I think
@Chris Davies said it best a while ago. ‘The game is both too fast and too slow at the same time’
(Oh no, you've tagged me now... Here I go.) The balancing of the game is bizarre. Without sliders/mods, players shuffle along like OAPs on a skating rink at times, yet passes fly like the ball's made of plastic and being shot out of a cannon.
(Not to mention weight/power transfer and momentum when passing isn't a thing any more - there's no initial phase of ball acceleration, it's just instantly moving like a bullet - and that's despite their fancy "ball deformation" animation where the ball crumples in a frankly silly manner on each pass as if it's been hit by a sledgehammer.)
Yet during a transition, players develop speed beyond their attributes and fly like rockets to... go and stand still, on their designated spot.
And shot physics are completely random (not just "varied", which is a good thing - or dependent on positioning, ball speed etc. - but random). The same situation can produce a cannonball shot or a ball that floats away like a shopping bag in the breeze, behaving nothing like a football.
The physics are (compared to reality) the worst they've been in a very long time - genuinely since previous generations of consoles. Not just weird and fake but manipulated to ensure the "right" outcome to make the user feel good.
Why (despite all the processing power)? Simple. Because they're no longer football-game physics. They're "fun physics". And I can only see them doubling-down on this approach, and then having the
absolute brass neck to call them "realistic" in all their PR - which I really, really wish someone in the gaming press would have the balls to call them out on, because it's an
out-and-out lie.
We all know what the game looks like, but it's good to be reminded sometimes...
...and remember, IT WAS OBVIOUS IN THE TRAILER. Which shows how little of a shit EA give about this - because it's not impacting sales. The majority don't care.