The draw of sports games is always recreating and improving on the real-life results of your team. Your favorite club may be languishing in League One, but in FC 25 you can lead them to Champions League glory.
The problem comes when the gameplay doesn't match up with the way the sport is actually played. This is the issue currently plaguing FC 25 as five-at-the-back formations have come to dominate all PvP.
The New Normal
Elite football teams rarely use a five-at-the-back formation. Some do, but most utilize a back four with various possessional rotations to create overlaps or midfield overloads. In FC 25 though, the back five is dominant.
This is largely due to the way the roles work. Back threes are too wide, with wide midfielders failing to track back. Back fours can struggle because teams often want an extra attacker and a back four can be exposed to the counterattack.
The result has been the proliferation of back-five formations, especially among elite-level players, streamers, and YouTubers, which has only passed the trend down to the more casual players.
Back five formations keep the three centre-backs compact, allow the fullbacks to push on and support the attack, AND automatically make the fullbacks recover to a solid defensive position when possession is lost.
The over-powered nature of these formations is causing consternation in the community, as those who want to line up in true-to-life formations battle against this trend.
Will EA Patch It?
We are still very early in the FC 25 cycle, and EA often makes gameplay balance adjustments in the first few months of a game.
However, they will need to make some serious adjustments to defensive positioning logic to really balance out the formations.
Patches should continue to roll out until the new year, but this meta may well be in play for a while, if not the entire game cycle.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
EA Sports FC