I seriously doubt “80-90%” of the player base was struggling with defending that much, but that’s besides the point.
I can understand why players would be asking for defending and dribbling to be more balanced; that’s a valid ask. But, the issue is now EA has seriously over corrected, completely tanking dribbling and attacking in favour of massive boosts to defending (both manual and ai).
Every rivals game I play now is just a park the bus simulator, with everyone playing with 2 holding DM’s and a full back line. Sure, this means that I (and other players) have to be much more precise in the attack, and I don’t necessarily have an issue with that. However, the fact that so many players now just sit back and wait for a counter makes playing rivals or champs so boring.
I know some people say “this is football, you have to adapt to your opponents tactics”, sure, but when it’s 9/10 players it’s a bit ridiculous.
In the end, games just turn into back and fourth 1-0 or 2-1. If I wanted to play a “realistic” match, I’d go to manager career.
The whole issue is the lack of balance between defending and attacking. It’s the over correction from EA, the complete nerf of dribbling in favour or massive boosts to jockeying, that has made this game, at times, unbearable.