Football Manager 2021 Mobile - Headline Features

[Neil Brock]

Football Manager 2021 Mobile will land on the iOS and Android stores on November 24th.

To get you fully prepared for another successful season ahead, here are this year’s squad additions.

 

YOUR WORLD JUST GOT BIGGER 

There are three brand-new nations for you to test your managerial prowess as we welcome Argentina, Mexico and Canada to the Football Manager Mobile series.

This means there are new divisions to dominate and a fresh pool of players to scout – unearth the gems hiding in those parts of the world. 

 

TOTALLY REVAMPED TACTICS 

Tactics in FM21 Mobile have been finely tuned so you can get the very best out of your squad. Managers now have more tools to play with including a host of renewed tactical templates as well as brand-new player roles. Simply select a tactical style from pre-sets so you can Gegenpress, Tiki-Taka or Route One your way to glory. 

 

Within that tactics, you can now deploy Roaming Playmakers and Inverted Wingers in your team to give you new ways to piece together your tactical masterplan. 

 

This revamp also considers set-pieces, which have been re-defined for the FM21 season. Not only can you assign a list of set-piece takers, but you can now dictate player instructions for both defending and attacking dead-ball scenarios. Get your centre-backs and target men in prime positions to meet the ball in dangerous areas at both ends of the pitch or organise intricate short-corner routines to surprise your opponents. 

 

BRAND NEW PLAYER DYNAMICS 

Squad hierarchy and player social groups give you, the manager, the full picture of your team. Understanding squad dynamics is crucial when controlling player morale and building success as a squad. Learn how your players operate and communicate together to create an atmosphere everyone can develop in. 

 

This new feature is bolstered by the addition of Club Captains. Now you can assign a captain and vice-captain when you walk into the training ground doors on day one. In FM21 Mobile, like in other iterations of FM, the captain’s role is crucial in maintaining a relationship between you and your players. Get the skipper on your side and the dressing room will be a happier place but upset your captain and your team's morale may suffer. You cannot afford to get things wrong with the team's leader.

 

NEW AND IMPROVED INTERACTION 

You now have far more interaction options, including both conversation topics and answers. You’ll be able to speak to players and the media on a whole host of different subjects, giving you the detail you need to control every moment and make decisions in your club’s best interest. 

 

On the other end of these conversations, most commonly, will be players as FM21 has revamped their role in interactions. Players now give far more feedback to the events they experience and will be more vocal – as they are in real life – in reaction to things they admire or are unhappy about. 

FAR MORE DETAIL 

We’ve added new levels of depth across the entire game world.  

FEEDER CLUBS 

Existing affiliate links between elite clubs and feeder clubs now allow those managers to send and receive young players on loan to help aid their development while winning valuable points for the feeder team. FM21 Mobile also allows you to create new affiliate links with feeder clubs so you can build your network in order to secure valuable deals. 

 

ENHANCED NEWS AND MEDIA 

News items and media articles are now much more reactive and responsive to you and your club’s movements. You’ll have the ability to comment on what you see too which can come in handy when you have to defend your player’s poor performances and publicly back your squad. FM21 Mobile blurs the lines slightly between the match action and the media reaction.

CUSTOMISE PRE-SEASON 

FM21 Mobile gives you the ability to arrange your own friendlies. This new level of customisation allows you to test your squad against the very best and work on pre-season sharpness. 

 

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And that’s it, another exciting season of FM21 Mobile awaits with new features that bring you ever closer to the football world you’re creating. 

FM21 Mobile launches on November 24th but you can pre-order now on the Apple App Store or pre-register on the Google Play store to ensure you’re on board for another year. 

Pre Register on Google Play

Pre Order on the App Store

[passenger58]

Wow. What a great list of new features. It's most of the wishlist that regularly does the rounds here. Thanks for the update and well done to the FMM team for putting all this together. Can't wait to play the new edition. 

 

Quick question - has anything been added to address the points often raised about game difficulty and AI competence? 

