Football Manager 2020 New Features

Through a series of blogs and social posts, Sports Interactive revealed the new headline features that will make it onto Football Manager 2020.

More information will be dropping in the next few weeks leading to the pre-release Beta access in late October-early November.

This pre-release Beta access is one of the special rewards for pre-purchasing FM 2020 from selected retailers.

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FM20 elevates you to the very heart of the beautiful game. New features and advanced game mechanics allow you to control your players and team’s destiny in fresh and authentic ways, meaning the story and legacy you create is completely unique to you.

The overhaul to board mechanics in FM20 is the most wide-ranging in the history of the series. Lots of aspects have been completely overhauled or revamped to make them more engaging and to contain more graphical information.

So here are some of the biggest features to expect from the latest edition of the award-winning football management series.

FM 2020 Headline New Features

✔️ Club Vision
✔️ Development Centre
✔️ Playing Time Pathway
✔️ Backroom Staff
✔️ Graphic Enhancements
✔️ Match Engine Improvements
✔️ Scouting Enhancements

Various Other Improvements

✔️ Newgens
✔️ B Teams
✔️ Network
✔️ Misc

Football Manager 2020 Screenshots

CLUB VISION

Key new addition



Introducing Club Vision, which will have a far-reaching impact that goes far beyond the boardroom.

Club Vision is split into three strands that form your club’s vision – club culture, ongoing objectives and your club’s five year plan. Your club’s visions are dynamic and will change as you progress through the game.

Club culture objectives can include set targets around the club’s transfer policy as well as the style of football the board expects you to play.

Five year plan objectives are split season-by-season. These objectives might include a mixture of financial, infrastructure and competition objectives across five years to achieve the board’s ultimate vision.

Ongoing objectives are tasks that you will be expected to stick to during your tenure as manager. These objectives are engrained into the identity of the club.

Your Club Vision will first be presented to you in the new welcome meeting, another major element of a wider overhaul to the boardroom experience in FM20.

Club Vision represents a new way to get the most out of long-term saves.

You can find more details about Club Vision on the official website.

Football Manager 2020 Minimum System Requirements

DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

Key new addition



The Development Centre is an all-encompassing hub, providing you with all the tools and information you need in one place, giving you the best chance of reaping the rewards of developing players.

It’s not just the players that are currently at your club that you can track in the Development Centre, it’s now easier to track players in and out on loan too with access to their performances and ratings in this hub.

You can see who’s taking their chance for first-team football well, and who is struggling for minutes and may need recalling.

The Development Centre will also offer a preview of your yearly youth intake. Not only will you see an indication of how strong that year’s intake will be including whether there are going to be any high potential players coming through but also any positions that are going to be well covered by the intake.

It also incorporates the management options for your youth and reserve squads. It allows you to fully immerse yourself in your team’s youth development or, if you’d prefer, to take a completely hands-off approach and delegate everything to your backroom team.

You can find more details about Development Centre on the official website.

Football Manager 2020 Preview Videos

PLAYING TIME PATHWAY

Key new addition



In FM20, when negotiating a player’s contract, you can fine tune their pathway through changes to their contract. You can alter their Playing Time with twelve descriptive statuses which indicate how much game-time you’re offering per season across their contract.

This gives way more definition to a player’s standing within the club. From day one of them arriving, either from another club or the academy, you both know where you stand, through this mutual agreement/promise.

This will help to not only develop a pathway for one player but to map out your entire squad looking forward. Setting playing time pathways is not only useful in the management of your current players but in attracting targets too.

The Playing Time Pathway will also impact players you send out on loan. You and the potential loan club will be able to negotiate in more detail just how they plan to use your youngster with a defined level of Playing Time.

The new Playing Time Pathway gives you more control over your team structure and gives you an easy way of keeping on top of your long-term squad planning while also giving you more ways to keep on top of your overall squad happiness.

You can find more details about Playing Time Pathway on the official website.

Football Manager 2020 Beta Explained

BACKROOM STAFF

Key new addition



As part of your pre-match news flow, you’ll receive an inbox message informing you of your backroom team’s advice on who you should pick in your matchday squad. Team selection advice is also available to you at any time on the tactics screen.

