Chiellini's Juventus teammate Andrea Pirlo has also been downgraded by a point despite still going strong at the grand old age of 35. Again, we feel this one has a touch of harshness to it and that's especially true when you look at his pace. The Italian legend's pace rating has been slashed from a reasonable 55 in last year's game to a snail-like 43 this year. We understand the midfield maestro is slowing down a bit in his old age, but seriously? That stat is going to make him basically unusable against a team with any degree of speed to it. There's no way Pirlo has lost THAT much zip to his game over the last 12 months, while his overall points score should have stayed at 85. He's still pulling all the strings in the Juve midfield and helped his club win a 30th Serie A crown and reach the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, scoring twice in 10 appearances in Europe and being named in the UEFA Europa League Team of the Season. The saying "he gets better with age" is often used to describe Pirlo's abilities, through EA must have missed that memo.
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.
