Why do your teammates not run in FC 26 Pro Clubs?
Your teammates make more runs this year than they did last year. They are also less willing to make the one their Role says they should.
From EAUpdated 1 September 2026 · from 415 archived players
The number of attacking runs went up and the reliance on you asking for one went down. Both halves were deliberate.
They run more, and they obey less
EA increased how many attacking runs players make in FC 26, and says the point was to lower how much the game depends on triggered runs. Those runs also go into open space more consistently than they did.
The bigger change is who decides. Players now pick the best run available to them instead of following what their Role dictates, and EA gives two examples: a Winger cutting into the box when the chance appears, and a Wingback pushing forward into space ahead of them.
That is why the pitch can look wrong while working better. You are watching for the run your teammate’s Role promised and the run is happening somewhere else.
Support, and the option you keep missing
EA rewrote the positioning logic so the ball carrier always has somebody available as a passing option. It calls the result Balanced Build Up: run options and close support at the same time, instead of a team that has committed to one of the two.
Look for the short one. If your habit from FC 25 was to hold the ball until a runner finally went, the short option is now there earlier and the runner is going anyway.
Offside runs were improved as well. Attackers hold the line better, and they come back from an offside position faster when they get it wrong.
Why the back line feels stretched
Two published changes push the same way. The defensive line no longer automatically pushes as far up the pitch to catch attackers offside, and defenders now man mark opponents when they are close and inside the box. EA tags both as new generation features, so a club playing on PS4 or Xbox One is defending under the old logic.
On top of that sits Competitive gameplay, which Clubs is locked to. EA lists less AI defending and looser defensive lines among its differences, along with fewer automatic tackles and blocks. A defence that used to cover for you covers less.
The practical version: your centre-backs will follow a striker into the box and leave the space in front of them for somebody arriving late. Somebody has to take that space away, and in Clubs it is a human.
The counter that sees a run
A good run mostly does not show up. It drags a marker, it opens a lane for somebody else, and the goal goes down beside two other names. The one measurement that catches part of it is the second assist, which is the pass before the assist.
| You are better than | Second assists / 90 |
|---|---|
| 50% of players | 0.00 |
| 60% of players | 0.16 |
| 70% of players | 0.26 |
| 80% of players | 0.38 |
| 90% of players | 0.62 |
| 95% of players | 0.82 |
| 99% of players | 1.30 |
Half of every measured player records under 0.00 per 90 minutes, which tells you how rare the counted version of this is. EA tracks it and publishes it nowhere.
The run itself is still invisible. Nothing EA sends says a defender followed you, so treat this figure as the smallest visible piece of a job that is mostly unmeasured.
Positioning and Competitive detail from EA’s FC 26 Pitch Notes.
Questions people ask
- Why do your teammates not run in FC 26 Pro Clubs?
- They run more than they did. EA increased the number of attacking runs and lowered how much the game relies on you triggering them, so the run is often already happening somewhere you were not looking.
- Do you still need to trigger runs in FC 26?
- Less often. EA says runs now go into open space more consistently and that players pick the best run available instead of obeying their Role, so a trigger is a way to ask for one particular run and no longer the only way to get any.
- Why does the defence look so open in FC 26 Clubs?
- Two published changes stack up. The defensive line no longer pushes as far up to catch players offside, and Competitive gameplay, which Clubs is locked to, runs less AI defending and looser lines by design.
- Will a winger still stay wide in FC 26?
- Not always, and EA uses that exact case as its example. A Winger can cut into the box when the chance appears, and a Wingback can push forward into space ahead of them, where both would previously have held their shape.
- What does a second assist show about your runs?
- It is the pass before the assist, and EA counts it without publishing it anywhere. Half of all measured players record under 0.00 per 90 minutes, so a run that drags a defender and starts the move shows up on that counter and on almost nothing else.
Measured from 111,194 players and 46,975 matches, kept since 17 September 2026. EA returns the last ten. Look up your own club and see where you land.
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