Off-ball defensive tracking is severely broken

9. Off-ball defensive tracking is severely broken

Off-ball defensive behavior is one of the biggest issues in FC 26.

Players who are not user-controlled often fail to show proper urgency, awareness, or recovery speed.

Major problems include:

Off-ball defenders jogging instead of sprinting to recover

Failure to tightly track attacking runners

Defenders giving attackers too much space in dangerous areas

Midfielders not following late runs into the box

Slow defensive transitions when possession is lost

Defenders reacting too late to obvious movement patterns

Lack of aggression in closing gaps or cutting passing lanes

Football defending is a team effort, especially off the ball.

Right now, the off-ball AI often feels passive, disconnected, and far too slow.

There should be much stronger sprint recovery, tighter marking intelligence, and better awareness from non-user-controlled players.

Too often it feels like the AI is spectating instead of defending.

[Title edit - CM]