I'm really struggling with how up-and-down the game speed is, and how this directly causes massive holes in midfield (and makes the game a constant running-box-to-box basketball-style affair like FC24 was).
Whenever game speed goes up, the ratio seems to be that defenders get 10% quicker and attackers get 30% quicker, which just ruins the game completely.
Some games with sim mode enabled play beautifully at lower levels - and I feel myself about to get my wallet out and pay for the full game (my 10hr trial is about to expire)...
...then I have a game against Bolton (League One vs League Two), and BOTH teams get a speed boost, which makes the game feel so simplistic that it's simply turning a speed dial to make better teams harder to beat. Suddenly, 24's skating and twitching is back.
Tried turning SIM mode off and on, changing speed sliders (which just exacerbates the space in midfield even more)... and at that point, I just feel like I'm fighting a losing battle, trying to wrestle the game back to realism.
To top it off, I scored this lovely, precision-shooting, unique-feeling goal*...
(*But look how completely passive the midfield is, zero engagement - just traffic cones.)
...and then, scored pretty much the same goal again.
That felt pretty cheap, pretty unrewarding and it made me stop trying to like the game, for tonight. But I'll try again tomorrow. There's something good in there, but I'm really having to work hard to bring it out.