I struggle greatly against m@a into archers

If I'm playing as Franks and goes up against a meso civ, I find it hard to defend in feudal. Archers don't quite make sense and only skirms is risky because enemy have eagles. I'll need to have scouts and skirms to defend but that's a lot of food which delays Castle. Also the m@a can mess me up because quick walling takes a lot of brain cells and they can weaken or kill the first few scouts I make.