Player Career Mode Is Unplayable Because of Horrible AI Teammate Behavior
TL;DR: When controlling a single player AI teammates constantly turn over possession making irrational passes panicking in possession, and they take senseless shots, while CPU opponents play like a coordinated team. This creates a massive imbalance and ruins immersion.
This has been happening for years and I am fed up. It’s a more glaring problem now. The biggest issue is the AI teammates when you’re controlling a single player. They play like they are being controlled by a toddler who has no idea what they are doing. There is no logic, no structure, and no awareness. Before I proceed I’m not sure, but for context I play LW (left wing) as this issue might differ slightly depending on the position you play on the pitch.
My teammates, especially the midfielders will make a run toward the touchline with the ball and then make weird desperate diagonal passes straight to the opposition. They play like they are in a panic all the time. In general in almost every situation they make desperate do or die passes when there are better and simpler obvious options right in front of them. When they receive the ball in midfield they immediately start drifting toward the touchline for no logical reason, almost like they’re programmed to run sideways instead of driving the play forward or driving the play in a logical manner. And then, out of nowhere, they’ll launch this awkward, desperate diagonal pass sometimes while off balance or even while falling straight into the feet of the opposition. It’s just horrible decision making. Not only for that scenario, but like I said in general when they get the ball, they treat it like hot potato, making hasty, rushed passes with zero composure. It’s so weird that it actually becomes comical to watch. Sometimes they just make blind passes like who are you passing to? And besides these hasty nonsensical passes like they’re panicking for no reason, what makes it worse is they are obsessed with forcing the ball to me at all costs (losing the ball in the process), even when there are better passing options all around. Like, can we actually play as a team? There are other players on the pitch too. It shouldn’t feel like I’m the only target in every buildup.
Furthermore strikers will consistently take horrible shots with their back turned to goal. They take desperate and ridiculous shots from awkward angles where there is no chance of scoring. They get the ball with their back to goal, space is tight, and instead of recycling possession they force an off balance shot that was never going to work. It is weird. It is strange. It makes no sense. And they do the same with passing too. Instead of finding an easy pass back they force something dumb. They get the ball anywhere in or near the box even with their back to goal, surrounded by defenders and instead of making a smart pass or holding play, they just blast a random shot. It’s like they don’t process what’s happening around them.
Meanwhile, the CPU opponents play like they’ve got an actual playbook. They build out intelligently, press well, and move as a unit. They play intelligently, press with purpose, and control the rhythm of the game like a real team. It creates a massive imbalance where I’m forced to run around doing everything myself because my teammates are functionally useless. I have to overcompensate, running all over the pitch to drag my team forward because my teammates simply do not play at the same level. I play left wing but I am forced to abandon my position, drop deep, and carry the ball, force passes myself just to progress the attack. It should not be my job to play creator, controller, and finisher all at once because my teammates are useless in possession.
This is not one or two bad matches. It is every match. And the fact that this has been going on for years and is now somehow even worse is frustrating. It is actually hard to believe that anyone genuinely play tested this game mode before release. It is ridiculous. It is absurd. Please fix this. Career Mode is supposed to feel immersive and rewarding. Instead, it feels like dragging a team of clueless NPCs through “90 minutes” of chaos. Please fix all this. Smarter AI teammate logic, better AI teammate decision making would completely change the mode.