Edited November 16, 2020 by passenger58

[FMKing20]

Loving the new features for the game and the 3 new nations to manage in you's all have done a great job!

 

Has their been any new leagues added to the existing nations on the game?

[Marc Vaughan]

30 minutes ago, passenger58 said:

Quick question - has anything been added to address the points often raised about game difficulty and AI competence? 

There is ongoing balancing of the AI and such within the game which has happened - it's not really a 'feature' but hopefully the squad balancing for AI teams will be somewhat better this year amongst other things (while at the same time hopefully not making the game impossible for newcomers).

[passenger58]

Thanks, Marc. Looking forward to it. 

[Hildor]

Finally! And some good news, can't wait for it to come out. 

On another note, is there been any change to how manager reputation works? I like to start unemployed journeymen saves and tbh I rarely find any difference between unknown, local or regional, only at national it seems to bring a difference in offers. 

[Marc Vaughan]

14 minutes ago, Hildor said:

On another note, is there been any change to how manager reputation works? I like to start unemployed journeymen saves and tbh I rarely find any difference between unknown, local or regional, only at national it seems to bring a difference in offers. 

In FMM the manager reputation has a fairly big effect - when you take over a club (or sign new players) it partially determines reactions to you and how tolerant people are of your approach.

So if you go in as an unknown at Manchester United expect players to be less patient with you and indeed some might grumble at you being appointed full-stop .... similarly you might find players being a little more pushy for new contracts or it difficult to attract top-flight players because they're not convinced you'll amount to much.

In reverse if you're a big name manager joining a smaller club then you might find yourself indulged more and able to attract bigger name players because of the status you bring to the situation.

I've tried to make this more apparently each iteration - improving the way the news represents this and how it shows up on players profiles etc.

[TheHurricane]

Some nice new features, I like the addition of feeder and parent clubs, this is something I have been hoping to see added.

[DWCallaghan]

My concern is the player / media interactions,  will morale have a big effect like it can in PC version ? Hope not. Tactics and transfers is the backbone of FMM, hope we dont have to spend more time on morale then those.

[Sc0ttzilla]

This is more appealling than fmt now 😍

[Engjell7]

31 minutes ago, Marc Vaughan said:

In FMM the manager reputation has a fairly big effect - when you take over a club (or sign new players) it partially determines reactions to you and how tolerant people are of your approach.

So if you go in as an unknown at Manchester United expect players to be less patient with you and indeed some might grumble at you being appointed full-stop .... similarly you might find players being a little more pushy for new contracts or it difficult to attract top-flight players because they're not convinced you'll amount to much.

In reverse if you're a big name manager joining a smaller club then you might find yourself indulged more and able to attract bigger name players because of the status you bring to the situation.

I've tried to make this more apparently each iteration - improving the way the news represents this and how it shows up on players profiles etc.

Hey Marc i still don’t understand Really is so hard to put option like Manager  Answer press Conference Media before starting match I think this is gonna give team morale before they start playing

 

Ps.I Love New Features...With this have make me forget 3D match engine Lol

Great Job Guys 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Engjell7

[Hildor]

38 minutes ago, Marc Vaughan said:

In FMM the manager reputation has a fairly big effect - when you take over a club (or sign new players) it partially determines reactions to you and how tolerant people are of your approach.

So if you go in as an unknown at Manchester United expect players to be less patient with you and indeed some might grumble at you being appointed full-stop .... similarly you might find players being a little more pushy for new contracts or it difficult to attract top-flight players because they're not convinced you'll amount to much.

In reverse if you're a big name manager joining a smaller club then you might find yourself indulged more and able to attract bigger name players because of the status you bring to the situation.

I've tried to make this more apparently each iteration - improving the way the news represents this and how it shows up on players profiles etc.

Ah yes, but I meant when it comes to job offers. For example, I remember in FMM20, starting unemployed, getting a job at Bastia in French 4th tier, taking then to Europa League and my manager reputation only got to regional, only clubs interested in me where from 3rd and 4th tier. In real life a manager achieving success like that would surely get the attention of top flight clubs. 

