to prevent a low shot or to cut off space in front of the attacker.

It’s not just outfield players who gain from the improvements to decision-making either. Goalkeepers are now much more conscious of the time they have to position themselves for an opponent’s shot. When attackers are in or around the box, good goalkeepers will look for players who are setting up to shoot and will set themselves accordingly.

In FM21 Goalkeepers are now more likely to try to make aerial interceptions by coming out to claim crosses and, depending on their attributes, may look to punch the ball more often as well. FM’s Glovesmen will also now take weather conditions into account so, for example, on a wet and windy day, they will be more likely to punch the ball away instead of risking a dangerous catch.

Goalkeepers in particular also benefit from improvements to the Match Ratings system in FM21 too. 

 

https://www.footballmanager.com/news/match-engine-ai-fm21

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted
On 16/10/2020 at 02:03, skintsaint said:

Wasn't too much difference between 19 & 20 imo. Think people are more pissed at the price charged for these few updates. Most people I know wait till its 50% off at least before buying. 

I always buy it at whatever the pre-order price is, people pay like £50 for triple games they complete in like 10-20 hours, I get 100s of hours out of FM, at £30 its a bargain they should really be charging more to be honest.

----------------

Hoping for a big buff to Ings and JWP this year MLG. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted (edited)

Got to say Ings and JWP are a bit disappointing, they look about the same as last year. 

16 free kicks for JWP? And Ings has 15 finishing? 

Even FIFA made JWP the best free kick taker in the PL. 

Also how does JWP not have like driven or at least professional for personality? He's known by far to be our best trainer and very professional and hard working in training. 

Edited by tajjuk
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fabrice29

Fabrice29

Posted
Posted

Yeah came in to call out some of the ratings in our squad. As above JWP and Ings underrated. Ings same finishing attribute as Jared Bowen. Long's jumping also poor considering the rest of the squad and league. Also, just the same as last year if you're taking over Southampton the first thing you have to do is turf out the majority of the staff which just seems bonkers. Sort it out MLG.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Yeah came in to call out some of the ratings in our squad. As above JWP and Ings underrated. Ings same finishing attribute as Jared Bowen. Long's jumping also poor considering the rest of the squad and league. Also, just the same as last year if you're taking over Southampton the first thing you have to do is turf out the majority of the staff which just seems bonkers. Sort it out MLG.

Pukki is seems to be a better striker to me than Ings. 

Vardy looks amazing and way better, he has 18 finishing, yet Ings was way more efficient at chances last year and scored more without pens, only has 15? 

The most exciting player in the squad is Salisu and he won't have been done by MLG! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
On 10/11/2020 at 21:40, tajjuk said:

The most exciting player in the squad is Salisu and he won't have been done by MLG! 

Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Jankewitz, Ferry and others all have decent PAs as players and time on their side to develop further.

Edited by Matthew Le God
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
On 10/11/2020 at 20:42, tajjuk said:

16 free kicks for JWP?

Even FIFA made JWP the best free kick taker in the PL. 

Only Bale, De Bruyne and Maddison have higher than 16 in the Premier League! I think Ward-Prowse should be above Maddison, but 16 is not a low rating. If he keeps it up I'll boost him for the winter update.

Edited by Matthew Le God
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 10/11/2020 at 21:40, tajjuk said:

Vardy looks amazing and way better, he has 18 finishing, yet Ings was way more efficient at chances last year and scored more without pens, only has 15? 

Vardy has been a top Premier League striker for the last 5 years. We have a large amount of evidence for him, Ings has had an amazing 12-18 months. I gave Ings a big increase for FM21, if he has another season like last season I'll be able to justify him being even closer to Vardy in CA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
On 10/11/2020 at 21:12, Fabrice29 said:

Ings same finishing attribute as Jared Bowen. 

I'd say that is more a case of Bowen being rated a little too highly!

15 is still a high rating for finishing. It is the same as...

