The tiers are still empty, but We Are Football will soon open its doors.
The name Gerald Köhler will say something to tough fans of various soccer simulations from Germany. After all, the game designer invented both the popular kick-off series and the football manager. In the years that followed, Köhler kept a low profile, but at the same time founded a new development studio.
The first product from this studio has now been unveiled: We Are Football is a completely new football manager simulation and thus goes into competition with Football Manager 21 and kick-off 2022. In this article you can find out what makes We Are Football so special.
But you can also stop by GameStar Plus right away. There, our editorial striker Peter reveals to you in a giant preview with 25,000 characters what Köhler’s exact tactics are to catapult himself to the top of the table of football managers again:
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We Are Football brings back what seemed lost
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The release date for We Are Football has already been announced. June 10, 2021 the new manager simulation appears. This would put We Are Football into direct competition with kick-off in 2022, which is also planned for June. The new Football Manager usually appears in the fall.
The date was first shown in the announcement trailer, which you can view right here:
0:34
We Are Football – Teaser announces the new manager with a Bundesliga license
Licenses: Which leagues are represented?
We Are Football competes with licenses for some German divisions. More precisely for the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. In addition, the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga and the 2nd Women’s Bundesliga have been fully licensed. The league package is supplemented by the DFB Cup and the Supercup.
In addition, there will be leagues from a total of 22 other countries. In this case, however, completely without licenses and with generic names. Including England, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Management: what can I do?
In We Are Football you are a manager and a coach rolled into one. So you take care of almost all areas of your chosen club. On the one hand, you have to organize the training and determine the intensity for each day. Special moves and tactics also need to be trained.
On the other hand, you are responsible for the finances of your club. This doesn’t just apply to your transfer policy. You also have to set the ticket prices for your home games, take care of the merchandise, invest money properly, go public or take out loans.
Success starts with training. If you want to carry out your match plan effectively, you should promote all important aspects of it during training.
Tactics: What are the options?
In order to optimally prepare your team for the next opponent, you can make many tactical decisions. It starts with training and only ends after the final whistle. Here you have to pay attention, for example, to how good the condition or shape of your players and that of the opponent is.
The line-up and playing philosophy are of course also important. You can freely assign all players to a position on the field and are not tied to predefined formations. You can set the tactics with different sliders. So whether the counter-pressing should be periodic or variable, whether you prefer to shift the game to the wings and also how often you make corners short rather than long. Philosophies like “attacking football with short passes” have to be trained and should fit the squad.
Anyone who likes any means can also resort to more questionable methods at home games. Then you just don’t have the pitch repaired in half-time or cause a floodlight to fail.
Matches: How are games presented?
The games are not shown in 3D, but on a 2D field. However, only the ball and the player who is currently taking a relevant action are visible. In the ticker below, all actions in the course of the game are recorded and more effort can be demanded or the orientation changed from the coaching bench. Of course there are also substitutions.
All games are simulated exactly on the match day. That means you don’t always have to watch your own team play. You can optionally switch places and see how the table neighbors are doing. 100 mid-term speeches were recorded by Dag Winderlich, the old Antoss spokesman.
Players who are on the ball are shown, the rest are not. Above the field we see the other games, including the live ticker.
You can see the first We Are Football gameplay and the match display in the video interview with Gerald Köhler at GameStar Plus:
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We Are Football is a labor of love for Gerald Köhler
Game modes: what to do
You can decide at the beginning whether you prefer women’s or men’s football. Then you have to decide whether you want to start directly with a club of your choice or start a career. In the career mode, a recruitment test determines which clubs are initially available to your young coach.
Talents: How are players and coaches improved?
In the course of your career you not only improve young stars or other players, but also your own skills. So your trainer has its own skill tree, manager level and health value. You can also unlock new action points through successes. With it you can do deeds that would otherwise be impossible. You can read exactly what it is in the plus preview of We Are Football.
Even players all have their own development tree and must be encouraged. There are also special properties. Some players are known as leaders, others more as free spirited artists. Through training we can improve a player’s strengths, but injuries can also reduce them.
We Are Football – Screenshots ansehen
Building strategy: can I build something?
In We Are Football you are allowed to expand your stadium as well as manage the club area. In both cases the construction takes place in a 2D editor. At the stadium you then have seating and standing places, as well as boxes. You will place new training fields and administration buildings on the site. Fan shops, restaurants and rehabilitation clinics are also possible. You can even treat your president to a luxury villa. You can inspect both the stadium and the club area in a 3D view after construction.
By the way: We Are Football appears with an editor for your game. So you can easily create your own leagues or clubs. Gerald Köhler explains why this is so important in our cover story on We Are Football.
Multiplayer: is there multiplayer or co-op mode?
A hot seat mode for two players makes multiplayer games possible. But that only works if you play two games on the same computer and then take turns. Alternatively, it is possible to play together online using Steam Remote Play Together.
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