Football Manager 2021 Review: 9 Ups And 3 Downs

2. VAR

Playing Football Manager 2021 can be a truly fist-chewing, desk-thumping, rant-shouting experience - and a good part of that is down the game's use of VAR.

To the credit of Sports Interactive, they have absolutely nailed VAR. The whole concept of a video referee scrutinising the biggest calls of a match is something that has tarnished the beautiful game for many football fans, and this system has now been implemented in FM.

It's maybe a little tough to truly rate this as a Down, for SI has managed to perfectly encapsulate the emotion and oft-annoyance drummed up by VAR

Likewise, another sad reality that FM has delivered is the impending Brexit that's on the horizon, which in football terms means restrictions on foreign players for English clubs. By the time of early 2021, players may have to change their approach or even their playing squad once Brexit arrives.

Again though, it's hard to really label either VAR or Brexit as a negative, for it's merely Football Manager mirroring the real world. That still doesn't make both VAR and Brexit a massive pain in the backside for players, though.