I've just come on to the forum to report this as an issue. I had a few games which seemed okay, but then I played someone who I thought was too good and fast to be playing with manual controls. When I looked at the settings, I realised I could change to assisted on everything.
I had no idea this was an issue before, so to answer your question - no, it is not working properly in EA FC 26.
Thanks for your feedback, cant believe this issue is three years old and still it is not fixed. Unbelievable, what a joke. People who love full manual cant even play the game the way they want. I have no words how pathetic this is, ea just dont care.
And the worst thing is that this issue was repeteadly reported and still its not fixed.
Hey Dude,
I've been playing MANUAL since Fifa 12. It appears that when the match starts both players are on MANUAL as it now takes forever to find a game on Seasons Online Manual. But as someone pointed out, there could be an option to change the controller settings when game is paused. I have not checked this myself, but I wouldn't be surprised.
The only recommendation I have is playing COOP Seasons. Even against assisted players you have more of a chance with manual because neither player can control the AI. So, no switching to DMF and using the Teammate contain or double contain for the entire match. Both players on the team have to defend. Also the Gameplay is set to AUTHENTIC which makes the Gameplay SLOWER and gives MANUAL players more of a chance.
Another online option for manual is playing CLUBS. Even though it's against assisted players you still have some sort of fun in drop ins only. Wouldn't recommend playing League Clubs as the assisted teams are sweaty and think they are good players. LOL.
It would be good if they had an icon showing when players had manual or assisted controls selected. Like a 'M' in the player selected icon. That way, if a player switches mid-game (which has happened to me loads) then you can spot it.
I also feel that if this manual icon existed, it would encourage more manual players rather than assisted... and then they would realise how much better the game is by using manual settings!
