Kevin De Bruyne—a man who needs no introduction, especially to football fans who’ve seen him command the pitch for Manchester City and Belgium.
But while his passing, shooting, and football IQ are never in question, it seems EA Sports has put his pace under the microscope, and the result? Well, let’s just say De Bruyne himself isn’t impressed.
Some Man City players had their ratings revealed for the upcoming FC25 game in a video on Man City’s youtube channel. Rodri, KDB, Ake and Doku took turns guessing where they stood in terms of their FC25 rating amongst other City players.
Kevin De Bruyne has been one of City’s standout players since his arrival, whether thats on the game or in real life. The Belgian has had outstanding consistency, especially in terms of assists.
He sits second in the all time assist standing for the Premier League and has managed to rack up 15+ assists in ever season since the 19/20 season, including his injury marred 23/24 campaign.
This consistency was also rewarded in game by EA. De Bruyne’s card maintained a 91 rating for 5 seasons straight, only for the streak to break this time around.
His rating sees a minor drop by 1, to 90. But the clip that has gone viral from the Man City video is when De Bruyne discovers his pace has plummeted from 72 to 67.
Visibly disappointed, the Belgian doesn’t mince his words when it comes to criticizing the rating, “I think they took this when I was on crutches last season.” The comment got a laugh out of his teammates and fans alike.
The large downgrade is a real kicker. KDB’s pace has always hovered around the mid 70’s range, with his highest being 77 in FIFA 19. His newest card sees his pace drop into the 60’s for the first time since FIFA 11.
Sure he’s not known for his blistering speed, but a five point drop? 72 pace is respectable but a large deduction like this seems uncalled for.
Seriously his pace is about 10 below what it should be every year
— jamo🏴🏴 (@Jxmomc) September 12, 2024
Anyone who’s followed De Bruyne’s career and watched him play will know that speed isn’t exactly what he’s known for, his mastery lies in his ability to dictate the flow of the game.
Unlocking defenses with precise passes, whipping in world class crosses and firing long rangers at times are all what form the major chunk of his game.
But this doesn’t take away from the fact that the Belgian is still quick in transition, and has a bit of speed about him.
EA have rewarded the Belgian in his strong areas with solid stats, leaving his passing and shooting untouched at 94 and 87 respectively. But in the virtual world of football, pace is king, and even a passing maestro like KDB is bound to feel the sting of being labelled as slow.
It’s easy to speculate why EA have decided to dock KDB’s speed. He didn’t play as many games last season, missing a major chunk of the season due to a hamstring injury for which the Belgian had to undergo surgery.
And when you are sidelined, pace is often the first thing to drop. Another reason why his pace has dropped significantly is that the midfielder is ageing, at 33 the Belgian isn’t one of the young guns anymore, and maybe he doesn’t have the same speed in those legs.
Nah but fr tho, his pace has went down. And tbh it's understandable since he is 33 now.
— ATIHUMAYUN (@ahnaftahmid04) September 13, 2024
EA is notorious for giving players a massive drop not just in pace, but also overall rating once the players turn 30 and continue on from there.
In recent FIFA games, every player on the pitch is expected to keep up with the pacy wingers, including the midfielders who are supposed to be quick in counter attacks in the game. A slow player in game often becomes almost unusable.
Even KDB knows this. In the same video, he jokes about how his teammate Rodri, who also suffers from a lower pace rating (70), and how he might ironically become overpowered in the game because of his high all round stats and 91 rated card.
Despite this dip, KDB’s card remains one of the best in the game, and only once we see the card feature in the game will we know if his passing and shooting can make up for any lack of perceived speed.
And in real life? Well, if you’ve watched De Bruyne on the field you know that he still moves with purpose, elegance and control– whether EA chooses to acknowledge that or not.
