FC26: Teaching EA How to Make a Football Game!

Part Two

In reality, it's impossible for anyone to chain skill moves flawlessly without error! Why? Because when you perform an SM, the ball can be knocked too close, too far, slightly left or right. Even though you're the one performing the move and have a rough idea where the ball will go, you still need to readjust and move to regain control after the ball leaves your foot. But FC26 lacks this! In FC26, perform it 100 times, and the ball's final position relative to the player barely changes. So, FC26's cyber-players can collect the ball with clockwork precision and immediately proceed to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th SM... When I see my opponent's Mbappé in a crowd in my penalty area suddenly do a left spin (Right Stick ↑←), followed by a right spin (Right Stick ↑→), then a La Croqueta, then another SM I can't name, forcefully emerging from my defensive crowd to shoot and score... Even if during this process Mbappé bumps into my defender (my controller vibrates), sometimes I even see the ball intercepted or touched by my defender. But it's useless! Because Mbappé is locked into continuing his Skill Move animation, he will, with an "overcome all obstacles" attitude, complete his queued SM animation, instantly taking the ball back from your defender's feet, then shooting to score.

The continuity and success rate of SMs last night left an extremely deep impression on me, hence this lengthy section. To summarize the SM issue: Can Skill Moves be chained? From an input perspective, yes! But whether they succeed should depend on the player's physical condition. For example, 40-year-old Ronaldo, after performing a step-over, has a high chance of falling over (apologies again). Factors for Skill Moves should include:

1. The player's inherent technical skill (Star Rating).
2. The player's balance (a dynamic value influenced by remaining stamina). High balance allows them to withstand challenges during the move and retain control. Poor balance means they lose control easily if bumped.
3. The player's current stamina. Anyone who's played football knows Skill Moves require significant explosive power. So, after one SM, whether a second is possible, or if it succeeds, should depend on if the attacker's stamina (blue bar) has enough left to support another move.

Implementing these 3 points would simply bring the "invincible" SM back to its proper place. But FC26's dumbest design – the defending problem – isn't solved yet! Let me explain why FC26 is a pile of crap: the laziness and negligence in defensive strategy are the biggest culprits!!!

Many say defending in FC26 is bad, but they only describe surface symptoms, not the root cause. Here's the root cause!

Part Three

This afternoon (November 22nd), I did the "Skill Games," specifically the defending drills. One is called "Tackling & Clearing" (4th menu option). In this drill, you control one CB alone on half the pitch, no goalkeeper. It was here I discovered the fundamental reason why FC26's defending is so widely criticized!
Let's borrow a basketball防守 concept for easier understanding through text. In the NBA before Adam Silver, defenders would spread their arms, facing the attacker like a net – think Gary Payton. Imagine Payton with outstretched arms forming the base of an isosceles triangle, enveloping the attacker within a 180-degree frontal range.

So, simply put: The defender moves left/right along the triangle's base, facing the attacker. The attacker is at the triangle's apex, primarily moving along the two equal sides. In the drill, I discovered the real reason SMs hard-counter/ignore defenders! The AI attacker moved medium speed to the left (along the left side); I held L2 to follow. Then the AI did an SM I don't know the name of – a turn plus ball knock – ending up with his back to me, roughly back at the apex position (i.e., turned and moved about 1 meter right), while I controlled my CB (Argentina's Romero) to shuffle laterally along the triangle's base (I didn't press, tackle, or even touch him). Then, guess what SM the AI chained next? He did a Fake Shot + directional turn sprint, instantly accelerating towards my CB's right side. Recognizing the startup animation, I immediately held L2+R2, moved right, and pressed the Tackle button (remapped). The result? My Romero just took a step to the right – lifted his right leg and placed it down beside him... and watched helplessly as the AI dribbled past easily and scored.

According to previous defending logic, I read the timing correctly, the direction correctly, and the defender was an experienced, top-tier CB like Romero. Why would he just idiotically lift his foot and pose? Shouldn't he instantly react, automatically stick close to the attacker, and attempt a tackle or disrupt the dribble? Why no auto-follow now? No close marking? Before, holding the Tackle button meant the CB would persistently press and attempt to win the ball. Hold it too long without success, and he might commit a foul and give away a penalty. Anyone who played FIFA for years knows this logic.

But now? Now the defending philosophy is "Fully Manual"! EA, do you think we're all super-AIs? Capable of micromanaging every single movement of every player? Keep this up, and by FC30, will I need to manually control each of my player's toes to make a successful tackle? Am I playing QWOP?

As I said, my CB didn't make a mistake – no reckless lunge, no ineffective press. I was just shuffling laterally along the base of that isosceles triangle, cutting passing lanes. The attacker first dribbled down the left side from the apex, used an SM to instantly turn right when blocked, dribbled back near the apex (my CB wasn't tight on him), then chained a second Fake Shot (while facing away from goal – so fake, obvious immediately) which incorporated a small shimmy and directional sprint SM, racing down the right side of the triangle into the box to score. My CB Romero, as he initiated the fake shot, I moved the stick right and held Sprint. But when I pressed "Tackle," Romero just did that "leg lift and step," making no attempt to intercept. Anyone who knows basic geometry knows the base of a triangle is shorter than the sum of the other two sides. So, my CB, covering less distance and having positional advantage (the attacker's destination was behind me, he had to pass through my zone), was still instantly beaten for pace, with none of the old assisted tackling making the CB stick close and disrupt the attacker's balance. Just that useless step to the right (Tackle button)...