- Sterling

- Bruno Fernandes

- Rashford

Ings will be in line for a boost to his finishing if he returns from injury and keeps performing as he has been until the winter update.

Edited by Matthew Le God
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fabrice29

Fabrice29

Posted
Posted

Any expl

10 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I'd say that is more a case of Bowen being rated a little too highly!

15 is still a high rating for finishing. It is the same as...

- Sterling

- Bruno Fernandes

- Rashford

Ings will be in line for a boost to his finishing if he returns from injury and keeps performing as he has been until the winter update.

He's a proven better finisher than all of those but whatever. More importantly why is the staff so horrific? Having to sack a club legend like Davis doesn't feel great when you start so what's your criteria for judging them?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 minute ago, Fabrice29 said:

He's a proven better finisher than all of those but whatever.

Vardy for example has been a top Premier League striker for the last 5 years. We have a large amount of evidence for him, Ings has had an amazing 12-18 months. I gave Ings a big increase for FM21, if he has another season like last season I'll be able to justify him being even closer to Vardy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fabrice29

Fabrice29

Posted
Posted
Just now, Matthew Le God said:

What about Kelvin Davis' coaching career is particularly notable to warrant a higher rating than he has?

Umm he's a Premier League coach? Fleming as well, been a coach at the club for 5 years working with youngsters and clearly must be pretty good at his job if he's been kept around so long but no, he, Davis and Watson all have to go immediately and seeing as not one of them is on the verge of it in real life, it's not realistic is it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Umm he's a Premier League coach? Fleming as well, been a coach at the club for 5 years working with youngsters and clearly must be pretty good at his job if he's been kept around so long but no, he, Davis and Watson all have to go immediately and seeing as not one of them is on the verge of it in real life, it's not realistic is it?

Have you not seen the amount of stick Davis and Watson get on the main Saints forum? 😃

It isn't easy to judge a coaches' ability, but they haven't really done much that is particularly noteworthy. Were they to leave Saints I doubt a top club would be in for Kelvin Davis as a coach.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fabrice29

Fabrice29

Posted
Posted
Just now, Matthew Le God said:

Have you not seen the amount of stick Davis and Watson get on the main Saints forum? 😃

It isn't easy to judge a coaches' ability, but they haven't really done much that is particularly noteworthy. Were they to leave Saints I doubt a top club would be in for Kelvin Davis as a coach.

 

I'm sure you're asked to grade people on something more than what's the opinion of the main forum and would anyone else be in for him. They've been part of a coaching group that led by the manager has seen drastic improvement over the last 12 months, but nah no improvement in their stats. If only the club had opportunities over the last few years to get rid of these wasters knocking about the coaching staff. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fabrice29

Fabrice29

Posted
Posted

More moaning about staff. We're one of the fittest teams in the league but nope, fitness coach and head of sport science are both horrific on the game. Luckily the lower leagues have much better staff than PL Southampton and you can pick up some decent options down the leagues because the staff we employ are literally stealing a living according to MLG.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 12/11/2020 at 16:47, Matthew Le God said:

Ings has a significantly higher CA than Pukki in FM21.

But worse finishing and composure. (not to mention pace and acceleration)

On 12/11/2020 at 16:49, Matthew Le God said:

Both got a big CA increase for FM21 (particularly Ings). If they keep up their performances until the winter update they'll get another increase.

Ings CA for for FM20 is 146

In FM21 it's 151,

Hardly call that a big increase. 

JWP CA for FM20 is 140,

In FM21 it's 143, he's gone up 3 CA, even though he has been playing the best football of his career and got into the England team.

Whereas someone like Mason Mount has gone from 140 CA in FM20 to 150 in FM21, yet if we look at something like whoscored, Mount got a rating of 6.91 for the 20/21 season and JWP got a 7.19 for his 19/20 season, he also wasn't even that far behind in goals and assists to Mount, even though he played a deeper position and played for a better team.

