Like Football Manager 2015 on Facebook
Last week lads from SI posted a video on YouTube with some of the new features for the latest Football Manager, here are our picks of the top features released.
Lots of changes are awaiting us with the newest release of Football Manager compared to the previous versions of the game. We got a brief insight on how FM15 will look and feel, so let's take a closer look at the top features that caught our eye.
[next]
New User Interface
This is one of the main things when it comes to new features regarding FM15. A new look and feel to the user interface with a left-hand navigation bar makes management easier and more intuitive.
This new user interface is a departure from old, and whilst there is a sidebar, all of the key panels are now located there, which means smaller and more section dropdown menus for each area of the game.
Some things that we're already in the game, but we're hidden from us, will now be more easier to navigate from the sidebar.
[next]
Tracksuit Manager
This is probably the best new feature that will be added to Football Manager 2015. No one has the same style of managing club and players, and with this new feature you will be able to define your managerial style.
At the start of the game you will be able to chose are you more of a tracksuit manager or tactical manager, or maybe a combination of the two styles. This will be done using new manager points system. You can add more points to the areas you feel are more suitable for your management style, and also reduce in the areas that don't reflect your style so well.
If you want to be on a training ground more, then a tracksuit style is for you. But if you want your players respect of the training ground and to get them learning quicker your tactical ideas, then tactical manager will suite you more.
You can also define what coaching badges you have, and can update them during the game.
In FM15, you will truly be able to manage your way!
[next]
Match Engine
Match engine has gone it's biggest facelift since introducing 3D back with Football Manager 2009. A major part of this is the addition of brand new cutting-edge motion capture data, which helps breathe new life into matchday experience and takes it to the next level of realism.
There are over 2.000 new or replaced animations included in FM15. You will see more technical kicks and for the first time you'll see players using different parts of the foot to make passes, or control the ball, such as the inside or outside of their foot, and much much more...
There's a wealth of major enhancements and subtle touches, that help make the stadiums in FM15 look more vibrant and varied. For a start, there are many more designs of stadiums including curved stadiums and ruffles stadiums as you might see in South America and parts of Europe.
[next]
Four Brand New Player Roles
To start with, central and defensive midfielders can now be given a roaming playmaker role, designed for a versatile midfielder who can split their duties between a deep-lying and advanced playmaker.
Wingers can also now be instructed to play as a raumdeuter, a sort of wider poacher duty, suitable for players who you want to operate on the peripheral of build-up play.
Third new role is the inverted wing back. Rather than staying glued to the touchline when moving forward, players playing this role will cut inside and make runs through the centre of the pitch either dragging defenders inside or opening up a shooting chance.
Finally if you’re looking to get the best out of a creative wide player who likes to roam across the pitch. The new wide playmaker role may be ideal for you, this new role affords winger the freedom to drift inside, and find space to create from a more central position, giving them more options to try and find that crucial killer pass.
[next]
New Player Preferred Moves (PPM's)
There are also some new player preferred moves (PPM's) in the game. For example, for strikers who prefer to do the majority of their work in the penalty box, rather than dropping deep or roaming to the sides to pick up the ball, we'll now have the penalty box PPM.
Other new PPM's are refrains from shooting from distance, and for goalkeepers likes to throw the ball long to start counter attacks. These new and other updated PPM's have been added to enhance the realism and variation between different players throughout the database.
[next]
Scouting and Player Search
Aim for scouting at FM15 was to make it more effective and to reflect how real-life clubs operate their scouting networks. Think of the scouting network now as the one-stop place to find players.
Scouting has been integrated more closely with the player-search function for example. Also, there is a new way to set up scouting assignments with an addition focus on what you're actually looking for rather than the standard location scouting.
Searching for players and searching in general in FM15 has been made quicker thanks to the introduction of the search bar at the top of the screen. This works in a similar way to an internet browser. Just type in what you want to look for, and a scrollable list of results matching your query will be displayed onto the search bar. Simply click on the result you were searching for and you'll be taken to that page.
There are new categories to search for as well, such as being able to search for players who are unhappy in their current club and you can now search for home-grown players at any club too.
[next]
Player Interaction
Players can now speak to their manager about a range of worries they might have. It could be concerns regarding the club such as financial trouble or more personal problems such as rumors of a new player coming to the club who plays in their position or when you sign a player and what it means to their future.