I did a lot of unknown rep saves and find that, until you get to national rep, first tier clubs are pretty much oblivious to your existence.

Manager rep seems to work as you described when taking a club from the start but when it comes to journeyman saves it seems a bit unrealistic, but I'll surely test it heavily in the 21 edition

Edited November 16, 2020 by Hildor

[Marc Vaughan]

18 minutes ago, Hildor said:

I did a lot of unknown rep saves and find that, until you get to national rep, first tier clubs are pretty much oblivious to your existence.

In all honesty I can't say 100% what improvements are like in this regard - there have been some tweaks done, but in my own gameplay I tend to be a one team manager so I'm reliant on feedback in this regard.

If you find there are any issues you want addressed there is an 'in-app' feature now where you can send us feedback (and a save game) so you can help us help you by tweaking things

[mnpjam]

Are you thinking of surprise? 😁 Any innovations that you did not explain?  

[AndrewDriverNo1]

Wow 🤩 the new features look incredible.

Have there been any updates to the in game editor this year? Considering it’s the same price as the game it hasn’t been touched / improved for a number of years now.... 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Hildor]

10 minutes ago, Marc Vaughan said:

In all honesty I can't say 100% what improvements are like in this regard - there have been some tweaks done, but in my own gameplay I tend to be a one team manager so I'm reliant on feedback in this regard.

If you find there are any issues you want addressed there is an 'in-app' feature now where you can send us feedback (and a save game) so you can help us help you by tweaking things

Oh really? I'll surely use that, already planned my first unknown rep unemployed save, so I'll be testing it from the start 😉

[SaintPaul]

1 hour ago, Sc0ttzilla said:

This is more appealling than fmt now 😍

I thought the same. Player interaction looks to be far more in depth on fmm. It looks like the best parts of FMT have been included 

[Johnny Ace]

Think I'll pick this up this year, my work PC's too crap to play the full game 

[TheHurricane]

Will the new tactical and set peace features only be in the EME or will they be available to use the OME as well.

Also can you hand control of arranging pre-season friendlies over to your assistant if you dont wish to be prompted to set them up at the start of each season.

[Marc Vaughan]

3 hours ago, TheHurricane said:

Will the new tactical and set peace features only be in the EME or will they be available to use the OME as well.

Also can you hand control of arranging pre-season friendlies over to your assistant if you dont wish to be prompted to set them up at the start of each season.

New UI is present on all match engines - however the detailed instructions are EME only.

The friendlies will pre-arrange same as always - just now you can cancel and arrange different ones if you prefer.

The idea of ALL features in the mobile game are to NOT slow down the gameplay, but to add options and enjoyment for people who are interested in them.

[Hitesh]

Liking the new features, looking forward to playing this!

[Hitesh]

@Marc Vaughan / @Neil Brock any news on pricing?

[Alari Naylor]

Pricing remains unchanged at £8.99/$8.99/€9.99 except for in territories where Apple has changed their tier pricing (these changes will be mirrored for Android).

[Footix]

Impressive! 

If only I could play this on my PC! Lads, any chance of a Windows port? 

 

[WolfMaster]

Hi any news about match engine? Will you touch him? Thx

[truereddevil92]

Really excited about all the new features but slightly disappointed that you can't select more than 4 playable nations at the start.

[Marc Vaughan]

1 minute ago, truereddevil92 said:

Really excited about all the new features but slightly disappointed that you can't select more than 4 playable nations at the start.

There are lots of technical reasons why we're restricted to 4 nations at present - as older devices 'age out' it is possible this might increase in the future*, but we obviously want as many people as possible to be able to play the game.

*ie. not this years game, but perhaps a future version.

[truereddevil92]

2 hours ago, Marc Vaughan said:

There are lots of technical reasons why we're restricted to 4 nations at present - as older devices 'age out' it is possible this might increase in the future*, but we obviously want as many people as possible to be able to play the game.