So someone like Mount gets a CA boost of 10, but JWP only gets 3?

AND JWP has started the season better than Mount, he was voted in BBC players of the season team so far (and is obviously a big part of Saints success).

It makes no sense to me that someone JPW has worse CA than someone like Mount or Maddison for example (who also has 150 CA). 

On 12/11/2020 at 16:58, Matthew Le God said:

Only Bale, De Bruyne and Maddison have higher than 16 in the Premier League! I think Ward-Prowse should be above Maddison, but 16 is not a low rating. If he keeps it up I'll boost him for the winter update.

And he is a better free kick taker than all of those. 

Since records for free kick efficiency began in 2004, no one has scored direct free kicks at higher conversion rate than JWP of players that have taken more than 50 free kicks, so statistically he is the best free kick taker in the PL of the last 15 years.

16 is the same rating as last year and he's clearly become even better at them over the last 12 months. 

Bale for example has 12 free kicks goals in his whole entire career spanning over 500 games (club and international), JWP has 8 in way less games and yet has worse free kick taking.....

Like I said FIFA has him rated as the best PL free tick taker in all stats. 

On 12/11/2020 at 17:00, Matthew Le God said:

Vardy has been a top Premier League striker for the last 5 years. We have a large amount of evidence for him, Ings has had an amazing 12-18 months. I gave Ings a big increase for FM21, if he has another season like last season I'll be able to justify him being even closer to Vardy in CA.

5 years ago Gareth Bale was one of the best players in the game, his CA was in the high 180s, in FM20 that had dropped to 173 and his CA has now dropped to just 156 in FM21, which reflects his drop in performances.

As far as I can tell most people are rated on their last 12 months, Ings has been excellent for the last 18 months. 

Vardy has also been good over that period, hence why he has stayed at the same level. But Ings scored more goals from Vardy in open play and has a better goals from open play per 90 than Vardy does and matched him or exceeded him in every stat going. 

Over the last 18 months Ings has been as good if not better than Vardy, that is just a statistical fact (aside maybe penalty taking), so IRL Saints have a striker performing at the top level, at a level amongst the best strikers in Europe, but people managing Saints in game don't get this player, they get a player level below what he is doing IRL.

FM comes out every year, players get adjusted on their previous seasons, I showed that with Bale and Mount, but you don't seem to have done that for Saints. 

On 12/11/2020 at 17:07, Matthew Le God said:

You need to be pragmatic when being a FM researcher. You can't get away with wearing rose tinted glasses for Saints players, there are a lot of checks and balances we use so fan bias doesn't influence player ratings.

It's not about fan bias, I just showed you statistical objective based evidence and comparisons to how other players are rated in the game. 

Ings and JWP both in the players of the season so far - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54867591

Best PL finishers of last season - https://totalfootballanalysis.com/data-analysis/best-finishers-2019-20-premier-league-data-analysis-statistics

whoscored.com for the performance of Mount and JWP last season. 

^ None of those are biased Saints fans, those are either neutral fans or objective stats.

Either you are being too pragmatic or your fellow researchers are not being as pragmatic.  Statistically and base on non-saints fans opinions you have clearly under rated them. 

Do you really think people would come out and criticise you for 'bias' for example if Ings say had 17 finishing and 16 composure and like 157 CA or JWP had 150 CA with like 18 free kicks? I seriously doubt it. 

------------------------------

I also agree with the other guy on the staff, they are all worthless, you can barely hit 3 stars with some of them, coach ratings are obviously quite hard to judge but none of them are PL ability based on their level in game, you wouldn't even hire them for like League 1 clubs to be honest, there are lots of lower league coaches who are way better. (cos you often have to use those to replace them all!) 

Edited by tajjuk
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, tajjuk said:

Ings CA for for FM20 is 146

In FM21 it's 151,

Hardly call that a big increase. 

JWP CA for FM20 is 140,

In FM21 it's 143, he's gone up 3 CA, even though he has been playing the best football of his career and got into the England team.