You’ll now have the ability to change your responsibility settings from within several news items relating to various areas of the game. The responsibilities screen itself has been overhauled too to include more information about your responsibilities and the responsibilities you’ve delegated to your staff.

Introducing the Technical Director, a role with the ability to offer backroom advice from the very top judging staff ability and staff potential.

Introducing the Head of Player Development, who recommends the players they think would benefit from a loan spell and where he believes they should go while providing loan reports to easily track those players’ progress.

The backroom team in FM20 can be bigger and more helpful to you than ever before. From giving you more detailed and contextually relevant advice to providing expertise in more areas of the game than was previously possible.

You can find more details about Backroom Staff on the official website.

Football Manager 2020 Giveaway

GRAPHIC ENHANCEMENTS

Key new addition



The human models represent a significant upgrade from FM19. The base model is reworked to make it more lifelike with more depth than in previous years. The model now has a more realistic anatomy and bone structure which results in a more lifelike appearance.

The kit textures have been overhauled. You'll notice more realistic clothing that drape more naturally over the model and features creases and folds and to ensure that they move more naturally with the player. This extends to the manager avatar which also has more detailed attire.

The pitches have been enhanced compared to the previous examples in FM19. Pitches are now affected by the weather in an obvious manner. Also added water and mud particles flying off from the surface of the pitch which will lead to visible deterioration of the pitch over the course of a match.

The lighting has been improved as well due to the introduction of image-based lighting. This improves the level of shading and exterior lighting during the match, allowing everything to be lit more naturally.

You can find more details about Graphic Enhancements on the official website.

Football Manager 2020 Release Date

MATCH ENGINE IMPROVEMENTS

Key new addition



One of the most noticeable changes that you’ll see during matches in FM20 is attacking movement. Players will now make more intelligent and realistic off-the-ball runs during attacking phases and these are contextualised to their position and selected player roles.

Decision-making in the final third has improved as a result of the changes to attacking movement as well. The changes to attacking movement are influenced by your own instructions as well as the opposition’s.

The defensive positioning mechanics have been overhauled as well. The entirety of the marking code has been rewritten. Defenders are able to make more intelligent decisions now in order to track the more advanced attacking runs players are capable of making.

There is a range of new animations and AI enhancements that make goalkeepers look and act better than ever before; also tweaked goalkeeper positioning and distribution.

Player traits have been reworked this year so that they work in a more realistic way than before.

The level of text-only highlights has been increased to provide more context to the flow of the match which will help you make more informed in-match decisions. That led to introducing a new match setting that allows you to control the game speed during these text-only highlights.

You can find more details about Match Engine Improvements on the official website.

SCOUTING ENHANCEMENTS

Key new addition



Scouting is now even more powerful, convenient and useful, giving you the edge in one of the most competitive parts of the footballing world.

You’ll be given more useful information in a better layout with FM20’s enhanced scout reports, as each report easier to analyse and make every decision quicker.

Scouting reminders are new to FM20; another way in which your staff can assist you through your news items. You’ll get reminders through your inbox to alert you just when you should think about sending the scouts back out to look up an old name.

When a scout leaves the club their tasks are reassigned to the scouting pool, so the transition is as smooth as possible, allowing the rest of the team to pick up on their previous work.

You now have more access to existing scout reports when you join a new club. This ensures you’re able to focus your scouts on areas you feel haven’t yet been covered.

It's now possible to add multiple focuses to scouting assignments with extended duration to better hone in on the player pool they wish to explore. Also improved customisation options to zero in on the precise information you like to see from your Scouts and Analysts.

You can find more details about Scouting Enhancements on the official website.

Various Other Improvements

Unveiled through small feature drops on the official social channels.

Newgens

• More newgens will now have second nationalities to reflect the more global world that we (currently) live in.
  Oct 29th / Source


• An expansion of youth player poaching from big clubs - increased in number & awareness when newgens in your academy are poached from age 14, even before they've appeared in your youth squad, with news items & reminders.
  Oct 19th / Source


• Further randomisation of new gen dates. Mainly to hinder those of you who cheat, especially in network games.
  Oct 13th / Source


• Better modelling of newgens for Basque region clubs whose players had previously been skewed to the countries they were based in, rather than the region they cover.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• Newgens can now have more dynamic personalities that change over time depending on more circumstances in game.
  Sep 20th / Source