*ie. not this years game, but perhaps a future version.

Completely understand. I'll be buying it every year so I look forward to it when it happens. 

Just looking forward to the release of Football Manager 2021 Xbox Edition now. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by truereddevil92

[corinthiano]

The new features look excellent, looking forward to trying out the new tactics!

I stopped playing FM a few years ago due to not having enough time and "re-discovered" it through FMM this year. It suits me perfectly and I love the the fact I can just pick it up and play whenever.

Really excited to play the new version, especially being able to play in the Libertadores!

[Zoot]

A dreams come true the only thing missing is Serbian league Lets not wait 24th release the game tomorrow!!!!

[casperzwaart100]

This is incredible! Far better than I expected 

Did there anything change about the filosophy's of the team, for example Wolves with Portuguese players and Ajax with young players?

[Marc Vaughan]

9 minutes ago, casperzwaart100 said:

Did there anything change about the filosophy's of the team, for example Wolves with Portuguese players and Ajax with young players?

At present no - although the manager in charge of a team will obviously be biased by his knowledge and nationality (so an Italian manager may sign more Italian players etc.).

Language skills are present in FMM for the first time this year also which obviously affects such things also (its an important part of the squad dynamics as its harder to be friends with someone if you can't speak to them after all ).

[casperzwaart100]

45 minutes ago, Marc Vaughan said:

At present no - although the manager in charge of a team will obviously be biased by his knowledge and nationality (so an Italian manager may sign more Italian players etc.).

Language skills are present in FMM for the first time this year also which obviously affects such things also (its an important part of the squad dynamics as its harder to be friends with someone if you can't speak to them after all ).

Oh thats great too!

Las question, have the unlockeables changed? Like the editor and the challenges you can buy

[Hildor]

56 minutes ago, Marc Vaughan said:

At present no - although the manager in charge of a team will obviously be biased by his knowledge and nationality (so an Italian manager may sign more Italian players etc.).

Language skills are present in FMM for the first time this year also which obviously affects such things also (its an important part of the squad dynamics as its harder to be friends with someone if you can't speak to them after all ).

Interesting. Will the language skills affect the country you get job offers from? Will we be able to choose the spoken languages in manager profile? 

[passenger58]

Are there any plans to introduce a new unlockable that would allow us to disable the mandatory Minimum Fee Release Clause in Spain?

While I get that it is imitating real life, I'm not a big fan of this rule and would like the option of disabling it the way that things like transfer windows and work permit restrictions can be disabled via unlockables. 

Thanks

[Marc Vaughan]

2 minutes ago, passenger58 said:

Are there any plans to introduce a new unlockable that would allow us to disable the mandatory Minimum Fee Release Clause in Spain?

While I get that it is imitating real life, I'm not a big fan of this rule and would like the option of disabling it the way that things like transfer windows and work permit restrictions can be disabled via unlockables. 

Thanks

Not at present - not least because ... err ... up until now no one had suggested it

(I'll add it to my list of things to consider for the future, it's on page 82 )

[Marc Vaughan]

5 minutes ago, Hildor said:

Interesting. Will the language skills affect the country you get job offers from? Will we be able to choose the spoken languages in manager profile? 

At present no - the human manager is presumed to be multilingual and it doesn't adversely affect your job offers etc.

(this is purely because it'd be frustrating otherwise and I could see it being a 'pain' trying to input languages at game startup on small screen devices etc. ... players will start with their expected known languages however and learn them going forward)

[MrManagerMan]

I play all three versions and these new features for FMM look great. Last years game I thought was excellent. These features have again taken it up a notch - Hopefully whilst still remaining quick to play. 

[passenger58]

1 hour ago, Marc Vaughan said:

Not at present - not least because ... err ... up until now no one had suggested it

(I'll add it to my list of things to consider for the future, it's on page 82 )

Haha. Fair enough. I've been stung in the past by losing talented, young players whose values have suddenly shot up so I haven't noticed their clause is too low. Irritates me to the point that I very rarely play as a Spanish club these days. 

