In Europe, the manager of Beerschot in Belgium, Will Still, has flourished following learning his trade on the management simulator itself. This is just one of a few real-world examples of FM being used as a tool by scouts and managers alike, as it has also been a force for employment in the case of Vugar Huseynzade who, thanks to Football Manager, became the coach of the FK Baku reserve side, having supposedly impressed the officials with his knowledge of the team.
When it comes to real-world examples of FM being used as a force for scouting, there have certainly been parallels drawn between some of the zanier transfer stories in actual soccer and the farming of wonderkids inside SI’s game. For example, whilst the move of Gabriel Martinelli to Arsenal from the Brazilian fourth tier is one that shocked a lot of Arsenal fans, it wasn’t necessarily one that shocked long-time devotees to the management series, especially given a lot of players practice what soccer clubs preach - signing young players from South American nations and develop them into superstars.
This is a move that has been touted as an FM-like transfer and has indeed left Arsenal with one of the most promising young talents in the Premier League. However, the problem with Arsenal at this point is that they’ve got too many good young prospects - Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson to name a few. As a lot of them share the same positions, it has undoubtedly given Mikel Arteta a selection headache and things to ponder as he enters the off-season, without one big thing that Arsenal have had in North London for the last twenty-five years.
Despite all of the youthful spirit that players like Martinelli and Saka have brought to the table, it hasn’t left the Gunners in as fortunate a position as some may have hoped, especially if the bookies and Premier League betting odds for 2021/22 are anything to go by. Arsenal are currently placed at a distant 80/1 to finish top, whilst rivals Tottenham are closer at 40/1. Moreover, given that Arsenal were knocked out of the Europa League by Unai Emery’s Villarreal, they are destined to be on a downwards trajectory next season, unless the Spaniard in charge can turn things around.
This reputation that Football Manager has earned not only as a great game in general but also a proper companion to real-life scouts has meant it has become one of the most popular soccer games on PC and Mac. As a result of such, Football Manager has diversified and made its way onto other platforms, including both mobile and into the world of consoles. Specifically, a watered-down version, Football Manager Touch that still encapsulates the spirit of the management simulator, but leaves it a bare-bones state by comparison to its full-fat PC brother.
Regardless of this, however, the Touch variant of the game that has also made its way into the library of Xbox Game Pass and onto Nintendo Switch has also received critical acclaim in the same way that the PC version of the game has for years. This is a testament to the real-life application of FM in scouting as the game gets used as a companion for deciding which young players have potential, as well as the fact that it provides clubs with more data than their scouts could provide.
Football Manager undoubtedly does help to provide a valuable service when it comes to both scouting and transfers. In fact, the game uses a network of over 1,300 scouts to ensure accuracy in the game. Compare that to Manchester City's 40, and you can see how it helps. This comes not only in the form of pinpointing specific players for scouts who work for clubs but also in the fact that every club on the game will have a research assistant who helps to provide extensive detail on every player and every detail which just adds another dimension of realism. It goes to show how much research and time goes into a game and the impact it has had on the wider world of soccer.
