Yes, really. Yes 2K is riddled with micro transactions in SOME modes, it doesn't change the fact 2K is a much superior GAME all around, as someone who has played both every year for well over a decade and has been involved in the competitive FIFA scene.
Saying you have to pay to have decent players in my team is so incorrect that I have to assume you don't actually play it. Playing through domination leads you to plenty of more than decent players through the token unlocks and auctioning the rewards and between the challenges, set rewards, and regular locker codes it's incredibly easy to make a stacked team.
It is much much easier to build a competitive team and get strong players in myteam without spending money than it is in ultimate team where unless you get epic pack luck, or heavily work the market, you aren't getting a great team without money.
Further evidence that you don't actually play the game is that haircuts don't actually cost money now. But let's not let facts get in the way. Yes, you have to pay for clothes. Those clothes aren't giving you any benefit, they're simply for looks. Clothes cost money in real life as well. And it's not like you don't get free clothes and have to run around naked lol. You get free stuff as you go along.
The depth of gameplay, the graphics, the presentation, the range of modes, the depth of those modes, the commentary, is all easily in 2Ks favour. FIFA's edge is the servers. 2K's servers remain bad. And even then, FIFA's servers regularly come under heavy criticism. Everything else about the actual game 2K wins.