Actually, I don't believe that defending was better on FIFA 19. Infact it was more automated and people relied on the AI to defend for them.
You can defend on FC25. It involves being more busy on the controller and moving players around more to close spaces etc...
Legacy defending should be banned for ever and actually deleted from the game. Tactical and advanced defending are the correct ones for this day and age.
You need skill to defend now and it should remain that way. If you are good enough you will be able to defend at times. You will always concede. But if you concede less then you are doing something right.
Also, you can dribble around people. I am in DIV 1 on Seasons and sure there is a skill gap even within that division BUT you can still dribble past people and create chances.
I am not claiming things are perfect but I'd rather the defence be more manual as it is now then people running around with a striker while the AI defends for them. EA have done better by defence as it stands.