John Stones - 2017/18 performances

[OrigamiNinja]

His confidence is shot..... the whole purpose of him playing in the middle of the 3 is to bring the ball out, he's not even doing that anymore. The penny has to drop with him sooner or later or this could be another expensive, defensive flop!

If we stick with the back 3, would you not consider swapping him and VK so Stones sees more of the ball? Seems strange to me that we currently have our ball-playing CB seeing less of the ball than the other two. We've seen VK and NO striding forward into midfield with the ball, surely Stones is a better bet for this? If Stones isnt doing this, then I am not sure what he is doing.

 

[waspish]

Starting to worry about this lad his concentration is poor his backing off when defending is worrying he needs to step up or Pep will end up benching him.

 

[grim up north]

seems he is heading to the top of the boo boy list

 

[Rolee]

seems he is heading to the top of the boo boy list

He's just keeping Jonny fucking Evans' seat warm.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

If we stick with the back 3, would you not consider swapping him and VK so Stones sees more of the ball? Seems strange to me that we currently have our ball-playing CB seeing less of the ball than the other two. We've seen VK and NO striding forward into midfield with the ball, surely Stones is a better bet for this? If Stones isnt doing this, then I am not sure what he is doing.

Problem then though is defensively Stones would get dragged out and would do his usual 'drop deep, drop deeper, drop deeper, don't challenge, wait till he's in the box, drop deeper, oh it's a goal' routine, whereas Kompany and Otamendi tend to deal with the threat more often than not.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

Problem then though is defensively Stones would get dragged out and would do his usual 'drop deep, drop deeper, drop deeper, don't challenge, wait till he's in the box, drop deeper, oh it's a goal' routine, whereas Kompany and Otamendi tend to deal with the threat more often than not.

I agree with your argument but that means we are left with a ball playing CB who doesn't see the ball and a defender we don't trust to defend. Sounds very much like a £50m dud that, doesn't it?

 

[Tevez City]

Hopefully Mangala will be given a chance to compete with Stones

 

[grim up north]

Hopefully Mangala will be given a chance to compete with Stones

?

 

[bluefire1]

He is not reliable if we want to challenge for the title,also hate that he doesnt mark centre fowards tightly just allows them to bring the ball down and make a pass,needs to learn that from Kompany who does that so well.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Hopefully Mangala will be given a chance to compete with Stones

He has been given the chance every day in training and in preseason. Not to mention he was given two seasons to prove himself. He's had far more chances than John by short memories I guess.