I think that's an exaggeration, to say the least. Have you fired up your copy of FIFA 2000 or FIFA 2001 recently? Then watch a few videos of them on Youtube, and prepare to be very disgusted.
I find that PES 2008 has the gameplay of a PES game, with much more speed and a few unnecessary tweaks that make it the most unrealistic, easy and tiring (not to say boring) PES to date.
We're talking single player here, of course. Playing with friends is quite different, though I prefer PES 5 or 6 (old-gen) for that.