Roflmao, who need a soft AT when you can have a hard AT tier 2. Build a pak. 222 is a light unit that counter light units, it is a dedicated AT light unit countering dedicated AI light units. The unit isn't aimed to counter by itself medium vehicles but you can use it in combination with other AT units. Too hard for you? and you call yourself a good player 
Like Katikif says, it has been meta for Allied faction for months facing early Puma/Luch/Ostwind. This is probably why it doesn't seem incredibly hard to manage for people playing Allied factions.
The 222 cannot counter anything other than a M20 or M3, it's extremely fragile. And the problem is that Pak's aren't supposed to counter light vehicles. They aren't mobile so unless one accidentally drives deep into the arc of the gun (but not to deep were it can just circle around) it ain't going to die.
Relying on 222's won't work for countering light vehicles.
Why do Volks and grens need this? Grens aren't supposed yo counter light armor because you already have paks, 222s, and Pshrecks in t2 to do the job for you. If you choose to not tech and use your factions at, you have Noone to blame but yourself. You dont see usf lt players or t1 soviet players complaining that they get hard countered by vehicles.
Except none of those things were made for countering light vehicles. The 222 can't do it because it's to fragile and dies extremely easily to concentrated small arms fire, the Shrek is easy to kite with, and yes it meant for supporting your other things but in a close 1v1 or 2v2 game you won't have enough a lot of shreks out in the opening minutes of a match.
Shreks are only good for fighting light vehicles if your enemy is really bad at micro or just get's unlucky and drives around a corner. You are far, far better off investing those munitions into mines. And I see USF players complaining literally every 5 minutes on this forum for months so lol.
And Soviet T1's lack of anti-vehicle can be compensated for by call in infantry such as Guards. Or just building T2 or rushing T3. Since the Quad shits all over enemy lights and the SU-76 can do that as well.
So in other words, they are stuck doing exactly what usf has been doing? USF has to go captain tier, since their LT tier gets murdered by 222s and okw period. Getting counters is part of the game. You have no business complaining that you have to get counters for certain units, especially when you have easy access to counters for vehicles that also cost fuel to use.
LT tier is dead because Relic decided to give USF the option of getting a light tank, a squad wipe machine, and access to an AT gun + Captain Zooks at a price very close to that of the LT. Nobody is going to take a HT or light scout vehicle over a light tank ever. OKW has had what it's had to counter T1 since day 1.
If you make the decision to take an extended tier 1, then you must be willing to reap the consequences when the allied player shuts you down with light vehicle play. You got countered, it's part of the game, and all factions have to deal with it.
Except going T2 doesn't save your ass at all. Like rushing T2 as fast as you can and making a Pak won't save you versus a good light vehicle micro'er. Going extended T1 hasn't been an option for weeks.
Overrated? What? Pshrecks allow you to counter all allied armor short of the is2 and isu152, and thus are shit? You can't attack move with them. Use them to support your paks and other at sources, not a blob of long distance death.
Pshreks allow you (at a high cost) to counter the armor of really bad players very easily. But against good players who kite, crush, and support their armor they aren't a smart investment versus spamming mines or other things. There is a reason Volk spam is dead as a door nail and you only see Pgren shreks rarely.
As long as allies need more micro for their lategame, they will be weaker in the lategame. That is just a fact. Okw and ostheer have straight up heavies within their normal tech, not to mention mediums that scale into heavy-mediums with vet.
Soviet's don't need more micro late game, USF does, but Soviet does not. And Ostheer/OKW have straight up more heavies, but those heavies aren't hard to counter at all. The SU-76 can easily stave off even the heaviest tanks in numbers. Soviets maaaybe had a worse late game pre-patch but now? Nah.
Axis have better scaling units (veterancy + stock upgrades). Scaling is the key word, and it directly translates to a lategame power spike.
Almost all East Front units have mirrored veterancy stats dude. The myth of artificial better scaling through better vet is such a tired meme at this point. Shocks and Guards have fine scaling and Shocks don't need to upgrade for their weapons. Grens simply aren't useful later on without their LMG, similar Volks have zero reason to exist without their shrek or Obers without the LMG.
You say stock upgrades, I just say mandatory upgrades :/
You are projecting. There is no "bitter" feelings from the ye Olde days. Axis has a lategame advantage, which can be proved quite empirically with the statistics from 4s and 3s, where the lategame comes much faster.
3's and 4's are broken because the maps are unrelenting shit. This is coming from a player who is experienced in both those game modes and is in a clan of people experienced in those. 3's and 4's will always be shit as long as the maps are small and encourage camping.
You still haven't given a valid reason for grens and Volks to get at rifle upgrades stock that are far superior to that given for conscripts doctrinally. Hell, you still haven't given a valid reason for this upgrade to be needed at all.
2 AT rifles for 60 muni wouldn't be superior, and 3 AT rifles for 90 wouldn't either. And those upgrades would give you the
option of allowing yourself to counter light vehicles easier at the
cost of late game scaling. AT rifles just keep the performance versus infantry the same rather than taking away like before the PTRS changes.