Football Manager 2021 Update 21.2: Patch Notes, New Match Engine, Gameplay Changes & more

Published: 17 Dec 2020 11:14 PM +00:00 Updated: 17 Dec 2020 11:14 PM +00:00

Football Manager 2021 Update 21.2 is here, and it makes some big upgrades for the new Match Engine and fixes on the gameplay side.

Let's dive right into the newest FM 21 update's patch notes and what you'll see in-game the next time you hit the pitch.

FM 21 Update 21.2 Patch Notes

Football Manager 21 pushed the series forward massively, and a new update is here to add even more! The biggest changes are the many upgrades to the new FM 21 match engine, which will better emulate real football in FM 21. But that's far from all that's in this incredibly large update!

Football Manager 21 FM 21 Update 21.4.0 Patch Notes — NEW AND IMPROVED: FM 21 is the next level of football management sim gameplay

These changes also mean better balance on the pitch, which will challenge players to think outside of the box in their tactics, UI improvements, and more.

Stability and Technical

Further changes to issues related to blurry text and mouse-cursor appearing misaligned
Re-added options to change resolution settings in full screen mode
Number of stability improvements

Gameplay

Unable to set some staff members to certain responsibilities
Improvements to player logic when considering loan moves when they don’t have a work permit
Board incorrectly blocking deals due to wanting vast fees for players
Recalculating how analysts produce their overall report ratings
Caretaker manager tweaks, meaning they’re more likely to be offered permanent role or replaced depending on success
Board request logic tweaks related to senior affiliates, staff numbers and youth coaching/recruitment
Staff missing from coaching assignment list for relevant squads
Further improvements to inactive leagues generating newgens
Tweaks to ages of youth candidates coming through
Improvements to logic of questions being asked during press conference including VAR, short term targets, takeovers and players on international duty
Promise and interaction tweaks including related to player traits, domestic silverware, finding loan moves and blank ‘unhappiness’ appearing

Match Engine 21.4.0

Better clearances
Attackers attacking area/far post better
Better balancing to defenders challenging for aerial balls
Defenders marking too literally tweaks\
Move to offer passing options improvements
Passing focus fix to long lateral passes
Some improvements to aerial interceptions for defenders
Sent assistant referees on training course to remove some overzealous offsides being given and sort positioning during penalties
Improvements to ball collision detection with posts/crossbar
Keeper logic improvements for narrowing shooting angles and rushing out
Players less likely to slide tackle opposition players who are static
Removed some suggestions with multiple subs recommended
Assists not being counted correctly from free kicks
Crosses that are cleared are being counted as completed
Fix for players being swapped into positions they can't play during the match by AI managers
Prevent defenders from attacking ball too close to the feet of a standing opponent too often
Fixed rare case of popup showing wrong number of goals being scored
Goalkeeper punches in response to shots are now correctly marked as saves
Fix to wall behaviour in free kicks, facing and posture
GK reaction tweaks to freekick shots so the ball position in relation to wall is better taken into account to delay keeper reaction
Change for lone deep lying forwards and false 9 strikers to be set to support duty by AI managers allowing other support players to be set to attack
Fix for GK frozen for too long after a lobbed shot is blocked/deflected at the last second
Small tweak to make defenders do a better last ditch effort after the ball if the keeper is lobbed
Tweaks to stop goalkeeper kicking the ball into opponent or teammate
Fixed team talk options which appear before penalty shoot out
Some improvements with goalkeeper narrowing decisions, made them a bit more likely to intercept the ball when the opponent hasn't received the ball
Give cumulative bonuses to player ratings when they score/assist more than once, give keepers with not much to do a boost
Fixed assistant referee following the last defender into the other half of the pitch
Fix for low rated match officials leading to multiple penalties in friendlies
Defender dropping marking close to own goal needlessly
Fix to GK punching ball on close range shot/header when a tipped save/not saved is more appropriate for reaction time
Fix to referee minimum movement speed when going over to punish a player

Competitions

Various rule updates for Croatia, Serbia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brazil, Uruguay, Romania, Russia and Scotland
Fix for Croatian newgens not gaining homegrown status. All eligible newgens should now have homegrown status, even in old saves
Croatian Second Division to have 16 teams for 21/22 season
Cannot move players to B team in Finland "because the specific transfer window is now closed"
Spanish and Portuguese B-Team promotion fixes
Fix for B teams incorrectly appearing in the Italian Cup
Fix so second teams present in the Romanian Second Division no longer enter the Champions Playoff
Fix for Serbian Cup picking wrong entrants
Copa America originally scheduled for 2020 will now be played in 2021.
Further work to Chinese naturalisation
Fixed issue related to Israeli squad numbers being forgotten
Alterations for transfer / registration window dates in India and Romania
Fix for rare occurrences of incorrect scheduling of league playoff stages in Colombia and Peru.
Further tweaks to work permit and Brexit rules
Third tier teams selected in Mexican Cup instead of Expansion League teams
Updated US Cup Format

General improvements to watching Past Matches
Live scores on the Touchline tablet no longer duplicating
User can't view 1 Jan to 14 Feb on arranging friendlies UI
Can't proceed into a match if pressing back on Team Selection panel when managing international side
League name is Cut Off in 'History in The Making' during End of Season Review
Team stats showing goals conceded to be 'worst' when it should be 'best'
Changing manager appearance from the Start Screen does not remember any changes
Tweaks to how role ability logic and ratings on tactics screen
Removed any inconsistencies in how xG appeared on certain panels

FM 21 Touch

FM 21 Touch takes the Football Manager experience to a more casual approach on different platforms including tablets.

FM 21 Touch will also be receiving an update correlating with FM 21 Update 21.4, but we don't have the release date for the upcoming patch just yet.

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