14 DAY TRIAL // For many years, the video game representations of football, when it came to FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer, FIFA Manager or Football Manager, were almost mathematical, focused on how a team could be organized in order to efficiently deliver the ball from its own half into the net of their opponents.
Recently, as more processing power and memory became available, development teams understood that individual players, coaches and other members of the club structure were crucial to the game and that their mood and feelings actually had an impact on how they performed.
In Football Manager 2014, the team at Sports Interactive has significantly expanded the options that a gamer has in order to interact with almost all those around him, from members of the press to superstar players and opposition coaches.
There’s a clear move towards role playing here and I have often lost a minute considering whether I wanted to start a long-term feud with Mourinho or whether the best way to deal with a striker who could not hit the target was to warn or praise him.
I love the fact that other managers and journalists are using words to affect how a team performs during matches and that solid use of a team meeting can actually make Liverpool get over a defeat by Hull by beating Chelsea at home.
Some fans might denounce the increased focus on talking with the various characters in Football Manager 2014 as a shift away from its tactical essence.
But real-world football matches are often decided by the words of players and coaches and I love how the sim replicates this.
Now I need to decide how exactly I can use statements to the media and replies to Antonio Conte, the manager of Juventus, to make him willing to let Paul Pogba become a Liverpool player for a decent sum of money.