This, for me personally, is so true. It's why I "switched" to FIFA 13 - although it's worth noting that A) I've never really "switched", I buy both games every year and I think I always will, or I feel like I might be missing out on something that needs a bigger time investment to shine, and B) ironically, I rediscovered PES 2013 earlier this year, and it's probably my favourite PES game of all.
For me though, FIFA 13 deleted the rails that I always felt shackled to in the older games and in PES, and it didn't glue me to the floor at any point - something PES still does to this day - and I felt truly in control. Over time, of course, you realise the ways in which you aren't.
(Also, at the time, the lack of those "rails" made any kind of tactical importance more difficult to code, I'd imagine.)
My biggest complaint with the old-school PES games was that I didn't feel in control of my own players, especially against the better (AI) opponents. It's clearly not the same for everyone (or PES wouldn't sell), but that feeling of being able to move your player wherever you wanted without interference, and not feeling like you could only score when the game "allowed" you to, was breathtaking for me - and that freedom difference is still there (again, for me, personally), and it's why PES is still an exercise in frustration, for me.
PES 2017 sounds great, and the previews sound much more promising than the FIFA ones, so I just hope that full-control-feeling is there this year. If it is, and there's a bigger variety of goals, I'll be very happy (I'm pretty sure FIFA aren't looking at fixing the tactical issues, so I don't think I'll be happy on the FIFA front this year).