Football Manager 2024 preview: Five star potential

It’s almost time to get suited and booted, as the latest tale in the Football Manager saga, FM24, is on the horizon.

Detailed by developers Sports Interactive as a "love letter to football", FM24’s improvements may come as a surprise to fans of the series. Back in June 2023, Miles Jacobson, Studio Director, detailed the roadmap and plans for Football Manager moving forward. This includes a switch of game engines to Unity, as well as the introduction of the Women's League in the game for Football Manager 2025.

While feature-rich, it could be construed that all the eggs will be in the 2025 basket, but that’s not the case. In the same blog, it was also claimed that FM24 will be "the most complete version of Football Manager", and that may well just be the case.

We got hands-on with Football Manager 2024 at Sports Interactive's London office to see what it’s all about, as well as an interview with Miles Jacobson, which you can read here.

A tycoon takeover

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The feature roadmap for FM24 has been strong, to say the least. The best way to describe it is like Jude Bellingham joining Real Madrid. It’s a quality team with all the right parts, with an extra added bit of flavour that you might not need, but definitely want.

One of which is a smarter AI when it comes to transfers. They’ll now be more calculated in their decisions. While not playable in the game, a flurry of Saudi Pro league deals were on the table from our playthrough, with a few from Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq appearing in the news sections.

AI managers are also “now better geared up to recognise imbalances in their squad make-up and will take their tactical style into consideration much more when shortlisting players”. While not looking to sign four left-backs with only one recognised Striker, it does, in essence, make saves harder, and more competitive to sign quality players or wonderkids.

While not easily noticeable, FFP will be even stricter in your games when it comes to budgets, possibly even putting you in the red in an attempt to recoup money.

From a club operation standpoint, there are many new smaller features on offer, and the more that you dig into them, the more you’ll find.

A new, or old, start…

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As announced in the previously mentioned post, for the first time, FM24 introduces cross-game compatibility, meaning you can pick up your FM23 save and port it right on over. Fans that like to take over a long-term save can not only find themselves tackling for a full year, with it confirmed by SEGA that there'll be no limitations besides achievement progress - Jacobson even said in an interview with us that it’s the biggest feature for die-hard FM fans.

It’s not only the old that has a new way to play, as FM24 now introduces additional game modes. There’s the ‘original’, where you start a classic FM save with all real-life transfers completed no matter when or where you start. Now, though, there are two new ways to begin.

When starting a new save, you’ll be met with ‘Your world’ and ‘Real world’, and I tried out the latter. 'Real world' lines up the most realistic Football Manager experience, with you starting your career exactly how the transfers and commotion of the window took place, meaning if you start on June 20th, all transfers as of that date have happened, and as you progress, all the transfers that will happen, happens.

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If you’re Chelsea, Cole Palmer will join on the final day of the window, while Romeo Lavia will, in game, join on the 18th of August, and it's a very well-executed concept.

One minor gripe from playing in this mode is that it's a bit chaotic. While you can see different transfers in different screens, it is a lot to keep up with. While the Squad Planner does also include future transfers, these are hidden behind the player info icons. For example, if a player is currently injured, you actually can’t see that they’re a future transfer. All of these are also hidden behind a hover, and when you have many signings yet to come, it's all a bit too much. A small change could be to have these under their own column on the planner.

Meanwhile, while personally not trying out 'Your world', it’s an added layer when starting a new FM24 save. At the start, you’ll be met with none of the transfers from the start of the season. While it’s currently unclear the exact method, for example, will Kai Havertz be at Arsenal?

These new ways to start or continue your Football Manager saves are all huge and make for welcome editions overall.

A tactical rethink

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FM24, at the surface, does not seem to have broken the bank when it comes to a set of changes tactically, but that may not be the case.

The game has introduced the Inverted Full-Back (IFB), and yes, this is likely because of Pep Guardiola.

The IFB levels up the Inverted Wing-Back (IWB), while instead of the latter - which progresses into a defensive midfielder while in possession - the former steps up to become a third centre-back.

Again, influenced by Manchester City’s crazy but successful antics, is an improved set of skills for the Libero, including being paired with an IFB, with the Libero moving up into a defensive midfielder position.

There are many more match engine tweaks here too, not only visually, but with rotations in game. While it's hard to dive deep into the science, the engine now recognises players' roles better when it comes to attacking runs and will also perform smarter rotations.

Trying out the new IFB, along with a Libero, the tactical potential is really viable.

Bend it like Beckham

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The major change of this year's Football Manager is set pieces. Gone are the old linear routines, and a new system is in play.

When starting your save, you’ll be hit with the new set-piece system. You’ll be hit with a questionnaire of preferences, and your coach will build out your entire routine for you. When playing, a personal favourite detail was the idea of having inswinging vs outswinging corners, and selecting certain footed players based on this.

Another huge element is the introduction of throw-in routines. You can now choose to directly take short throw-ins, or take long throw-ins and launch them into the box - and yes, you can hire Rory Delap in-game to manage these for you.

While there’s the added data of other teams' set piece effectiveness, with our short time with the game, it’s hard to say long-term in a save how much of an effect this will have, but on the surface, it’s a near-perfect rework.

A strong media prediction?

While having heaps of new features, big or small, and improvements all around, FM24 already feels like a strong step up from FM23 and has come on leaps and bounds.

Personally, I liked last year’s game, but I did get the feeling of a lack of new content, and it was just the typical Football Manager we come to know and love each year. This year, however, it's a completely different feeling.

All the marketing and being a ‘love letter to football’ seems like the absolute truth, and while I only have had around five hours with the game, this could become one of, if not the best, Football Managers to date.