Whereas someone like Mason Mount has gone from 140 CA in FM20 to 150 in FM21, yet if we look at something like whoscored, Mount got a rating of 6.91 for the 20/21 season and JWP got a 7.19 for his 19/20 season, he also wasn't even that far behind in goals and assists to Mount, even though he played a deeper position and played for a better team.

So someone like Mount gets a CA boost of 10, but JWP only gets 3?

An increase of 5 CA is not a small amount it is pretty much the guideline increase amount. Mason Mount is starting games for Chelsea and is above Ward-Prowse in the England pecking order. As I've also said, if both JWP and Ings maintain this level they'll get big boosts in the winter update, along with a number of other Saints players like Vestergaard, Romeu and Armstrong.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, tajjuk said:

AND JWP has started the season better than Mount, he was voted in BBC players of the season team so far (and is obviously a big part of Saints success).

It makes no sense to me that someone JPW has worse CA than someone like Mount or Maddison for example (who also has 150 CA). 

That is irrelevant. It will only become relevant when the winter update is done. Which will very likely see Ward-Prowse improve in FM21 database if he keeps up this form. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, tajjuk said:

Do you really think people would come out and criticise you for 'bias' for example if Ings say had 17 finishing and 16 composure and like 157 CA or JWP had 150 CA with like 18 free kicks? I seriously doubt it. 

If they keep up their form, that is likely to be close to what I'll do in the winter update.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, tajjuk said:

FM comes out every year, players get adjusted on their previous seasons, I showed that with Bale and Mount, but you don't seem to have done that for Saints. 

The guidelines we have (which do have some flexibility) have Saints needing an average CA for the top 16 players to be 135. Ings is at the top end for a Saints 'star player' and will very likely be improved in the winter update.

Edited by Matthew Le God
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, tajjuk said:

As far as I can tell most people are rated on their last 12 months, Ings has been excellent for the last 18 months. 

Vardy has also been good over that period, hence why he has stayed at the same level. But Ings scored more goals from Vardy in open play and has a better goals from open play per 90 than Vardy does and matched him or exceeded him in every stat going. 

Over the last 18 months Ings has been as good if not better than Vardy, that is just a statistical fact (aside maybe penalty taking), so IRL Saints have a striker performing at the top level, at a level amongst the best strikers in Europe, but people managing Saints in game don't get this player, they get a player level below what he is doing IRL.

Vardy has been a top Premier League player for 5 years, Ings only for 12-18 months. He is closing in on Vardy's CA with more and more evidence building.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Barsiem

Barsiem

Posted
Posted

I agree with virtually all of your reasonings mlg, but the one I think is definitely wrong is JWP free kicks.  When you consider he has the best conversion rate in the premier league since records began, whic means he’s more effective than bale & Maddison.  He should be at the top

on another point though it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that fm suffers from a big team bias.  Every year Man Utd in particular are amazing, when in real life they are no where near the same level

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 hours ago, Barsiem said:

I agree with virtually all of your reasonings mlg, but the one I think is definitely wrong is JWP free kicks.  When you consider he has the best conversion rate in the premier league since records began, whic means he’s more effective than bale & Maddison.  He should be at the top

I'll be improving Ward-Prowse further for the winter update, including a higher rating for free kicks. Not going to happen before then though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Barsiem

Barsiem

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Not sure if I'm doing really well or whether the game is broke but I have 4 games left and after drafting Long in after an early injury crisis he's currently top PL scorer with 26 goals in 25 games.

Must be a lot of defections in this years game 😂

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 21/11/2020 at 23:07, Fabrice29 said:

Not sure if I'm doing really well or whether the game is broke but I have 4 games left and after drafting Long in after an early injury crisis he's currently top PL scorer with 26 goals in 25 games.

 

23 hours ago, Barsiem said:

Must be a lot of defections in this years game 😂

meryl streep doubts GIF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...