Football Manager 2021 Review: 9 Ups And 3 Downs

Ups...

9. Sleeker Matchday Interface

Football Manager 2021
SEGA

With a new interface at play, Football Manager 2021 looks absolutely glorious.

The in-game screen has so much more to tinker with, with Sports Interactive making it a far easier, smoother, sleeker process to make any changes to your side during a match. The bottom of the match setup has your starting XI detailed, with a heart representing each of your players' fitness, while a simple click here opens up a pop-up menu where you can make quick, sharp changes - be that to a player's role, to barking instructions at them, or even making a substitute.

Alongside that element of the interface, there's also more stats, numbers, and graphs than you can shake a stick at - all available to see while a match is simultaneously ongoing.

All in all, these small tweaks and updates make Football Manager 2021 feel more accessible than its predecessors. Let's face it, said predecessors didn't need a major overhaul on this front - it's more that FM21 has just made a few choice edits that have taken the enjoyment of previous games and updated it in a fresh, positive way.

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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.