R1 Dribbling Revert Has Broken Defensive Balance (Post-Nerf Feedback)

After the last tuning update that nerfed R1 dribbling and buffed defensive jockey speed, the game finally felt balanced. You could counter spins and over-dribbling, especially at higher levels, without relying on double-teams.

I understand the “park the bus” meta was likely the reason for reverting the nerf — but that setup was already manageable in the previous version. In fact, the older balance actually reduced the effectiveness of parking the bus. You didn’t need to fill the box with defenders to stop a counter; you could manually jockey, track runs, and make smart defensive reads on your own. That created a much more natural ebb and flow — defending felt skill-based instead of purely reactive.

Now that R1 dribbling has been reverted and made faster again, defending feels completely out of sync. Every player on the pitch moves like a top-tier dribbler, and it forces constant double-teams just to contain basic movement. That removes the uniqueness of technical players — the whole point of having someone like Messi or Vinícius Jr. is that they should feel special, not that every generic winger can pull off the same evasive moves.

The previous patch struck a perfect balance between offensive creativity and defensive control. Please consider revisiting that tuning — it finally rewarded smart defending without killing expressive play.

Curious if others at higher divisions or competitive play are feeling this too.

Edit: Also — kind of funny timing that the new Season Tifo is literally called Cyclone. Feels pretty fitting, given how every attacker spins like one now. Hopefully EA takes the hint and calms the storm a bit. 🌪️