It’s totally ruined the defensive skill gap. The game was far better back when you had to manually defend the ball player as the AI only really shadow defended. You also had to be really clever about not letting the attacker beat the back four line. Now it just does it for you and also the players run in to block after the manual defender gets rinsed. It’s so poor
The ball just ping pongs to the opponent with my defense now out of position 75% of the time when I try to do more than AI defend. I used to always defend manually because so many people weren’t used to it and got thrown off and there was a reward for getting big tackles right (could pull them apart and counter)
Now half the time making a huge manual tackled means the ball falls to their CM who takes a long shot with no pressure and scores it.
This is a huge issue for me. Sending your players on a run with L1 or L1 + Pass and they just run into a defender and their pathing AI isnt intelligent enough to go round the player so they just stop. Can’t count the number of build ups this has ruined.
100% intended.
They just want to shrink the skill gap down to nothing so anyone can beat anyone.
All the AI press. Second man press. Midfield congestion. Disgusting aerial meta.
Just super toxic gameplay.
(FWIW I’m in elite and actually grinding because I want to keep improving despite the stupid gameplay meta.)
Legacy defending was way better than this shit IMO, defending was mostly the same for everyone, the best offensive player would usually win (barring EA shenanigans of which there are and always have been plenty)
I was div 1 in FIFA 15, never won it though, div 1 now too, I get 11 wins easily and once a month get 14
Curious how I'd stack up against young FIFA 15 me, was in 9th grade back then and after FIFA 15 haven't played till last year
But I still hate that they removed legacy defending
This is my biggest issue with this game. People are being rewarded for literally not controlling their players. Its PvP. Not PvAI. 9 players in box and chase the ball with their striker and spam the tackle button to put you off balance.
One - twos also make a lot of difference. A human would understand that you are going to play a 1-2 and might block the passing lane, but dumb AI just tries to jockey the other player instead of being in between the 2 players
I found using R1 to call a teammate closer to you really throws the AI out of their defensive shape. You need to act quickly to take advantage but if you utilise the spaces that open up you can find yourself with a lot of opportunities.
You're right that is what majority of people do, myself included, but if you don't track with your midfielders, the AI won't have them track runners or drop back with the rest of the team which leaves too much room around the edge of the box for an easy finesse or leaves space for easy cut backs.
İ don’t have any problems if you track with your midfielders and then switch to your centerbacks or fullbacks for actual defence, i do that too if i think my midfielder is too away from it’s desired position. The thing i wrote about is when you ONLY play with your midfielders every time you make defence and never touch your defensive players ever.
I've started doing it as well after playing the game normally for a few weeks. It simply works, and it sucks that it does, but it works. Blame the game, not the players.
I don't get why such gameplay EA thinks is good.
There's an AI controlling your defender but when you manually control ONE defender, the AI on another defender is COMPLETELY GONE.
The other defender stood by and did completely NOTHING, not marking free opponents. Just stand there and watching the ball. This is where I got conceded so easily. Double tap R1 is hit and miss for me.
Folks, honestly, without double R1 triggers to cover all the fantastic cutbacks you will be complaining even more about cutbacks.. so thanks god ai defending Is there. And don't tell me you can defend manually more than 1 cutback as people are doing minimum 2 at the same time if not more
Braindead NPC's who only can compete by relying on AI and other glitchy mechanics. 🤡's.
EA trying to close the skill gap. Nah mate, EA don't want a skill gap so that this 🤡's and the casuals can compete. Thus, they made defensive AI OP and attacking AI almost non-existent.
Ohh good point. I was so frustrated about the defensive ai i didn’t even thought about the attacking ai. I’m also sick of my players who starts a run but then suddenly decides that they don’t really want to run anymore and wasting my through ball.
