5 | John Stones - 2022/23

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BM96 said:
Maybe the comments are right about him not starting because of not being on pre season tour, but he was fit and both Foden and Gundo started against West ham. Right now it looks like he is 2nd choice rcb, they must be regretting that new contract at the moment.
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John Boy will be back. We will never regret giving him a new contract thank you very much!!! :-)
 
I hope you are both right as I think the best partnership at the club is Stones - Dias. It just looks currently like they offered him 250k a week then Pep decided he needs a right foot left foot combination at cb. Which has left him fighting Dias for his place.
 
B\connellblue said:
Far superior Player to Ake and when fit should be starting .
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He is in certain areas of his game. Where I like Ake is his pace to cover situations, which Stones doesn't have to the same degree. On the ball and generally Stones is better, but Ake really stepped up last season and now is a player I'm more than happy to see on the team sheet. Good "problem" to have.
 
BM96 said:
Maybe the comments are right about him not starting because of not being on pre season tour, but he was fit and both Foden and Gundo started against West ham. Right now it looks like he is 2nd choice rcb, they must be regretting that new contract at the moment.
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Possibly because of his injury issues but when he’s played he has been pure class and i was a big critic of his in first 3 seasons. Not going pre season hasn’t effected Foden but then again he adds more to any side. Suppose Pep being fair to Ake but ironically Dias’s best form for us was on the left alongside Stones. He’ll get his chance and hopefully can stay fit for a good while once he does.
 
skillman said:
When fit, he'd be the first starting centre back if it was my choice. Which it's not.
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I agree - he’s on the same level as Ferdinand and Terry, but will never be regarded as highly because he’s constantly making way to accommodate egos. Rotating £50m centrebacks sums up the state of the modern gam£££.
 
John Stones is night and day a better player in every aspect of the game compared with Ake.

Stones after a difficult period had matured on and off the field and has become a leader, his only issue is keeping fit and healthy.
 
Pep made a comment yesterday about Stones not playing because he ‘could not be with us in USA’. What the hell do we make of that? Unlikely Stones will feature for England if he isn’t playing.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Pep made a comment yesterday about Stones not playing because he ‘could not be with us in USA’. What the hell do we make of that? Unlikely Stones will feature for England if he isn’t playing.
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Southgate was still calling him up at the beginning of last season when he wasn't playing, so I don't think his England place is at risk just yet. There's hardly alot of challenge for CB spots is there?!

Wasn't Pep's quote talking about why Nathan is playing rather than why John isn't? That's a subtle but important distinction. Nathan has played reasonably well in the opportunities that he has had to play, where John was unavailable, so naturally he is probably front and centre of Pep's mind.

If last season taught us anything it's that they all need consistent playing time, because one or two injuries could be a disaster and we don't want rusty players having to step in with no match practice. John's time will come soon I'm sure.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Pep made a comment yesterday about Stones not playing because he ‘could not be with us in USA’. What the hell do we make of that? Unlikely Stones will feature for England if he isn’t playing.
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it means that he needs some catching up to do physically and tactically before he is ready to play 90 minutes, i guess. Ake playing well doesnt help his cause but he will have plenty of game time if hes healthy
 
Stones against players who run at him is not ideal especially when Walker was having such a bad game too and couldn’t cover. Poor game from him today. Newcastle definitely made the most of that side of the pitch.
 
Millwallawayveteran1988 said:
Stones against players who run at him is not ideal especially when Walker was having such a bad game too and couldn’t cover. Poor game from him today. Newcastle definitely made the most of that side of the pitch.
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He did fine - generally shepherded them into the centre of the pitch where the midfield anchor should have been to engage them. Rodri was more of an issue today.
 
Millwallawayveteran1988 said:
Stones against players who run at him is not ideal especially when Walker was having such a bad game too and couldn’t cover. Poor game from him today. Newcastle definitely made the most of that side of the pitch.
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Stones is a great centre back.
He is a decent right back.
He isn't both at the same time, unfortunately, which is what he was being expected to do today.
 
Given his minimal preseason I probably would have given him the full Barcelona match rather than starting him in this one. But of course with Aké's injury he'd have ended up coming on anyway.

Cracking player, not necessarily at his best today, but part of a defence that wasn't quite at it as a unit.

Absolutely has to stay fit now though, as it looks like we're without both Ake and Laporte in the (hopefully) short term.
 
Looked understandably rusty today although the system with inverted full backs gave him no help whatsoever vs ASM

With Ake and Laporte injured he now has the chance to resume that indomitable partnership of 20/21 with Dias
 
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