For many years now Lionel Messi has been the darling of EAs award-winning football series, and the little Argentines face plastered on the games cover for the past two instalments. This years performance has been uncharacteristically tepid from the worlds former number 1 the preceding years performance is all a players FIFA rating can be based on. Once the man at the centre of Barcelonas dominance in Europe, Messis recent decline has also resulted in the decline of the whole club as a European power. Messis 28-goals in 30-league-games is still a huge achievement in its own right but compared to the insane 46-league-goals he scored last year you can see why there is a case to be made that the Argentines rating should go down by a point-or-two. Where Messi used to be the man to either carve open a defence with an exquisitely weighted ball or whip a shot in with his exceptional boot, there have been games this season when the Barcelona forwards impact has not been felt. No-one is for a minute suggesting that he isnt still one of the worlds greats its just the fact of the matter is this year his achievements have been eclipsed by the man at the top of this list (no prizes for guessing who it could be).
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
