Football Manager is a series that most football fans have dipped their toes in to at least once. In the past few years I have tried some of the lighter versions of the game on mobile devices and the PlayStation Vita and although I had fun I was always left wanting more. The last full version of the game I have played was back in 2009 and since then surely quite a lot has changed? Apparently it has not. Everything felt fairly familiar despite the six year gap, but this was not a bad thing. You see six years ago I spent over 500 hours playing Football Manager 2009. If you think that sounds like a lot then you’ll be shocked to know that, compared to most my friends, my time put in is fairly small. 2009 was the first introduction of the 3D match engine.

Its debut looked basic, but as an introduction to a new feature it’s easy to cut it some slack. The fact that graphically it still looks rather basic in Football Manager 2016 is disappointing. Its animations are better and it looks a bit slicker, but it still lacks the polish you’d imagine the game to have in 2015. The game engine however, thanks to the increased animations, does make key highlights more interesting, but the engine definitely needs a boost next year.

The 3D match mode is not, however, the thing that people really care about with Football Manager. The introduction of creating your own manager to be at pitch side tries to make it more interesting but, due to the issues previously mentioned, it doesn’t really add anything great. It’s also very limited in what you can do to try to make it look like you, meaning that it will almost definitely not look like you.

It’s the databases and managing of clubs that people love the game for. It’s all about being able to make a dream team. For my review that is exactly what I looked to do as I took over Arsenal. I wanted to see what would happen if I signed defensive midfield cover and a new striker. The two things all Arsenal fans have been shouting for, for the last few seasons.

My Arsenal team had Wenger as a director of football, who suggested some good options to sign. I didn’t have to make him my director of football, but it seemed like the kind of delegation that would make things easier. Also it’s always smart to not rock the boat too much. Delegating is one of the ways you can help ease yourself in to the game. If you’re not in the mood for team talks and press conferences you can get your assistant manager to take them. You can even delegate contract renewals and team meetings, meaning all you really have to do is pick the best tactics.

For my review I delegated some of the basic things, such as youth contracts and occasionally my team talks, but for the most part I was fairly hands-on. Wenger recommended I signed Gonzalo Higuain and that was my first bit of transfer business, taking a whopping £45m of my transfer budget. With transfer deadline day drawing nearer I struggled to find the answer for my defensive midfield options.

I could’ve done the usual “buy a player we were linked to in the transfer window” tactic but instead I looked at the few players my scouts had found so far. Clubs were after Flamini, but I didn’t want to let him go before I found a replacement. In the end I found two which benefitted my wage bill well and the situation I had with Santi Cazorla injured for the first 6 weeks of the season.

These transfer signings were the first of several big decisions of a season that saw Arsenal win three trophies. Higuain took his time to fit in, but then went on to score over 35 goals in his debut season in all competitions. My main defensive midfield cover Neustadter provided adequate cover for Francis Coquelin, whilst my budget midfielder Jose Canas provided depth in midfield when called upon.

My season seemed very Arsenal like in places, with important players picking up injuries at the worst times. I went in to the second leg of my quarter final of the Champions League against Barcelona at the Nou Camp with a 3-2 lead. My only striker that was a not match was fit Danny Welbeck. The fact he scored the only goal of the game in a tense affair made my desperate gamble all the sweeter.

 

This was all in a week that saw me finally cement my place at the top of the table. The tail end of the season was benefitted by the return of the long term injured Wilshere and Welbeck coming back at just the right time. It married up perfectly with the final push and Arsenal won a treble of the Carling Cup, Premier League and Champions League. The main fun may come from taking over a smaller team and making them great, but there’s still enjoyment there in making your favourite team win some silverware.

It’s in these moments of fantasy that Football Manager 16 delivers like it does every year. Seeing your best laid plans come to fruition is wonderful. If you have enjoyed previous Football Manager games then you’ll enjoy this. It’s more of the same, which isn’t a bad thing, but does mean people that bought Football Manager 15 might feel that the differences don’t warrant investing in the new game. There are changes and some slightly tweaked modes, but ultimately all of it still feels like something you’ve played before.

You can see a picture diary of my season in charge of Arsenal below.

Football Manager 2016 – An Arsenal Story

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