The thing that gets me is that FIFA always get more critical acclaim despite the flaws in which you mention. Reviewers tend to look at the team licenses alone, rather than individuality with teams/players.
The "other game" does far more with less to work with imo.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy FIFA for the online manual play, but I always buy the other game for offline play. I wish I didn't need to buy two games every year.