B Teams

• You can now request a reserve team from your board should you not already have one.
  Oct 2nd / Source


• You can now ask your board to allow you to have a B team when managing in countries where they are allowed.
  Oct 1st / Source


• New squad registration rules for Norway, so if managing in Norway you now have to set A List & B List squads, with B squad players only allowed to play 3 league matches a season & are youth/amateur players.
  Sep 29th / Source


• With certain B teams, such as those in Portgual where B teams are more reserve teams not separate clubs, you can now request which B team players attend first team training sessions.
  Sep 27th / Source


• Huge improvements to the way MLS B teams work- full code refactor, real life affiliations now set, much better AI to decide who should be moved to the B-team, & vice versa, min. salary changes to RES, SMS & SEN.
  Sep 26th / Source

What we know about Football Manager 2020

Network

• Fixed an issue letting pre-match timer run down changes the user’s line-up.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed timeline disappears after a goal in network match when playing as client v host.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue where user can repeat half time team talk if client does not proceed.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue where if host crashes whilst processing, client is stuck on processing at the start screen.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed minor issue where “Continue” button was appearing as “Match” after a game.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue where making a sub just before half time causes user to skip team talk screen.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue of network saves not appearing in lobby.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue where game freezes when trying to view a friendly match that has been set to assistant by other user.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue where timers caused user to be unable to make substitutions after half-time.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed pauses in user vs user matches when both were making a tactical change.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Match Controller has been rewritten to provide a smoother and more stable match experience to users with less hang time and delays when entering and exiting matches.
  Oct 23rd / Source


• Fixed issue where game freezing for user when spectator viewing match leaves match.
  Oct 23rd / Source

Misc

• Your staff will now give advice with tactical style recommendations best suited to squad when setting up tactics & in the "auto-pick" menu.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Your staff will now give advice with tactical style recommendations best suited to squad when setting up tactics & in the "auto-pick" menu.
  Nov 1st / Source


• When you've been issued a "points total" ultimatum by the board, it's much easier to find out how you're doing to achieve it, including adding the info to various screens, press conference questions, news items & more.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Opposition player roles now appear during matches in the match analysis once the analyst has worked it out. That time is dependent on their ratings.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Contract offer panel for staff now states when a contract can't be offered due to a non-player ban.
  Nov 1st / Source


• There are thousands of these I could have gone with. But picked out some obscure ones for TpR to show how far we go.... Champions & Runners up of Peruvian Reserves league should be given 2 pts & 1 pt respectively to their senior squads.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Available first team players for U23/U18 matches news item is now multi-row select-able. Which is really, really useful. As are the suggestions who you should choose. Which is also multi-row select-able.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Pre-match briefing now reference data analysts recent match analysis. Which means more people using a really useful system (data analysis) that is ignored by many, but can really help you tweak your tactics for better results.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Friendly schedule calendar now shows all fixtures for all age groups, so you can easily avoid clashes between first team/U23/U18 etc.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Whilst still being able to use the same tactics for your first team & youth teams setting them up once, you can now set different set piece takers per squad.
  Nov 1st / Source


• It's not just drafts - there are lots of other things specific to MLS, including trade offers, combine players, generation Adidas, all star matches, contract waivers and more.
  Nov 1st / Source


• You'll now see lots of speculation surrounding the draft in the social media feed.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Currency now shows selected currency as well as the currency symbol on the Preferences screen.
  Nov 1st / Source


• Added tooltips to financial graphs. So you'll actually understand what it all means!
  Oct 31st / Source


• DoF, or whoever is responsible for transfers if it's not you, will now adjust transfer/wage budgets more often whilst making signings.
  Oct 31st / Source


• DoF/loan manager - you now have a loan % instruction for the director of football, so that they have knowledge on exactly what you are looking for making it easier to find the right deal when putting players out on loan.
  Oct 30th / Source


• Youth - you can now make youth & reserve players unavailable for individual youth & reserve matches without having to move them to the senior squad. Which is very useful for midweek cup games...
  Oct 30th / Source


• If loans are successful in game, that will now affect the chances of a relationship being formed by the two managers, not just clubs. And vice-versa.
  Oct 29th / Source


• Added the ability to change the sorting of player attributes to the way they are in English when you're playing in a language that isn't English.
  Oct 28th / Source