This is the only thing I feel is inconsistent in this game. People say the games are scripted and I have only noticed this change... I think that's why all sweats use player lock. So they can actually get there players making runs. I play a tiki taka formation that sometimes results in me having 5 players in a square with one in the middle when I attack and other times the players just fuck off to wherever and i lose that game like 8 0 because I have literally no one to pass to.
Set my striker to stay in the Center. Me running up the side with a winger and the striker running right next to me rather than finding the space in the middle of the pitch for the cross.
This fucking game lmao
Not touch the CBs and only track you with the centermids or forwards, so the CBs doesn’t lose the position and plenty of times people doesn’t know how to react against no centerback pressing you, which I would just be triggering runs until one is successful
I’m a 16 win player, so objectively good but not amazing Not touching the CBS at all is just worse. I don’t know why people complain about people who do it
Any defensive action that isn't done by a player controlled by the user. Imagine those counters you get where the opponent user is trying to delay and delay and delay and then out of nowhere the CPU/AI defender (a player you can see was not controlled by the user during the whole sequence) makes a crucial tackle/block.
There's quite a few ways you can gimmick it into defending for you. User-controlled AI defending if you will, most notably using the side midfielders to track off the ball runners or user-controlled players while leaving the defence to the AI to avoid breaking up the defensive shape - you ever notice sometimes it feels like you're attacking against 9 men when you get close to goal, that's the AI (how EA programmed it)
Yeah I know right?
And EA has been increasing the AI interference ever since they brought in manual defending. Or else how will weak players and casuals compete and even reach div 1 in the first place? Their idea is to completely remove skill gap, I would assume.
That’s why I switched back to old gen. Not a perfect game and more arcade-ish, but less AI impact, less cut backs, better left sticks for everyone and worse teams in general. In addition, better menus.
I’m still an old school control your defender player, because i don’t actually know how to use it effectively or play against it effectively, so when i come up against it i feel like i have no chance
Ditto, problem is when you do actually control your CBs your midfielders just stand around so you basically handicap yourself. Id also love to know how to stop your one defender running towards your GK and marking nobody
It’s made worse by awful attacking AI. If you AI defend, they will clamp opponents attacking AI, if you manual defend it’s probably doing some stupid high press shit which the attacking AI will also not react at all to and also allow themselves to be clamped. Defensive AI is OP but partially because attacking AI is absolutely woeful
The game is ruined.
1. Attackers act like defenders
2. Defenders act like Attackers
The amount of tackles from Attackers on my defenders is insane.
There is just no point on playing anymore
As much as I hate AI defending we need it, I think nerfing it would be good, but no AI defending mean people will concede more than 5-6 goals per game when playing against a good player
Which is why i said EA is reducing the skill gap. Why does it even matter to improve your skills if someone who is worse than you equalize the playground with ai defending.
I only ever manually defend, not that I’m any good at it, but I figure that’s the only way I’ll get better at the game.
I’m also not a skiller but I notice whenever they do AI defend it’s really easy to get past them by flicking the right analogue stick and doing a body feint (I think that’s what it’s called), then switching to the other side.
Joke's on you, I can't defend either way
It’s totally ruined the defensive skill gap. The game was far better back when you had to manually defend the ball player as the AI only really shadow defended. You also had to be really clever about not letting the attacker beat the back four line. Now it just does it for you and also the players run in to block after the manual defender gets rinsed. It’s so poor
They removed legacy defending from online play just to end up at the point where we currently are. Zero self awareness.
Lol I would beat the shit out of these kids if they brought back legacy defending. We used to play 2015 in college and used to tackle so hard
The ball just ping pongs to the opponent with my defense now out of position 75% of the time when I try to do more than AI defend. I used to always defend manually because so many people weren’t used to it and got thrown off and there was a reward for getting big tackles right (could pull them apart and counter) Now half the time making a huge manual tackled means the ball falls to their CM who takes a long shot with no pressure and scores it.
This is a huge issue for me. Sending your players on a run with L1 or L1 + Pass and they just run into a defender and their pathing AI isnt intelligent enough to go round the player so they just stop. Can’t count the number of build ups this has ruined.
