It's almost that time of year again when our free time seems to flash by in seconds, our knowledge of the top youth prospects in the Eredivisie becomes greatly enhanced, and we are confused as to which players play for clubs in real life because they've transfered four or five times in your save...
Football Manager season.
On November 4th, Football Manager 2017 will launch, and Sports Interactive have given us a wonderfully meaty video where Miles Jacobsen tells us all we need to know about the new game.
If you don't fancy sitting through 30 minutes of new features and improvements (you filthy casual), then we've picked out 10 things that we were very happy to see.
They may not be the most revolutionary enhancements, but they matter to us and to be totally honest, Football Manager does not need an overhaul. Year after year we are sinking hours into the game, so here are the tweaks that have piqued our interest:
Pre-Contract talks with players and agents to agree on certain promises before signing a player.
A bit of wheelin' and dealin', this is clearly a big part of the modern game so it makes sense that Football Manager 2017 players can now act a bit shadier in convincing players or agents to join their club by making promises to sweeten the deal.
We imagine that should these promises not be kept, you'll hear all about it in the press.
Fantasy Draft can now be played solo against the AI.
This is absolutely huge for us as Fantasy Draft was a truly fantastic idea to include in the series, and now you don't need to arrange a group of friends to play it with.
You create your club and are given a transfer budget and salary cap to go and build a squad of all the players available in the game. Being able to do this in single player is a beautiful thing.
Pre-match presentation now includes players walking out, warming up and lining up before games.
Some people might complain that stuff like this isn't necessary doesn't add to the gameplay... But for those of us who take our saves seriously, the types who put their best suit on for a Cup Final, this just makes it more special.
Now you can drink in the atmosphere of a big game, or calm yourself before a really important fixture... Or pop out and use the toilet before the game kicks off.
Backroom advice now features contextual advice from different areas.
Backroom advice is always extremely handy, especially if you're challenging yourself by starting a save at a club you don't know, but now the tactics screen will give you tactical advice, the player screen gives player advice, and so on and so forth, making it simpler and more intuitive to apply reccommendations where your staff see fit.
You can now appoint a 'Data Analyst' and 'Sports Scientists' which are new staff roles.
Another change that just greatly enhances realism, you can now hire a member of staff to provide more detailed pre and post-match analysis and reports, as well as someone who can prevent players from getting the same injuries time and time again.
This is outstanding. Now we can really get deep into our tactics and find out why we are winning and losing games. Which player is slacking when it comes to distance run? Who has the highest success from crosses? Who needs to improve their stength to win more duels? Now we can find out.
Also, hopefully this will give us a better idea of when a player isn't fully fit to play, or why they keep getting injured.
Social media and odds for you to be sacked are now included.
Further making the world of FM more like actual football, you can now see what people are saying about you on social media via the inclusion of twitter, and betting odds on the likelihood of your sacking to increase the pressure when things aren't going well.
You can bet that 'Joleon Lescott' moments with your players will pop up, but we're not sure if we can talk smack about Alan Pardew just yet.
Players can start coaching badges before they retire on your suggestion.
This is a feature we've been wanting for some time, as we all get sentimental about players that we manage for a long time in the game.
Now, if they are getting on in years you can suggest that they go for their coaching badges while still playing, meaning that when they retire you can keep them on the staff.
Training facilities and a player's career now have an impact on declining with age.
This is very topical now considering the form of Wayne Rooney, as many people believe the amount of football he has played since the age of 16 is taking it's toll at 30.
In Football Manager 2017, players who have been pushed into the first team at a young age will have to manage their workload or risk an early decline, as will spending their career training at clubs with poor facilities.
A nice touch.
Commentary now offers more context and gives more information on injuries.
No more seeing a player go off and having no clue whether he sprained his wrist or tore his cruciate. It can be absolutely painful to wait for the news after a star player goes off, but now the commentator will give their opinion on what happened.
This is something commentators do in real life, so it's good to have it in the game.
Defenders adapt more to the players they're playing against.
It seems now that defenders position themselves better from crosses, corners and, loose balls in the box.. Which will result in a lot less rage and players getting slaughtered in the media because you're angry.
Goalkeepers have had their decision making enhanced too, which will make watching the matches a lot less frustrating in general. Core gameplay improvements, good to see.
We're absolutely buzzing to kick off our first save in Football Manager 2017, thankfully we don't have to wait too long.
