I have been playing FUT since Nov 2014, and have 3 average teams (Seria A, Bundesliga, BPL) with 120,000...ish saved, but the next tier of player's that would improve my team are ridiculously expensive (Di Maria,Robben,Ribery,etc.) It seems that to improve my teams, i will have to spend REAL money on either Coins or points, and in my mind that just doesn't seem right?

I see what you mean - ive played people who I know I can beat - put it into seasons and matched squads and yes probably win top fifa coins. Give them a few OP players in UT and they're scoring long shots that you might only get 1/10 with your cheap squad. I just find that you have to put the extra effort in to nutralise those OP players

You could say that about any player regardless of price. Take Doumbia for example, he is a relatively cheap player but there have been games where my opponent has scored multiple goals with him and got the win. It isn't "pay to win" because in the end you still have to play the game and be better than your opponent. I played a guy last night that had Ronaldo and Messi up top with sol Campbell, Hierro, and van der sar in the back. He quit before half time when I was winning 2-0. I also futscoped him (dramaonyoutube) and he was terrible. I find this to be the case more often than not. The dudes with teams worth tens of millions of coins are easy wins. It's when I play a team of silvers that I get nervous

Honestly, it has happened way too many times that I play some guy with a super expensive team, and I lose fifa ultimate coins. The match facts will be something like 15 shots for me, while he has 2. Possession 60% vs 40%. One goal from an impossible angle with Messi or Ronaldo and I'm already fucked because they have top tier defenders that make impossible clearances... There is definitely a big element of pay to win here. Not saying it is decisive, but it's there.