Giorgio Chiellini has gone DOWN one point according to EA's official player ratings. That's despite the fact that the Juventus and Italy defender has just enjoyed a successful 12 months, so this one perhaps is a little surprising. Chiellini was a rock during his club's Serie A-winning campaign as he kept 19 clean sheets in the league to help fire The Old Lady to an incredible 30th title. But EA have decided to downscale his score from last year's 85, which we can only imagine has something to do with Italy's poor World Cup outing. The Italians were knocked out of the group stages at the finals in Brazil while Chiellini himself was caught up in controversy as he was bitten by Uruguay's Luis Suarez. Of course, this would have no impact on his rating. It might also be because of his age. Chiellini is 30 now and nearing his retirement years and is no longer the best defender in Serie A, having been voted the league's best in 2008. He has definitely lost a yard of pace as well, which has been reflected in EA's score as his sprint speed has decreased from 79 in last year's game to 76.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
