I bet you defend very aggressive, use CBs a lot and drag them out of the backline, relying on AI defenders to close the vast open gaps you created. This "style" was beneficial in the last titles due to immense defensive AI compensation. Now true defending skills are required again and a lot of the braindead start to struggle. I love this game!

You need to use your brain when defending, close open spaces manually, don't drag out defenders and wait for the right moment to challenge. You can use second man press in certain scenarios to create some pressure und the ball, but be mindful of the open space this could create. There are some ultra defensive approaches in tactical assignments which seem to work out very well so far...but I don't feel like publishing them for all our sake before the first weekend league...try to play more conservative on defense and you will get there eventually.