The agony and the xG.
The news sent ripples through the footballing world.
They mustn’t have been able to believe their bloody luck.
Tasting continental victory for the first time was pretty magical, once upon a time.
But even with revamped CL presentation and THAT song (The Champiooons!)
But there comes a point when you get a sense that culture has gone too far.
It’s not entirely bereft of fresh content elsewhere.
It’s just that those new features just aren’t, hand on heart, very exciting.
A new suite of squad planning menus.
And yet I routinely ask the very same of fifth-tier players.
Crucially, it still captures your imagination.
It’s compulsive on a levelDestiny 2wishes it was.
Football Manager certainly isn’t broken, then.
But this isn’t like a COD campaign you spend seven hours with every year.
Playing FM is a lot like a marriage, in that way.
And since you ask, obviously Southend achieved back-to-back promotions.
But I’m not.
The heatmaps give me the fear.
Between highlights, the match engine is overlaid with an absolutely frightening volume of information.
All my starting XI’s player ratings and condition levels along the bottom.
Eight different match stats underneath the score in the top left.
From my ears, eyes and nose: blood.
FM’s presentation has been trending this way for a decade.
Its intention is absolutely noble.
But it gives me a headache.
A 40 proposition you’re free to easily lose a hundred enjoyable hours to.
It’s hard to imagine we’d agree it looked like 14 games' worth of progress.
