When i was younger we would all pile into my mum and dads house and play whatever football game was going around - as far back as kick off games - even emlyn hughes soccer. There could be 6 of us in the same room playing competition mode and no one was a dick and if they were they were told. For example one of the kick offs had a bug on when saving a penalty - if you held the button down and didnt let go the keeper would save it every time - that was banned and it was policed by the non players.I don't tend to play football games online, but I've been bored of getting frustrated playing against the AI, so I gave it a go.
I had a few games of FUT 21 (next-gen) and really didn't enjoy it, but primarily because every single player I came up against had clearly spent (real) money on their team. There I am with French Ligue 2 players, against (twice in a row) teams containing Ronaldo, Messi AND Maradona. All of them at once.
So I tried myClub 21. First game, I was amazed. Really slow, real strategy in every pass that my opponent hit. He took his time, and so did I. When it finished, we'd had a single shot each, because there was a real midfield battle going on all the time (and you could see how important player positioning was, both my AI players trying to mark, and my own channel-blocking moves).
I thought "wow, I could really enjoy this, who'd have thought it?" Then I played a second game... Against a guy playing a 2-2-6 formation. He would continually just smash the ball 100yds from defence to attack, to a player who would take the ball down perfectly (because I was playing a standard formation with four defenders), turn, and score. Every time my defenders got close to him, I'd try to tackle and they'd seemingly trip, or bounce off him.
People (outside of Evo-Web) tell me I'm a caveman, always playing offline, and that it's a bit sad. Yet there is such a huge part of the community (for both games) that don't really care that much about football and are just playing to win, and it becomes (in FIFA) "who knows the most trick combos and has the most money to spend on packs" and (in PES) "who knows the most exploits" or "who can ping-pong pass the best by just hammering the X button".
But that first game on PES is keeping me interested in trying for a little while longer.
The trouble with online is people find these bugs and ways to win and they dont give a shit - plus there are financial incentives now so its all about the win - no matter what. Thats why football games against strangers will never be fun