Early Impressions: Bit of a Mess on PS5

Agree with everything you've put, except I have never really enjoyed Rush, play it purely for the packs and even then It feels like a chore to me due to the still too long match time.

Also have been lucky in squadies this year with no disconnects but It's happened to me in previous years.

The whole "listening to players feedback this year" was clearly bs from when the game first launched, I don't know of a single person that asked for stupidly op, fidget spinner dribbling or non exixtent, broken defence.

Absolutely spot on. I too am an ordinary bloke (OAP) who would like to play a game that is in fact enjoyable. After all the hype, and hoping that this years would be THE game of all games, sadly nothing of the sort. There is too much wrong with it.

For me, defending is a struggle, not because EA have made it harder, but simply because my players are slow, won't jockey, and more importantly wont react to a tackle button unless it's delayed.

My number one issue, is the state of the tactics. You set up your main team, go to a match, and you have a different tactic on the pitch! Then if you enter "Team Management" to correct things, you can't change players over, and you can't get back to the game you were playing, resulting in a loss. Also, I currently only have 2 tactics slots. If I create a New Tactic, it will overwrite one I already have. This was all fine before the last update. It is now a game that can be impossible to play, certainly not enjoyable, and makes you wonder how things can get this bad.

Have a look at the "Bug Reports" section of this forum, see how many posts actually have a reply on them. Very few which is concerning, not from EA nor Admin, most posts have a big fat "0" next to 'Replies.' I'm not sure how many Admin's there are on here, or even what they actually do, they seem to be Conspicuous by their absence. There are a lot of automated answers, or a cut and paste stuff when there is a silly issue  such as "The crowd have the wrong shirt on" and stuff like that, but you rarely see anything constructive. Sad.

Actually, there are a few replies on Bug Reports....still lots with nothing, but there are some there. 

Gameplay on the field is stale and cheap. AI doesn’t play intelligently enough for this to be engaging. It becomes formulaic where players do A B then C to score. You then have to respond knowing exactly what they are doing but being at a disadvantage because your players respond slow, their controls (WITHOUT THE BALL) are loose like they are on ice with socks on, and the response time between a tackle input and a tackle is weirdly delayed (I think this is oddly intentional as it’s been like this for the past 3 games or so. 

Build up play is boring because you’re forced almost always take the same route. You have to do the absolute MOST for a truly satisfying goal (Think Salah skilling around/through 3-4 defenders). 

Passing is markedly worse for me this year. I can’t tell you how many times power and direction should’ve triggered a short pass and I get a laser in the wrong direction which COMPLETELY destroys attacking rhythm. 

Goal keepers were solid for like a week and got patched back into the ground. Now your keep can be in the near post and get smoked by lesser players shooting near post at the edge of the box. 

This isn’t the worst FC game I’ve played (FC25 was a different level of horrible at this same time) but it’s probably the most boring, stale, and repetitive game I’ve played from EA. 

Defending is obviously bad. At least for me. Is it skill ? Maybe. I just get tired of missing tackles I should make (not a tackle spammer btw) and then getting smacked by defenders out of position.is there a button combination for successful tackling everyone else knows except for me ?

They have to find the right balance with Pace. I know you have to nerf it a little so it doesn’t get abused, but I beat someone undisciplined (they are 5-10 yards behind me) and I get about 2 heavy touches with fast players (90+pace/rapid+) before I get overran by a defender that is slower. 

Not much needs to be said about the constant turn merchants who’s “skill” is spinning around left and right in order to get your defender (ice skating) to slide into a position where they can run into space and score. This is part of the reason pace probably is nerfed because 80% of the community will abuse this to win games. 

This game is looking like the death of the franchise.

So since posting this I have packed a Cornerstone, a Rating Reload and a TOTW.  All in the 12K category, but nice. Also finished the XP Season and got actual UT rewards, including some excellent players. Hopefully minimal Clubs/ Manager gubbins in Season 2. Managed a whole Squad Battles run without getting booted out and successfully made some tackles. On 30000 points and hoping for Elite 1 or 2 next weekend. Passing still tricky & Super Mario-esque opponent invulnerability remains a thing from KOs, but I understand this is being worked on. Still can't lay a glove in Competitive modes. Reminds me a bit of watching teams trying to play Jack Charlton's ROI in the early 1990s: 50 passes in a row, only to be undone by a single hoof forward on the break. Progress generally though so credit where it is due.