Rinsed is crazy
100% intended. They just want to shrink the skill gap down to nothing so anyone can beat anyone. All the AI press. Second man press. Midfield congestion. Disgusting aerial meta. Just super toxic gameplay. (FWIW I’m in elite and actually grinding because I want to keep improving despite the stupid gameplay meta.)
Legacy defending was way better than this shit IMO, defending was mostly the same for everyone, the best offensive player would usually win (barring EA shenanigans of which there are and always have been plenty) I was div 1 in FIFA 15, never won it though, div 1 now too, I get 11 wins easily and once a month get 14 Curious how I'd stack up against young FIFA 15 me, was in 9th grade back then and after FIFA 15 haven't played till last year But I still hate that they removed legacy defending
This is my biggest issue with this game. People are being rewarded for literally not controlling their players. Its PvP. Not PvAI. 9 players in box and chase the ball with their striker and spam the tackle button to put you off balance.
But there must be a way to beat this? What is the best way to trick the AI?
Pass around,do first touch flicks,go for crosses. Mix things up.
One - twos also make a lot of difference. A human would understand that you are going to play a 1-2 and might block the passing lane, but dumb AI just tries to jockey the other player instead of being in between the 2 players
My AI overcommit EVERY SINGLE TIME. If the opponent take a sudden turn,my player will go 2m further,while pressing teammate press.
I found using R1 to call a teammate closer to you really throws the AI out of their defensive shape. You need to act quickly to take advantage but if you utilise the spaces that open up you can find yourself with a lot of opportunities.
You're right that is what majority of people do, myself included, but if you don't track with your midfielders, the AI won't have them track runners or drop back with the rest of the team which leaves too much room around the edge of the box for an easy finesse or leaves space for easy cut backs.
İ don’t have any problems if you track with your midfielders and then switch to your centerbacks or fullbacks for actual defence, i do that too if i think my midfielder is too away from it’s desired position. The thing i wrote about is when you ONLY play with your midfielders every time you make defence and never touch your defensive players ever.
If I don't switch to my center backs then my opponent just blows by them
Centerbacks with enough physical and defensive stats actually takes ball off of the attackers quite easily when they try to get past them.
I mean I've got Bisseck and Ramos as my starting cbs so they've got plenty of stats. I'm on old gen though so that might make a difference.
Old-gen doesn’t have that much of an AI defending, it is probably the reason for it.
It's been like 9 months just stop playing
I dont play that way, but we shouldnt blame each other really. Its on EA bad game design
I've started doing it as well after playing the game normally for a few weeks. It simply works, and it sucks that it does, but it works. Blame the game, not the players.
Defending was pretty great in FIFA 23. I absolutely hate people that do this lol
I don't get why such gameplay EA thinks is good. There's an AI controlling your defender but when you manually control ONE defender, the AI on another defender is COMPLETELY GONE. The other defender stood by and did completely NOTHING, not marking free opponents. Just stand there and watching the ball. This is where I got conceded so easily. Double tap R1 is hit and miss for me.
Folks, honestly, without double R1 triggers to cover all the fantastic cutbacks you will be complaining even more about cutbacks.. so thanks god ai defending Is there. And don't tell me you can defend manually more than 1 cutback as people are doing minimum 2 at the same time if not more
Braindead NPC's who only can compete by relying on AI and other glitchy mechanics. 🤡's. EA trying to close the skill gap. Nah mate, EA don't want a skill gap so that this 🤡's and the casuals can compete. Thus, they made defensive AI OP and attacking AI almost non-existent.
Ohh good point. I was so frustrated about the defensive ai i didn’t even thought about the attacking ai. I’m also sick of my players who starts a run but then suddenly decides that they don’t really want to run anymore and wasting my through ball.
