AI, matchmaking etc

The problem is that something strange seems to happen from one match to the next. But whenever people bring this up, EA points to professional players as proof that everything is fine.

That doesn't make it normal.

I've watched plenty of pro players, and even at that level you can clearly see how inconsistent the defending is. It often feels like there's some kind of system trying to keep the weaker team competitive.

I remember watching a pro player who was leading 3-0. After that, it genuinely looked like the game was doing everything it could to help his opponent score. Deflected balls everywhere, simple passes suddenly stopped working, loose balls always fell the opponent's way... and eventually the weaker player did score.

That was one of those moments where I thought, "This is exactly what I've been experiencing all year."

Since the start of the game, I honestly don't think I've had even two consecutive weeks where it didn't feel like the system was working against me. At this point, I almost feel like I've learned to recognize the patterns.

Unless you're an elite player, it's incredibly difficult to escape what feels like a 50/50 cycle, where you win one match, lose the next, then repeat.

And it doesn't feel that way because you're constantly facing players of the same level. It feels that way because the game's animations and AI behavior seem to change from match to match.

I recognize the patterns almost immediately now.

Defending is a mess in general, but there are also matches where, no matter what you do, you simply cannot break down your opponent's defense. Those games usually come with other issues too: passes stop working properly, attackers keep standing offside instead of making runs, and everything feels sluggish.

At this stage of the game, players with 99 Shooting can suddenly miss simple chances as if they were basic Gold cards from launch. There are countless examples like that.

The biggest difference often feels like this: in one match your AI behaves like it's on Beginner difficulty, while your opponent's AI plays like it's on Ultimate.

That's why so many strange situations happen.

You can even see something similar in Squad Battles on higher difficulties. Even against a bronze team with zero chemistry, the AI seems almost guaranteed to score eventually. It plays impossible passes, finishes impossible chances, and defends in ways that completely ignore player attributes.

You can have a player with 99 Pace, yet a bronze defender with 30 Pace somehow catches up to him with ease.

So why couldn't similar AI behavior also influence online matches?

After all, AI controls most of the players on the pitch. We can only directly control one player at a time.