• Added an option when adding a player to the development list to only offer players out for loan to clubs in the same country for home grown purposes.
  Oct 28th / Source


• You now get feedback on the social feed about how your players who are out on loan are doing, so feedback from fans not just your club staff.
  Oct 27th / Source


• All kinds of backroom advice in-game are more accessible; with it appearing more often, in more default ways like the inbox, and with useful buttons on inbox items and screens where your staffs advise can be helpful.
  Oct 27th / Source


• Suggestions from your Director of Football are now more accessible in game, rather than hidden behind sub-menus.
  Oct 27th / Source


• Youth coaches may now decide to get youth players training in new positions should their attributes be more suited to other positions & give advice to you about it.
  Oct 26th / Source


• The board intelligence is improved with transfers & contract renewals & more likely to block if something goes outside the club vision or could cause long term financial issues.
  Oct 25th / Source


• You now get an inbox item when the board allow you a change in staff numbers.
  Oct 24th / Source


• An expansion of the amount of information displayed on the Tactics Confidence panel.
  Oct 22nd / Source


• You now get an option when replacing staff members (sacking due to hiring a new one) to either take over departing staff duties or not.
  Oct 21st / Source


• New board conversation options to push back when approached about bad form.
  Oct 20th / Source


• Semi-pro players are more likely to move to other countries, such as Wales & NI from England & Scotland, or countries with better economies.
  Oct 19th / Source


• Usability. The friendly calendar (and main calendar) now shows youth team games & youth friendlies to make it easier for you to plan games for all your squads.
  Oct 18th / Source


• Support for "Homegrown Players From Nation" transfer window types in Switzerland.
  Oct 17th / Source


• It’s the last one of the day. So to wrap things up, of course there is a whole host of new achievements to earn across different game modes.
  Oct 16th / Source


• FM20 includes a new free agent trial tournament. The Bosman tournament features out of contract players from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Ireland.
  Oct 16th / Source


• In the event of a takeover, new ownership may ask you to sign a certain player in line with the promises they made when buying the club.
  Oct 16th / Source


• Managers now have the ability to stall a loan offer. Perfect for getting in a replacement before looking to get a youngster more experience.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You'll now receive a congratulatory message from the board on any and all award wins.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You now have the choice to upload an image or use your manager's created face for your in-game profile.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You can now extract your manager model so you'll never need to recreate them.
  Oct 16th / Source


• When creating your manager and set to "Experienced", you can add your favourite style and formation to bring more personality to your profile.
  Oct 16th / Source


• In a fantasy draft you now have the option for the AI to pick all remaining players for you. This will speed up the process and ensure you only need to focus on the players you want to pick.
  Oct 16th / Source


• When creating your dream squad in create a club, you can now search for home grown players to ensure you're adhering to registration rules.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You now have the ability to save a created player in Create a Club. So you can take your players into any new save you wish to start, with any club.
  Oct 16th / Source


• There's now more flexibility when creating kits in Create-A-Club mode.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You now have the ability to set up your own friendly pre-season competition. As long as give it the same name every year you can track its history and previous winners.
  Oct 16th / Source


• Improved movement map function in match analysis. Reduced lag and increased functionality.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You now have the ability to save all set pieces at once in one single file. So helpful!
  Oct 16th / Source


• Player values are now reflected in the transfer budget when signing a player in create a club.
  Oct 16th / Source


• Previous player partnerships have been added into tactics. So players at a club who've got an established partnership will appear in-game and if you reunite two players who have played well together previously, they may still have a connection.
  Oct 16th / Source


• Owners now consider the international break as a point where it may make sense to replace a manager.
  Oct 16th / Source


• You can now keep track of the investment your owner/board puts into the club.
  Oct 16th / Source


• Improvements to the fixture scheduling in Germany. For example - the first game of the Bundelsiga season will always have the Champions playing on a Friday night at home.
  Oct 16th / Source


• Players may now ask for a loan to be cancelled if they're not happy with the position or role that they're being asked to play.
  Oct 15th / Source


• The ability to mass edit training intensity using multi-row select.
  Oct 14th / Source


• Players moved to the "discard" list will no long appear in player search until they are removed/leave the discard list. Making narrowing down searches a lot easier.
  Oct 12th / Source


