No skill gap. It's a case of who is willing to use every exploit and known tactic to win. It isn't football and it isn't pretty. Someone spamming the same trivela every time they get forward. No football being played. This is on EA for not pushing people to play proper football.
Not everyone wants to stoop to the lame levels that those who are desperate will. Those players are not playing footie. They play like robots.
You get punished on this game for playing football. The very thing that this game is supposed to be.
All this game is, is 5 at the back - absorb everything and let the AI get a block in or win you the ball then counter - some lame trivela shot then rinse and repeat. This isn't skill it's just lame and not all Div 1 or 2 players want to stoop to it.
So EA need to force people to think and play football. Then we see who has the sill. Thinking football should win games on this game. EAFC24 actually had this in its final months. 25 right now is a mess. Reason why it's rated so low and almost everyone is slating it.
