Football Manager 2021

Welcome to the Football Manager™ 2021 Manual. It is designed to help familiarise you with the key areas of the game, to make you feel more comfortable as you get to grips with each module, and to hopefully be informative and educational. There are questions posed throughout that are answered to hopefully directly address any issues you might encounter or any queries you might have in your quest for glory. It is intended to appeal to the entire spectrum of football managers, from novice

Overview and Status Flags It’s a simple fact that to be successful, you need the right players. That’s not to say you need the best players, but identifying the necessary players to suit your plans is of paramount importance. Whenever a person – player or non-player – appears in a list, they have a small circle with a silhouette or a profile photo. This is the ‘Information’ pop-up. Clicking it (or hovering over it, depending on your Preferences selection) displays a small box with

Overview Each week is devoted to focusing on a particular tactic and is scheduled around the number of fixtures to be played in that seven-day period. In a typical week with one match on a Saturday, each day typically has two Sessions, with scope for an Extra Session, depending on the overall Intensity, designed to take into account for the workload each player is undertaking. Training can be handled in as much or as little depth as you want: -          It can be handled entirely

Tactical Templates To assist you in setting up the basic framework of a tactic, a host of templates are provided for you to use as a foundation for the way you want to play. Each tactical template sets a series of team and player instructions geared towards a particular style of play; once you’ve picked the one that best suits your plans (the textual descriptions on screen will help guide your choice), have a look at the various instructions set as a result to better understand what’s going

The Staff Responsibilities menu allows you to specify which members of your backroom staff are designated to carry out specific roles to do with the day-to-day running of your club. They can help take significant weight off your shoulders and allow you to get on with enjoying the things you love most about being a football manager. The ‘Responsibilities’ screen displays everything you’re currently responsible for. Here, each responsibility is described alongside the person delegated with th

Scouting Centre This is the hub of your activity and the singular reference point to return to for all your scouting and player identification business. Everything begins with the choices you make from the bar at the top of the main screen area. Scouting Responsibility: This allows you to either take charge of things yourself or delegate them to a chosen member of your backroom staff. If delegated, scouting assignments are handled automatically, otherwise you get to decide. You can sti

Good financial management is imperative. Your Board expects and demands it. You can be successful on the pitch but if your finances are in a perilous state you’ll be heading down a troublesome road that many teams struggle to come back from. Furthermore, with ‘fair play’ rules and restrictions coming into effect in more and more competitions, it is imperative to have a firm grasp on the club’s fiscal responsibilities. Basic Finances These options largely deal with the day-to-day financ

The League/Competition screen holds all the important information and links that you need to check regularly if you are to be successful. Keeping up to date on the very latest information from your opponents is a massive factor, and Football Manager™ 2021 allows you to do this in many ways. The sections described below are all found from the tabs menu on any league or competition screen. They are also accessible from the competitions screen, which can be found on the Side Bar (containing details

Profile The Club Profile screen gives you a simple and quick look at the club’s key information. Club Details, League History, Employees, recent Results, Kits, Stadium information and Club information are all present and displayed for your perusal. These also all apply to international teams. General The General screen expands on the Club Profile information and shows more detail, including the team’s Legends, Icons and Favoured Personnel. News The News section is a

So, with everything covered up to this point, it’s probably time to play a match. Pre-Match Staff Meeting The Pre-Match staff meeting is the last chance to go over everything in-depth before kick-off. Your backroom team provide an opposition report that includes the expected line-up you’re set to face, and key tactical advice for the match ahead. Team Selection If you haven’t settled on your team selection by match day, this is your final chance to put your plans into action.

Advanced Game Setup If you want to have greater control about the setup of your new career, and include several more leagues than the Quick Start setup allows, then you should use the Advanced Setup option. Rather than selecting a team and getting into your career as quickly as possible, you can tweak and tailor things to your exact requirements here. The ‘Add/Remove Leagues’ button is the nominal starting point; this is where you can choose the nations represented in your career. Upon

Having installed and launched Football Manager™ 2021, you’ll understandably want to get stuck right in to a new game. The very first thing you need to do, however, is create your Manager Profile. Creating a Manager Profile The very first thing you’ll do upon starting Football Manager™ 2021 is create your managerial profile. The first section concerns your biographical details, then you’ll move on to tailoring your physical appearance. Don’t forget to add your social media credenti

Football Manager™ 2021’s interface has been designed to ensure that playing the game is as easy as possible. The following is a glossary to help explain some of the terms referred to in this manual that appear frequently in the game. Let’s begin with a short explanation on the two main control methods. Control Methods Left Clicking: Left clicking is the primary method of navigating around the majority of computer applications and Football Manager™ 2021 is no different. In simple t

If you’re new to football, new to Football Manager™, or just fancy a little bit of a refresher on some core game principles and information, this section should provide some assistance on how best to go about your managerial career. It also contains information about some of the more complicated leagues available to manage in as well as a glossary of terms that you’re likely to encounter as you play. Beginner’s Guide Welcome to Football Manager™ 2021! We’ve created a beginner’s guide t

Football Manager™ 2021 features a number of leagues which, for many reasons, can be complicated and perhaps rather daunting for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of their individual rules and structures. Below is a beginner’s guide on how things work in some of the more complicated examples. (Please note: all specific league rules are available from the ‘Rules’ sub-tab on the competition screen. The information provided here is intended to offer a brief and clear overview of how things

Profile As a manager, you have a profile in the same way as all players and staff have a profile. Your managerial attributes are displayed on the ‘Profile’ panel from the ‘My Profile’ tab. Your profile is directly impacted by the decisions you make as manager. It also features eight characteristics, in addition to the coaching attributes found on every non-player. Those characteristics are as follows: Reputation A nice and simple one; the higher the rating, the more you’re kn

Inbox Your Inbox is the main hub of your game world. All important information relating directly to you or any part of your club arrives here in the form of a news item. How do I know what’s important and what isn’t? As a basic rule of thumb, anything that comes to your Inbox should be considered important, as it’s always going to concern you or your job as manager. However, there are some items that are more important than others, and these are indicated to you with a red accent

Squad and Team Report You’ll spend much of your time poring over the Squad screen as you look to develop and mould a group of individual players into a finely tuned machine capable of success. It’s therefore worth familiarising yourself with this particular screen, and the screens associated with it. The Team Report is the best way to take both an at-a-glance look and a detailed study of the players available to you. It is a comprehensive breakdown of your squad from top to bottom, wit

The Development Centre is your one-stop shop for making sure you’re fully informed about the future of your club. It is a hub of activity that lets you know exactly how the youngsters at your club are developing and leaves you wanting for nothing in your efforts to develop the next star player for the first team. If you are in charge of one of your club’s youth teams, that squad appears on the Side Bar in its own section, but if not, you only see the Development Centre. Overview T