Football Manager 2021 Review: 9 Ups And 3 Downs

1. Injury Crisis, Ahoy!

Football Manager 2021
SEGA

Not to sound like a miffed Liverpool fan whose club is clearly the only team in the history of football to experience an injury crisis, but the injuries soon pile up on Football Manager 2021.

It may just have been a blip or it may even be a niggle that will be fixed when FM21 gets a full roll-out later this month, but a first run on this year's FM saw a ludicrous number of injuries pile up by the January transfer window. And not just squad players or youth players, instead I was left in bewilderment after my star striker (Dominic Calvert-Lewin), main creative outlets (Richarlison and David Neres), midfield general (Allan), defensive rock (Mason Holgate), vice-captain (Lucas Digne), and major right-back prospect (Gonzalo Montiel) all had big injuries at the same time.

As mentioned, this may hopefully be just a one-off and not a direct indicator of what to expect as you continue to make your way through Football Manager 2021. For now though, I'll just grin and bear the piling injuries that have started to derail my title challenge. Seriously, it's fine, honest, no biggie, not a problem, and I didn't shed a frustrated tear at back-to-back humiliations courtesy of Crystal Palace and Aston Villa...

Advertisement
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.