Starting to believe it’s on the players rather than EA for the abusive dribbling meta

The new meta now seems to be taking your most agile player and spinning in the middle of the park until your opponent lunges in wrong or takes someone out of position and suddenly you’re in on goal.

However, this isn’t new and it was actually a discussion on this very sub when it was a meta a couple of games ago:

(https://www.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/s/RhziL3ewDi)

https://www.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/s/FVIGe7hjC2

and many more examples throughout the years.

I wanna have a go at the people playing this way rather than criticising the people who are trying to defend against it, which is what some sections of the internet are doing. No, the game isn’t coded well enough to be able to defend against it consistently because of this little thing called “friction jockeying/defending”). Since Hypermotion was introduced, you cannot consistently take the ball off a player while jockeying at the same time. You press tackle and it’s usually a second too late as the opponent has already turned you. On top of that, you can be body-to-body with the opponent and try to take the ball, but for some odd reason, it just doesn’t register. I looked for some reference towards it in the Pitch Notes before release, it got nothing so we’re stuck with this for going on 4 years.

To the people who struggle to break someone down centrally and start spinning in a circle, hoping your opponent makes a mistake: you don’t know ball. Simply put, there are various options all over the pitch to help counter a low block and in using the right players rather than who is meta, you can find some success.

A long ball over the backline could do wonders for you. Using 2021-2024 Man City as an example, either one of Rodri or KDB often found themselves with solid low blocks where midfielders pack the edge of the box. Using their great passing range, they would loft one over to anyone of their attackers and cause chaos on the box. One thing I give props to EA for this year is that you can replicate that. Instead of picking the meta CDMs who don’t really have good passing traits, try a midfielder with great passing stats to be able to do that.

You can go wide. Out to the flanks, get a cross in. Doesn’t even have to be an aerial one as the triple tap while holding the left trigger works wonders this year. Instead of meta wingers who have exceptional pace and skill, try a winger with gray crossing stats that can get you those chances.

Manual runs. You’d be surprised how many people who play the game that don’t know how to trigger manual runs. People my younger brother’s age or even people who play casually and regularly enough. A manual runs is more than just pushing someone up with the intent to pass. It’s also a space creation technique to occupy defenders. That gets the midfielders off your back while you’re trying to fashion a chance.

There are various other ways to attack rather than forcing a mistake. Forcing a mistake admits to me if not others that you really can’t create beyond simple recycling the ball. Hopefully EA have a way to fix it, and follow up on their stated commitment to working on the game throughout the year.