The biggest problem with assists

I actually feel Pro Passing isn't bad at all. Assisted shots now miss the target, and through balls can go over the touchline if you get the power wrong. I have absolutely no qualms with that.
The one thing EA really should have fixed is assisted defending, or the pressure buttons. Being able to take the ball away without any effort at all and without your opponent able to actually do something about it is a huge flaw. It encourages quick passing and discourages skilled dribbling and slowing down the play. It's what makes the midfield battle resemble wrestling. It's why positioning and intercepting have become next to useless. It's also why the AI can be so annoying to play against, and why it's so easy to keep a clean sheet even on legendary. The AI can't ping pong pass like a human can, and it refuses to play keep ball, instead always going for the gung-* all-out attack approach, in other words easy to defend.
It is possible to evade pressure with L2/LT and a bit of luck. But it's way harder than it should be. Defending is easy and requires little to no thought, whilst in real life it's probably the most difficult thing to do. The very least they should do is get rid of the second pressure button. What they should do is reintroduce the standing tackle and make jockeying more important. Tackling should be about timing, anticipation and player stats, not just keeping one button pressed all the time.
I don't want to start a new Manual v Assisted war, I don't care what people play, they should do whatever they enjoy. I do however feel that fixing the defensive system could go some way to making the game more enjoyable for both assisted and manual players.|||I agree, I'm a defender myself and even the most challenging situations can be solved by R2 and X. Although, I would thought the balance will take a few years to perfect so I will give EA a few years.|||I think the standing tackle is too strong right now. All you have to do is sprint towards the ball and you will take it away. Makes skill moves/dribbling useless as you said.|||

I agree, I'm a defender myself and even the most challenging situations can be solved by R2 and X. Although, I would thought the balance will take a few years to perfect so I will give EA a few years.

Overall defending is a bit too easy, especially against the AI. Against my friend who is a pretty quality FIFA player it becomes at least a little more difficult. Hopefully we can see overall improvements in the future though.|||

I agree, I'm a defender myself and even the most challenging situations can be solved by R2 and X. Although, I would thought the balance will take a few years to perfect so I will give EA a few years.

Overall defending is a bit too easy, especially against the AI. Against my friend who is a pretty quality FIFA player it becomes at least a little more difficult. Hopefully we can see overall improvements in the future though.

lol @ your sig. :)|||

I agree, I'm a defender myself and even the most challenging situations can be solved by R2 and X. Although, I would thought the balance will take a few years to perfect so I will give EA a few years.

Overall defending is a bit too easy, especially against the AI. Against my friend who is a pretty quality FIFA player it becomes at least a little more difficult. Hopefully we can see overall improvements in the future though.

Yeah I have to say it's been much better when playing other people. Hopefully the new stamina model will stop those pressure abusers online, as I probably won't spend any time in Career Mode with AI like this.|||There have been many changes to the code since the demo. Expect many, if not all, of the major issues to have been ironed out. There is absolutely zero point in making a final judgement on any game based on its demo.|||

There have been many changes to the code since the demo. Expect many, if not all, of the major issues to have been ironed out. There is absolutely zero point in making a final judgement on any game based on its demo.

Thing is this has been around for ages. EA haven't fixed it for years, why would they suddenly do so in these six weeks? Your post is valid but doesn't belong here, this is more of a long-term issue.|||You're completely correct. I had a few threads open at once and that reply wasn't meant for this thread :)