i feel u and been there, it sucks tbh, abbasid tend to shine in this situation, very good economy to survive the damage, and camel riders that can catch up to the enemies faster
it does suck for other civs yes, since the only counter is a spearman that is so slow and never catch up to the knights blub
it would be nice if they added ability for infantry to dig trenchs or make the ground muddy to slow down everything that comes in that area, but i highly doubt they’d add such a mechanic