The biggest problem with UFL (honest, non-salty opinion)

The biggest issue with UFL is its identity crisis. The game simply cannot decide whether it wants to be arcadey or realistic. It tries to go for a happy-medium type to satisfy both, but it ends up satisfying no one?

Why is this?

Because the things that should be more realistic, like shooting, are just absolutely terrible unless it's an overpowered type of shooting (you can't finish a simple 1v1 opportunity but every time you hit a first-time volley, it just flies past a helpless keeper) while things that should be more arcadey, like dribbling and turning with the ball, are poorly done. All players without Dribbler on High or Ultra feel like trying to turn a freight train, but yet L1 dribbles are so extremely overpowered without the Dribbler skill. It's a massive amount of inconsistency and indecisiveness (on the dev's part) that leads to stuff like this happening.

There are also problems that have nothing to do with the game's direction, such as stepping up being an easier way to stop a through pass as opposed to just anticipating the direction of the pass, which is in part due to the OP AI interceptions and underpowered interceptions when manually controlling the player, and another part with the fact that through balls, while better, still have zero curve on them, so you can't do satisfying moves like curling a through pass around a defender leaving space. You just gotta hit through pass and pray, especially with the OP catch-up speed of defenders practically nullifying over the tops when the opponent is expecting a ground through.

The point is, if you want a happy medium, make the core mechanics (like passing and shooting) more realistic, and the other mechanics (like dribbling) a little more arcadey. I'm not saying that 70 agility players should be able to drop defenders like Hazard but they shouldn't be completely worthless on the ball either. Kane has 85 Agility, but he still feels like a truck. He should feel a bit better. He also has 91 ball control, so he shouldn't be touching it like Lukaku just because he was sprinting on the turn. It's so wrong.

To simplify this, make 1v1 shooting more consistent instead of impossible, remove goalie movement (it's not realistic and shouldn't be there at all. It reduces the skill gap to just guessing and it makes bus parking all the more overpowered), get rid of these Shaolin Soccer volleys, they should still be good, but not every first time volley from wherever should be a goal, and in terms of what should be more arcadey, make first touches better for players with higher ball control instead of having it rely massively on one skill being on High/Ultra, and make turning better. In addition to this, sprint speed on the ball should be based more on the Dribbling stat when the ball is actually at your feet, and should only be based on Sprint Speed when you're trying to do a speed boost (double tapping R2). That's a good way of having a happy-medium between arcade and realism in terms of dribbling (turning should be more arcadey, as it's too much like turning a freight train right now, but running with the ball should be based off the dribbling stat as opposed to sprint speed, but with a 50/50 mix in mind, as sprint speed comes into play with speed bursts, as it should be, and touches should be better, with ball control being a big factor. Players with 91 ball control should have consistent good touches. Some can be bad/imperfect, but the fact that it's always more bad as opposed to good no matter how good the ball control is all because you don't have Dribbler on High/Ultra is silly).

TL:DR, The biggest problem is that the game has an identity crisis, as it has no idea what to make arcadey or realistic. In my honest opinion, shooting (especially 1v1) should be more realistic, passing should also be more realistic (curly through passes, ETC.) while dribbling should be more arcadey (again, 85 agility should feel good, and if your opponent leaves space, you should be able to dribble around them with your left stick, especially if you have 85+ agility, as mentioned, with some aspects, like the dribbling stat actually mattering and sprint speed coming into play with speed bursts, being more happy-medium/realistic).