Thank you and Good bye

I share a similar sentiment to you. I have played since about '02 and got into it '04 onwards. I play it for the gameplay the sexy football. I'm an Arsenal fan and we love the days of the one-two pass football, that Wilshere goal always reminds me of the silky beautiful football I wish I could emulate. Now I am more of a rugby and cricket player so never had that football skill.
Now where can I emulate skill without the need to have the footballing ability? FIFA. 

I've always enjoyed this game and how you can play the way you want and yes, I wasn't the best but I enjoyed the gameplay for sure. Losing wasn't frustrating. I played FIFA 21 and even back then the balance seemed fine, little worse than FIFA 15 but still. I enjoyed Ultimate Team and the game in general. But since this become a sole EA-only franchise this game has flipped the switch. 

I know I am better than some of the players I play against, in terms of the way I play and the endless amount of chances I generate but my players can't finish their dinner due to some AI mechanisms (luck). This game does not emulate football and the little it does is unrealistic and assisted. This is purely based on luck in all aspects: pack luck, rebound luck, player switch luck, pass luck, shooting luck, keeper movement luck, the list can go on about the lucky metrics that inadequate players tend to get in this game. Sometimes one must create their own luck which is a fair point. But damn, EA you sure as hell create alot of luck for others, good or bad. 

The consistency of this game is poor compared to other iterations. I also will like to say thank you and goodbye. Football Manager was always my favourite and now that elements of those are in the game it makes it exciting but the execution is poor and I don't think they have the intention to fix it. (Or maybe this was the intention all along).