Ofonime Obot

Football Manager 2020 well on the horizon with new and improved features to gameplay and user interface, this review unlike most is a final game review on Football Manager 2019. like its predecessors, Football Manager 2019 or FM19 for short has been addictive as ever. The stat-heavy tactical simulation does have positives as well as negatives, most persistent from previous FMs and some just present only in FM19. One of Football Manager 2019's stand out feature is the improvement of tactics. I did enjoy this improvement in the game as it brought a new dimension to the familiar tactical setup we know and love. splitting team gameplay into "IN-POSSESSION" and "OUT OF POSSESSION" gave me a lot of freedom is deciding how I want my team to play in certain scenarios. it was also useful when problem-solving during matches, tweaking team instructions to suit the opposition and their changes during the game. I felt like a hands-on manager when everything worked out great and the added frustration when things aren't going too well. The beauty in FM19 is downloaded tactics and match exploiters don't work like before. the game is more hands-on now whether we like it or not and if you're the time that enjoys downloaded tactic or you're new to the game? that's fine. you can try your hands with preset tactics, these are in-game tactical setups you can adopt and build your team around or even tweak to suit the players you have at your squad. the training overhaul was a big step for me at first as it was intimidating, I had no idea where to begin or how to go about training. one in a while I tweaked daily sessions to suite the upcoming match and some weeks I did recreate training schedules to suit a certain area that needed improvement in the team. mentoring didn't change much for my players, I noticed the young players developed with or without mentoring groups. what helped their attributes were weekly schedules and targetted individual training for specific roles. notice how in-game graphics didn't make the positives? That's because I was not blown away by the match engine this year. FM17 has a slightly better in-game match engine than FM19 in my opinion. I feel the pitch surface looked better in Football Manager 2017, there isn't much wear and tear during the match as we had in FM17. Also, floodlights during night games are great and the camera angles are nice being that we have control over some of them unlike before. It hasn't improved much since and players make unrealistic moves during the match especially goalkeepers. there isn't much like physical contacts between players and even with the match ball. Sports Interactive can get away with this as it has made up for it everywhere else. It wouldn't hurt to have an enjoyable match engine and I hope, FM20 will deliver that. Manager wages remain useless in fm19 as I hope in future football manager releases it can be used to improve manager attributes by paying for coaching courses. That would be useful for us managers who start unemployed and run to the lower leagues and try to build a career, yes we exist. This small addition can bring life and longevity to the game. so that covers how I feel about football manager 2019. The game can improve a lot and its safe to say I speak for most Football Manager players. It did keep me playing and I have gotten better at being a hands-on manager. I am eagerly anticipating what Football Manager 2020 has in store and I can't wait for my next managerial adventure.