5 rating drops to legendary players on the FIFA series

Over the years, football has been graced by certain players who have lifted the profile of the game, making it an ethereal experience to watch them in action, something like what the Santiago Bernabeu faithful did when they applauded Andres Iniesta off the pitch after his performance saw the Los Blancos lose to their arch-rivals at home.

Anyone who has the faintest idea about football will know that it takes something truly extraordinary for that to happen in an El Clasico which finished 4-0 in favour of the Catalans. But such is the effect legendary players have on the beautiful game that loyalties are forgotten and the usually partisan audience are reduced to mere spectators taking in and admiring the experience.

Unfortunately, good things cannot go on forever and it is always sad to see such stars lose their brilliance over time. The decline of athletes is inevitable and while some have the luxury of declining gracefully, others see drastic nosedives in form and fitness seeing them going out of favour with their clubs and national teams.

In this article, we use the ratings on the FIFA series to chart the careers of some legendary footballers who have seen sharp declines in form and fitness through the years after reaching the highest of highs with club and country.

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#1 Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho seen celebrating his goal in the infamous 3-0 win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeuseen celebrating his goal in the infamous 3-0 win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu

One of the most naturally gifted players to have graced a football pitch, Ronaldinho in his prime was one of those players who really made football look like the “beautiful game”. So precocious was Ronaldinho’s talent that apart from being the best player on the planet for a number of years, he was one of the select few players who had the honour of a standing ovation from the Santigo Bernabeu faithful after Real Madrid received a 3-0 humbling at home on the back of the Brazilian’s virtuoso performance.

There was a time in the mid-2000s when Barcelona’s No. 10 took teams apart with skills conjured up with such nonchalance that it made football look genuinely simple at the highest level. On the FIFA series, Ronaldinho reached his peak in FIFA 06, where he was the best player in the game with an overall rating of 95, one point higher than Cristiano Ronaldo’s rating of 94 which makes him the best in FIFA 17.

The Brazilian ruled world football for a couple of years after the release of FIFA 06, consistently being rated over 90 on FIFA. His decline saw his ratings taking a nosedive after FIFA 10.

Winding down his career, the Brazilian moved to Milan and later to his native Brazil as suitors on the European continent dried up. His last appearance on the FIFA series was in FIFA 15 with a rating of 78, a far cry from his heydey of consistent 90+ ratings.

#2 Adriano

Adriano was a quick and powerful striker in his prime

Part of the Brazilian “Golden Generation” consisting of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo, Adriano was another high-profile attacker who took Europe by storm. Known for his shot power and physicality, combined with excellent technical ability, in his prime, he was one of the most in-demand strikers in world football. Like a number of other Brazilian imports, Adriano’s off the pitch lifestyle was the main reason for his decline in form.

Playing for Inter Milan in the mid-2000s, Adriano received his best ever FIFA rating with the release of FIFA 06 where he was given an overall of 94, making him one of the best strikers in the game after the likes of Thierry Henry. In the next edition, there was a significant fall in his ratings which fell 88.

The trend continued and the sharp fall continued: the following three instalments of FIFA saw Adriano’s rating fall 8 more points to 80 in FIFA 10, when the striker was supposed to be peaking at the ripe age of 27. Plagued by weight issues and a lack of training ethic, Adriano soon moved to Roma for a season and then to Brazil.

He retired from the game in 2012, with his last appearance on the FIFA series being with Brazilian club Corinthians where he had a rating of 78 at the age of 30. A sad ending for a naturally talented striker who once looked like a natural successor to Ronaldo’s throne in the Brazilian team.

#3 Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were partners in crime at Manchester United but have had contrasting career paths

The Evertonian was signed by Manchester United as an 18-year-old for a then record sum of £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. He has since firmly embedded himself into the history of the club, becoming their all-time top scorer after going past Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 249 goals for Manchester United.