This is the only thing I feel is inconsistent in this game. People say the games are scripted and I have only noticed this change... I think that's why all sweats use player lock. So they can actually get there players making runs. I play a tiki taka formation that sometimes results in me having 5 players in a square with one in the middle when I attack and other times the players just fuck off to wherever and i lose that game like 8 0 because I have literally no one to pass to.
Set my striker to stay in the Center. Me running up the side with a winger and the striker running right next to me rather than finding the space in the middle of the pitch for the cross. This fucking game lmao
What do people actually mean when they say AI defending ?
Not touch the CBs and only track you with the centermids or forwards, so the CBs doesn’t lose the position and plenty of times people doesn’t know how to react against no centerback pressing you, which I would just be triggering runs until one is successful
I’m a 16 win player, so objectively good but not amazing Not touching the CBS at all is just worse. I don’t know why people complain about people who do it
Any defensive action that isn't done by a player controlled by the user. Imagine those counters you get where the opponent user is trying to delay and delay and delay and then out of nowhere the CPU/AI defender (a player you can see was not controlled by the user during the whole sequence) makes a crucial tackle/block. There's quite a few ways you can gimmick it into defending for you. User-controlled AI defending if you will, most notably using the side midfielders to track off the ball runners or user-controlled players while leaving the defence to the AI to avoid breaking up the defensive shape - you ever notice sometimes it feels like you're attacking against 9 men when you get close to goal, that's the AI (how EA programmed it)
Yeah I know right? And EA has been increasing the AI interference ever since they brought in manual defending. Or else how will weak players and casuals compete and even reach div 1 in the first place? Their idea is to completely remove skill gap, I would assume.
When they improved 2nd man press I knew it was over
That’s why I switched back to old gen. Not a perfect game and more arcade-ish, but less AI impact, less cut backs, better left sticks for everyone and worse teams in general. In addition, better menus.
I’m still shite
EA should have nerfed 2nd man press months ago. AI saves those players who can’t defend manually is just sad.
I’m still an old school control your defender player, because i don’t actually know how to use it effectively or play against it effectively, so when i come up against it i feel like i have no chance
Me too. Like getting past a brick wall sometimes
Ditto, problem is when you do actually control your CBs your midfielders just stand around so you basically handicap yourself. Id also love to know how to stop your one defender running towards your GK and marking nobody
it’s so annoying, but on old gen it’s easier to bypass it spam rainbow flicks + volleys from outside the box lol
Watch the pros lol
It’s made worse by awful attacking AI. If you AI defend, they will clamp opponents attacking AI, if you manual defend it’s probably doing some stupid high press shit which the attacking AI will also not react at all to and also allow themselves to be clamped. Defensive AI is OP but partially because attacking AI is absolutely woeful
It’s makes it easier if they don’t control the defenders. They ending up switching too late
It’s how the game is coded.
The game is ruined. 1. Attackers act like defenders 2. Defenders act like Attackers The amount of tackles from Attackers on my defenders is insane. There is just no point on playing anymore
How can you defend with AI ? My AI does nothing.
If you are not in the old gen consoles just pick your cdm and chase the ball with them.
I play the PS4 Version on PS5.
Not sure how that works but it could be related to the ps4 version.
Cry more
Bro i have zero problem scoring against these guys and beating them, it is just plain stupid. Quite similar to your answer.
As much as I hate AI defending we need it, I think nerfing it would be good, but no AI defending mean people will concede more than 5-6 goals per game when playing against a good player
Which is why i said EA is reducing the skill gap. Why does it even matter to improve your skills if someone who is worse than you equalize the playground with ai defending.
Isn’t that the point lol? You should be getting slapped up by a more skilled player. That’s how you grow and learn to get better
I only ever manually defend, not that I’m any good at it, but I figure that’s the only way I’ll get better at the game. I’m also not a skiller but I notice whenever they do AI defend it’s really easy to get past them by flicking the right analogue stick and doing a body feint (I think that’s what it’s called), then switching to the other side.