If they're considering a move away from the club on a free transfer at the end of their contract, you can talk to the player and ask them to reconsider that decision and if they feel you can offer the terms they're looking for, maybe they'll change their mind.
Another new addition to this area of the game is the ability to talk to a group of players about the same issue. For example, if several players are concerned about the club's financial position, you can appease them all together rather than having separate conversations on the same subject.
Allies within the dressing room can now express their concerns for the way you've dealt with their teammates and there are entirely new group and happiness meetings to address the concerns of multiple players at once.
[next]
Press Conferences
The media within the game is deeper than ever with a wider variety of news stories, lines of questioning and a greater focus on building media rivalries between managers.
Media types have been split in tabloids and broadsheet journalists which provides a great mix of media interaction styles. Tabloid journalists will come to you looking for their next big headline to get fans talking, whereas the broadsheets will talk to you more about things like your tactical approach to games and a more analytical side of football.
Brand new to this year is the introduction of tunnel and training ground interviews. Just like in reality, managers can now be stopped pre or post match for a few questions in the tunnel to get that thoughts on the match. Likewise you can be stopped outside the training ground for an on-the-spot question as well.[next]
Finances
FM15 is fully up to date with all the latest financial changes to football. With financial fair play being such a big talking point in football at present, game directors made sure the game's database is fully updated with all the new regulations and calculations. You will now also be notified of your FFP obligations in your initial meeting with the board, making it much clearer exactly what is required of you from a financial perspective when you start your career.
Also in FM15 the next season's wage budget is announced to you in advance, so you can plan your dealing well ahead of the start of the new campaign as the board intelligence has been improved in many areas. When attempting to sign players for the new season, the proposed new wage budget will be used and the players' wages with expiring contracts you have no intention of renewing will not be counted as part of your wage total leaving spare wages with which you can sign new players.[next]
Manager Profile
Improvements have been made to the manager history and manager profile areas of the game, allowing you to define your preferences and keep tabs on the successes of rival managers.
The revamped cup history provides you with the ability to compare yourself against your predecessors at the club, so you can see exactly how big the shoes you're fitting are.
It's also clearer to see how long managers last at the top on average, so you can see whether you're joining a club where the axes wielded on an annual basis or whether the chairman is likely to give you time to settle.
Now when setting up your manager profile, you have many more options to define new managerial preferences. You can specify multiple languages that you speak, likewise you can select more than one favourite club.
The way you play will be a talking point in the press and will be another deciding factor into whether you fit a team's ethos and should be considered for a management position at the club. With this in mind, you can now specify your favourite formations whether that'd be a classic 4-4-2 or something more a little bit more customized.
[next]
Job Interviews
This year we are introduced with a whole host of new discussion topics that make these interviews much more varied, such as; playing experience, employment history and how your career is panned out up until the time of the interview.
For example, if you're currently managing in League Two and you're invited for an interview for a Championship job you may be asked why you're looking to leave your current position and if you're ready to take such a large step up the leagues.
The further into your career you play, the more detailed and differentiated these interviews will become as clubs and chairmen will be eager to discuss past experiences such as promotions, relegations, and your track record in the transfer market.
All of these new variations to the interviews are intended to give each one a completely different feel and present you with more opportunities to impress the board providing your own unique immersive management experience.
[next]
Training
In FM15, you will be able to train a player in a specific mentality. For example, you can now specify that a player should be training as an advanced playmaker with either a support or attack mentality, depending on which you prefer to play him as. Of course if you prefer to train them more generally in the role, you can still do this too.
And it's not just the full-time professionals who will benefit from this year's changes to training, semi-pro and amateur training is now more realistic than ever, working with a more flexible schedule that takes into account on which day teams have matches and holding sessions in the build up accordingly.
Also there are three new coaching styles; technical, tactical and mental, which can now be set in the data for all staff members and will create more diversity between the different coaches and the game.
Coaches who prefer the new technical style will be mainly concerned with the individual techniques of the game such as dribbling, finishing or ball control, while the tactical style is for coaches who excel in developing tactically aware players. And the mental style is for those who focus more on improving a player's mental attributes and qualities. Of course if you choose to be a tracksuit manager, you'll be on the training ground yourself as part of the coaching team.
[next]
Movember
