I already mentioned the flaw in Pes 2010 that allows weak and slow players like Xavi to lose the ball far too easily to the bigger fellows without any help from the ref whatsoever and I completely agree with you it's very unrealistic. Giving him 99 is not going to mask that flaw because he'll still be bulldozed over the moment anyone comes within breathing distance of him. In Pes 2010 he has 95 dribbling which ,is a very high rating, making him 1 of the best in game but because of a gameplay flaw, if the player is neither fast nor strong, dribbling accuracy doesn't mean much. Remember that Drogba is also incredibly hard to take the ball from but that doesn't mean we need to suddenly give him a high dribble rating. When it comes to ball possession, dribble accuracy alone just doesn't paint the whole picture.
But if you watch some of the Pes 2011 gamescon footage I think you'll find that things seem much better this time around and I have a suspicion that in the right hands Xavi will be 1 of the best at holding the ball without having to resort to giving him 99 dribble accuracy.
I agree with that,
I'm just playing along with the limitations of the game, and maxing his dribbling accuracy to 99 whilst dropping his acceleration to 60, in my opinion, make him feel more like the real Xavi.
That said, it is most certainly a gameplay flaw: the game really needs MANUAL SHIELDING and MANUAL DRIBBLING.
I never said that dribbling accuracy and acceleration is everything. In addition, be it fast or strong, small or slow, the flaw is very general because it is basically impossible to actually dribble with the ball; all we ever do in PES is run with the ball. Even when you have Leo Messi, it just doesn't feels like dribbling, it doesn't feels manual nor precise enough, it is impossible to actually dribble on the spot, it is too easy to run through everyone and score an easy goal.
As for PES 2011, I still have not seen anything that suggests that players like Xavi will be more useful in dribbling terms. The freedom when passing the ball will obviously make players like Xavi more useful, but I think that in terms of dribbling and shielding the ball, that slow dribblers like Xavi will not feel like themselves due to the flaw.
But hopefully, my impression is wrong.