• Added 3 new Steam achievements based on money earned in game.
  Oct 11th / Source


• A-League clubs can make up to three Senior players available at the start of the season to play for the Youth team throughout the season.
  Oct 10th / Source


• Multiple buy back clauses are now possible in transfers.
  Oct 9th / Source


• You can now ask your board for extra funds to complete a crucial loan signing.
  Oct 8th / Source


• You can track your transfer spending more closely with analysis of your ins and outs displayed in greater detail.
  Oct 8th / Source


• Revamped the competitions rules screen, making it even easier to study specific rules and formats.
  Oct 8th / Source


• There's now additional information provided when a member of staff suggests not to renew a player's contract.
  Oct 8th / Source


• Introducing the club sponsorship table, a way for you to see exactly how much money each team receives from their sponsors.
  Oct 8th / Source


• Your staff now offer insight when your instructions deviate away from your selected tactical style.
  Oct 8th / Source


• Allow managers to set more specific targeting for director of football signings.
  Oct 8th / Source


• You can now send a player on intensive language course when they are loaned back to their parent club as part of a transfer deal.
  Oct 7th / Source


• When players are released, particularly when at lower levels or youth players released at top levels, they are now much more likely to join clubs local to the club they're released from should they have multiple choices.
  Oct 6th / Source


• When setting the transfer type as "sell at any price" it locks in the minimum acceptable value of 0, rather than the price previously set.
  Oct 5th / Source


• A new search filter for which country staff are based in.
  Oct 4th / Source


• You can now negotiate which club will pay the salary of a player being loaned back to a club as part of a transfer.
  Oct 4th / Source


• Better modelling of staff progression, eg young coaches will improve quicker when working with better/more experienced coaches, scouts/analysts will improve quicker by regularly scouting/doing more analysis etc.
  Oct 3rd / Source


• You'll now receive warning from staff if a player has no chance of a contract renewal due to work permit issues.
  Sep 30th / Source


• Added stats for 'penalties faced' and 'penalties saved' to a goalkeeper's profile.
  Sep 30th / Source


• You now have more options when specifying loan duration. You can set a loan for any number of months. As well as, the end of the season, the end of the following season or until the next transfer window.
  Sep 30th / Source


• When editing your manager's clothing, you can select 'club colours'. Ensuring your touchline style is in line with your team's look, even after you change jobs.
  Sep 30th / Source


• Resigned after a successful spell? The board will now ask you to reconsider your resignation and discuss ways of moving forward.
  Sep 30th / Source


• Introducing two new A-League sides to the game. Western United and Macarthur FC will join an expanded A-League.
  Sep 30th / Source


• You now have the option to protest a transfer offer that was accepted by the board over your head.
  Sep 30th / Source


• New conversation options added for when players have to be sold to help with financial fair play.
  Sep 30th / Source


• Better modelling of staff roles at clubs so that the correct members of backroom staff are assigned to their real life tasks, not just job names.
  Sep 25th / Source


• Attention to detail. The possibility to request the board apply to use the A League FFA Marquee player fund when playing in the A League, up to a maximum of 3m AUD per season for the entire league.
  Sep 24th / Source


• The team selector offers advice on the starting XI, with reasons behind each player. Through this, you have the option to untick any player suggested and stick with your own pick.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• In team meetings, you'll now receive advice from your backroom staff as to the best option to select. No more upsetting the room... hopefully.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• An improved unemployed experience. There's more info on available jobs, increased press opportunities and weekly job updates.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• Games change quickly. The responsibilities screen has been re-designed, as part of this you can now ask your assistant to deliver touchline instructions during matches.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• You can now find additional talking points for end of season meetings between you and your players. Giving you more flexibility and clearer communication.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• Your captain will now suggest a code of conduct when you join a new club. A list of fines for different offences that you get the chance to personalise.
  Sep 23rd / Source


• Manager AI related. Better modelling of higher profile clubs taking some competitions less seriously, so more likely to use squad & youth players for tournaments like the League Cup/Euro Cup.
  Sep 22nd / Source


• Attention to detail. The addition of the first year senior player rule for Portuguese league squad registration.
  Sep 21st / Source


• Better modelling of the players who receive medals for competition wins.
  Sep 21st / Source

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