Ultimate Team Is Losing Its Football Identity
I am writing this as someone who genuinely loves football and has supported EA football games for many years. Ultimate Team used to be a mode where football knowledge, creativity, and manual skill were rewarded. Sadly, in its current state, Ultimate Team no longer reflects real football, competitive integrity, or player expression.
One of the biggest issues right now is the abuse of AI mechanics, particularly in defending. Many players rely almost entirely on controlling a single CDM while allowing the AI to defend with the remaining outfield players. Auto tackles, auto blocks, and perfect AI positioning do most of the work, while manual defending is discouraged or punished.
This creates repetitive and frustrating matches, discourages real football build up play, and rewards passive play over skill. Players can sit deep, wait for an AI interception or tackle, and then instantly counterattack. The resulting goals often feel unrealistic, undeserved, and disconnected from the flow of the match.
For players who try to play balanced football using movement, one twos, width, and positional awareness, the game works against them. When a football game punishes real football ideas, something is fundamentally wrong.
The community has raised concerns about AI defending, momentum, and realism for years. Yet meaningful gameplay changes are rare, while the focus appears to be on promotions and power creep rather than football authenticity.
As a result, Ultimate Team feels less competitive, skill gaps are reduced by AI assistance, and winning often feels luck based rather than earned. The integrity of the mode feels compromised.
Many players continue playing because, on rare occasions, the game allows moments of real football. Those moments show what the game could be, but they are becoming increasingly rare.
All many of us are asking for is reduced AI defensive assistance, greater rewards for manual defending, encouragement of active play, and a return to football realism. Ultimate Team should reward players, not systems playing for them.