[Marc Vaughan]

2 hours ago, MrManagerMan said:

I play all three versions and these new features for FMM look great. Last years game I thought was excellent. These features have again taken it up a notch - Hopefully whilst still remaining quick to play. 

As is always the case with the mobile game - all the features are designed to not slow the game down and allow for speedy play, you CAN browse its depth if you want to and perhaps gain a slight advantage from doing so ... but its not needed in order to enjoy the product.

(and most of the features are designed to be 'brought' to you when its appropriate to do so, ie. interaction via. news items etc.)

[Sc0ttzilla]

Is XG in this like the others?

[Marc Vaughan]

1 hour ago, Sc0ttzilla said:

Is XG in this like the others?

xG isn't in Football Manager Mobile at this time, perhaps next year if it proves popular in the other products ... but I think the features we chose to implement work well in the game and add to the gameplay without slowing down the speed of play (which is vital for a mobile product).

[Alper Kocman]

Add past meetings menu please ❤️ Very important 👍🏻👍🏻

[Sc0ttzilla]

25 minutes ago, Marc Vaughan said:

xG isn't in Football Manager Mobile at this time, perhaps next year if it proves popular in the other products ... but I think the features we chose to implement work well in the game and add to the gameplay without slowing down the speed of play (which is vital for a mobile product).

Fair enough!

[Marc Vaughan]

30 minutes ago, Alper Kocman said:

Add past meetings menu please ❤️ Very important 👍🏻👍🏻

This isn't in the mobile game at the moment because it'd be a memory/space hog and we support as wide a range of devices as possible (as older devices go obsolete it will eventually be possible to add things like this in).

[Engjell7]

Hey Marc

Seriosly really was hard work to add Option Of Talking On Media Before Every Matched Started...Im 100% that not will cost anything that Every Match Be in Conference Of Media 

1:This will encourage Team Before Match Started,and will push them to Play hard in every march

2.Morale that Every Player will need to Grow for Good words that say for them in Media

U can add 10 or 15 options that manager answer questions of media this will not coast or slowing database im pretty sure

I really hope that you and your staff take this argument as a basis and to get an answer for that.

 

 

[AndrewDriverNo1]

On 16/11/2020 at 21:18, AndrewDriverNo1 said:

Wow 🤩 the new features look incredible.

Have there been any updates to the in game editor this year? Considering it’s the same price as the game it hasn’t been touched / improved for a number of years now.... 🤷🏻‍♂️

Since this is the only comment that’s been ignored I assume once again there’s been no improvements to the editor.... :/ 

[Marc Vaughan]

43 minutes ago, Engjell7 said:

Seriosly really was hard work to add Option Of Talking On Media Before Every Matched Started...Im 100% that not will cost anything that Every Match Be in Conference Of Media 

There will never be pre-match press conferences before every match in Football Manager Mobile - that would slow down the gameplay too much and can get very repetitive imho, as such I don't think that style of play suits the mobile game.

It is possible that at some point in the future (FMM22, 23, whatever) we might have such things for important matches - but if that happens then they will work differently to the PC title (in a similar manner to how the dynamics in FMM is designed to be more intuitive and easier to understand than the PC products arguably is).

[Papacino]

Great game but there are a couple of things I hope have been addressed.

Can we expect the AI to improve this year from a transfer/team building perspective ? I’ve seen others say, and I agree, that after a couple of years the quality of opposition tends to fall as they don’t replace their best ageing or sold players with similar quality. 
 

Also, I feel it’s far too easy to accelerate the financial power of sides by selling players for big fees and then tweaking budgets to dramatically increase your wage budget allowing you to shop in a much more expensive market. I think the impact of increasing wage budget when reducing transfer budget should be reduced. In real life if Southampton sell a few players for £40m over the years it doesn’t mean they start building a squad with Man United level wages but in the game it’s not far off that impact. 

[Mosalahman]

Really attractive looking features. Just hope the opposition manager's AI can finally compete instead of self distruction