Xavi is another to attest to that theory. The 32-year-old leads the pass success category with 96.2 percent for Barcelona in La Liga. He was at 90.4 for the 2009-10 season, then 94.4 percent for the 2010-11 campaign. His number evened out at 92.4 last season, but there's still a trend to be seen.
Age has a big bearing on the accurate through-ball numbers, too. Roma's ever-romantic vision Francesco Totti, at 36, leads the European standings by a huge margin.
Judging by the numbers, Totti's ability to play an attacker in has increased year after year. He averaged 1.0 accurate through-balls per game for the 2009-10 season, 1.1 for 2010-11 and 1.6 last season. Currently, the Italian leads Europe with 2.3 per contest.
Totti's countryman Antonio Cassano, 30, is in second place, with the masterful 33-year-old Pirlo third on the back of his continued brilliance as Juve's resplendent regista.