Despite these numbers, it is impossible to deny that the England skipper’s career has gone through a painfully slow decline with his pace deteriorating, a dodgy first touch and the inability to play with the incision required of a Manchester United No. 10. It wasn’t always like this though, a few years ago Rooney was spoken in glowing terms and was touted to be one of the best players in the world.

Rooney’s career can be effectively charted out using FIFA statistics. As an 18-year-old, Rooney was rated at 87 in FIFA 05 and reached a career high rating of 92 in FIFA 07, when he was also the best player in the game. This coincided with the time he and Ronaldo really started gelling as a partnership at Old Trafford with the pair regularly notching up 25+ goal seasons.

The ratings started declining soon after his partner in crime left the Red Devils. He received a rating of 87 in FIFA 09 which remained till FIFA 14 apart from a minor increase in ratings in FIFA 12 when he breached the 90 barrier again. Wazza’s decline had become apparent by the time FIFA 15 was released.

His abilities were rated at 85, partly due to Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and the one-paced nature of football under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. By the time FIFA 17 was released, Rooney was a mere shadow of his former self, rated at 83 and looking at an Old Trafford exit in the summer after not being able to breach double digit goalscoring figures as a striker for Manchester United.

#4 Iker Casillas

Iker Casillas had an inglorious exit from Real Madrid and now plays for FC Porto

Jose Mourinho was probably the first to recognise the Real Madrid stalwart’s decline from a world class stopper to one prone to making rookie mistakes. Although unwelcome at the time, the Portuguese incumbent took the decision to drop Casillas from the Madrid lineup in favour of Diego Alves.

Mourinho’s successor, Carlo Ancelotti reinstated him to the Champions League lineup where despite a mistake-riddled season, Real Madrid managed to win the Champions League due to Sergio Ramos’ heroics.

Once upon a time, the current Porto FC goalkeeper was the safest pair of hands in world football. In FIFA 06, the 24-year-old Madrid goalkeeper was rated at 95, by far the best in the game. After a small drop in ratings for a couple of seasons, Casillas was again rated at 91 in FIFA 09 with the 90+ trend continuing for another season in FIFA 10.

FIFA 11 saw Casillas drop a point to 89 and he stayed in the 88-89 range till FIFA 14 where Jose Mourinho demoting him to the bench saw his overall drop to 86. In FIFA 15, the season Real Madrid won the Champions League, the stopper’s rating dropped further to 84 and now at 34 years old, there was little scope for improvement.

‘San Iker’ left his beloved Madrid and move to Portugal to play for FC Porto where his ratings dropped further to 82. Now 36 years old, the Real Madrid legend is in the final stages of his career with Porto and is rated at 82, a 13-point drop from his peak rankings of 95 a decade ago.

#5 Thierry Henry

Henry’s legendary contributions for Arsenal have been immortalised in a statue outside the Emirates stadium

One of the best strikers the Premier League has ever seen, Thierry Henry was the focal point of the Arsenal team which went through an entire Premier League season undefeated in the 2003/2004 season. A perfect combination of pace, power, technique and the audacity to think of and execute the seemingly impossible, the Frenchman was an absolute terror for Premier League defences.

In a fitting tribute to his abilities, Henry was the best player in FIFA 05, rated at an astronomical 97 with a potential to reach the 99 mark. More realistically rated in FIFA 06, Henry was still one of the best in the game with an overall of 92. The next two editions of FIFA saw him stay at the 90 mark with FIFA 08 also being the year he made his move to FC Barcelona.

Henry’s first drastic drop in ratings came in FIFA 09, where a five point decline saw him move to the 85 mark. The inevitable downward trend had started for another legendary career and Henry recognised this, moving to the NY Red Bulls by the time FIFA 11 was released.

In the the 2011 instalment, Henry received a rating of 81, which was further downgraded to 78 in the subsequent edition. HIs rating remained at 78 until his retirement from the game in FIFA 14, by which time he had also made a hero’s return to Arsenal on loan in 2012.