Part Four

This describes a typical Skill Move vs. Traditional Defending scenario. The reality is SMs have evolved countless times, to the point where using one is almost an "invincibility" state! Meanwhile, defending not only removed AI-assisted pressing but also added these difficulties:

1. After an SM, the ball's landing spot is unpredictable for the defender (the human attacker doesn't know either, but the AI-controlled attacker does). The defender can hardly intercept at the final spot, while the attacker doesn't need to do anything – just wait for the AI to collect the ball.
2. SM animation frames are basically invincible. Once initiated, the defender almost cannot tackle the ball.
3. Sometimes, luckily, the ball is touched/intercepted by a defender during the SM animation. But before the defending player can react, the attacker automatically takes the ball back – because the AI attacker is just completing its pre-determined program – finishing the SM animation.

For these reasons, attacking in FC26 basically becomes a fighting game – just competing on who has more accurate and faster button combos.

Summary: Defensive assistance in FC26 hasn't evolved; it's been removed. Simultaneously, attacking SMs have evolved to a new level – chainable, 100% success rate, nearly untackleable. So, it's perfectly normal that FC26's defending is a pile of crap.

Let's talk about what many average players actually expect, starting with defending: I control one midfielder, occupying a position on the pitch, blocking a ground pass route from A to B; and I constantly move based on the passer's run to always be in a position to intercept passing lanes. I control a defender, constantly tracking, pressing, not diving in recklessly. As long as my CB is in a reasonable position, pressing L2 + X (Tackle) should trigger reasonable AI assistance to help win the ball or disrupt the dribble/shot. What's unreasonable? If my CB is behind the ST, spamming X will result in a tackle from behind or a shirt pull, conceding a penalty or getting a card – I accept that. But I absolutely do not accept that defending now requires a QWOP level of micromanagement!!! I just don't want to play anymore. I'd rather go back to FC25 and get my 60th Division 1 Title. I'll come back whenever FC26 is no longer a pile of crap.

Side Note: Why does EA's football game get worse and worse?! Look at the history of US companies; it's utterly normal. EA's board and management are likely finance people, only interested in profit, probably don't watch football, and aren't fans. As mentioned, the specific FC development management are likely either legacy students or products of the US "happy education" system – basically brainless. Meanwhile, to cut costs, EA 100% outsources FC programming to Indian contractors. Know the characteristic of Indian management? The Chairman says: I want to land on the sun next month. The Indian CEO says: No problem, Boss! I'll send you the PPT "100 Steps to Land on the Moon" tomorrow. See the problem?!

One side doesn't understand or like football (Americans prefer NFL and MLB), only caring about profit growth. The other specializes in producing "The Emperor's New Clothes." How could such a combination possibly make a good football game for billions of fans worldwide?! For the Indian outsourcers, "appearing to complete the task" is enough. You want Skill Moves? We'll add them. You don't want such strong AI pressing defense? We'll remove it, along with the defensive assistance for human-controlled defenders. Simply put: The外包 side just blindly changes the code based on EA management's whims. So every year, the new release gets trashed! It takes months of complaints before they figure out what to fix. And it still gets progressively worse.

EA has completely abandoned the philosophy of football! Football is an 11-player game, not a game about one star player with invincible Skill Moves. If it were really like EA's version, real-life football would eventually become an individual sport.

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I forgot to mention since I’ve been writing this post for so long: FC26 is essentially using increasingly prevalent Skill Moves (SMs) with a near-100% success rate to achieve instant acceleration—so much so that it’s practically rendered the original sprint button obsolete. At the same time, FC26 has truly removed defensive assistance, forcing players to rely on the traditional sprinting method: starting slow and gradually building up speed (even the toggle for "sprint speed based on button pressure" does nothing). Trying to chase down these instant-acceleration SMs with this outdated sprint system is nothing short of an exercise in futility.

That’s why FC26 actively encourages mindless SM spamming. When a mechanic boasts 100% success rate, invincibility frames, and instant acceleration to break away from defenders—who needs tactics, formations, or anything else? Why not just make the game a contest of who can input the most commands?

Behind this design choice lies EA’s profit-driven motives: by aggressively incentivizing attacking play, they push more players to spend money on microtransactions, boosting their revenue.

But come on! The majority of football fans aren’t esports pros. They don’t have the reflexes for such mechanical inputs, nor do they have this obsessive need to beat everyone. What we want is a video game that simulates real football. Most of us rarely get to play the sport in real life, so we turn to virtual pitches to connect with fellow enthusiasts. EA, can’t you just leave Season Mode and Club Mode alone? Let these modes stay true to real football! You can keep all the "fighting game" mechanics in Ultimate Team (UT) and Rush—just let the FC series retain a shred of genuine football joy! Otherwise, countless football fans will lose their virtual paradise, and EA will lose a massive player base.

P.S. If EA insists on encouraging SMs in their "fighting-style" modes, the least you can do is add defensive-exclusive SMs for defenders—like the Thomas Flair, or those iconic moves from Shaolin Soccer.