5 | John Stones - 2025/26

K-Bo said:
Don't think he was good last night tbh, at least defensively. Not surprised he got subbed despite being fresh in theory. There was an ocean of space on the left for their first goal, and covering ground looked difficult. Looks like he's lost a yard of pace, felt this when he played CB earlier in the season too.

Not in our first 11 for the forseeable for me, and I don't think he's an option at RB anymore.
Click to expand...
i thought he slowed the whole team down last night, p,s i am only talking last night not writing hm off
 
Love John Stones. Don't love John Stones at RB. He & Bernardo were picked just to rotate possession, with the right wing becoming toothless as a result. That side was also a bit open in defence. Definitely wouldn't mind him at CB though! Stepping up into a cheeky double pivot
 
Retiring from England should have been a condition for him staying here. There's a 5 live interview doing the rounds I see where he's saying he almost retired last year due to injuries despite being professional.

I assume he'll come back injured anyway
 
A truly great player whose resilience does not match his ability.
I will be sad when he goes, but the club moves on.
In Khusanov, Gvardiol, Bah, Mfuni, and others, the future is bright.
 
oldius said:
A truly great player whose resilience does not match his ability.
I will be sad when he goes, but the club moves on.
In Khusanov, Gvardiol, Bah, Mfuni, and others, the future is bright.
Click to expand...
He's been,and still is, a great footballing centre half. He would help us a lot with improving our second half drop offs with regards to keeping the ball.
 
eastmanc said:
He's been,and still is, a great footballing centre half. He would help us a lot with improving our second half drop offs with regards to keeping the ball.
Click to expand...
Agreed, with regard to your opening.
I think we are also betwixt two styles of play currently. We saw the best of that in the first-half on Sunday, but I think substitutions arrived a little later than I would have liked in the second. I think Rico could also have helped with that, either playing him behind Nunes, which would be my preference, or behind a wing replacement. Though we didn't really concede chances, everyone would accept that we didn't really establish control either.
 
eastmanc said:
He's been,and still is, a great footballing centre half.
Click to expand...

I wish that were true but Stones hasn't been great since 22/23.

This season, we have conceded 6 goals in the PL: 5 with Stones on the pitch and 1 without him (a deflected goal vs Burnley). It would be simplistic to blame our defensive problems on him, but he hasn't been in top form for ages now.

Pep seems to agree. We needed to be rock solid vs Brentford in the final 15-20 minutes and Pep didn't sub him on. Why? Because he isn't top quality right now. Even Nunes is preferable to him.

Is Stones finished at that level? No, if he can stay fit for 2 months and plays regularly. He hasn't played regularly for City for 18 months now.
 
Last edited:
alexmcity said:
I wish that were true but Stones hasn't been great since 22/23.

This season, we have conceded 6 goals in the PL: 5 with Stones on the pitch and 1 without him (a deflected goal vs Burnley). It would be simplistic to blame our defensive problems on him, but he hasn't been in top form for ages now.

Pep seems to agree. We needed to be rock solid vs Brentford in the final 15-20 minutes and Pep didn't sub him on. Why? Because he isn't top quality right now. Even Nunes is preferable to him.

Is Stones finished at that level? No, if he can stay fit for 2 months and plays regularly. He hasn't played regularly for City for 18 months now. But he is fit enough to play regularly for England.
Click to expand...

Not sure i follow fhe last point - he hasn't played for England for over a year has he?
 
I said on some other thread that it's easy to lose track of his fitness as he's been out so much of the last 2 years. I've also said we need consistency and he's part of the constant changing of the team that we need to break out of.

It's probably his last season with us. Hopefully he can play a meaningful part as he has to go down As one of the best CBs we have ever had. The CL final win was his and our finest hour. That will never be forgotten.
 
northmr8 said:
Not sure i follow fhe last point - he hasn't played for England for over a year has he?
Click to expand...

Correct. He was out injured nearly 6 months due to that injury vs Madrid and had smaller injuries before that.
 
Gareth Barry Conlon said:
I said on some other thread that it's easy to lose track of his fitness as he's been out so much of the last 2 years.
Click to expand...

Got injured in March 2024 while playing for England and hasn't started regularly at club level since then.
Pep wanted to give him a chance at the start of the season, but the recent injury seems to have changed his mind. Plus Dias has been good recently and is more available.

Edit: starts for England and in the league since April 2024 (last 18 months or so):

11 starts for England
10 starts in the PL.
 
Last edited:
Truth is he has been well looked after by City, mainly Pep behind that,but he has robbed a living for a good few years now, his appearance stats at City are nothing short of shocking really, I have wanted to sit on the fence, but after reading his "I love playing for England" comments, I'm a little bit more bemused than I was before.

Pisses me off the tribe like him and Walker and Grealish not knowing where their bread is buttered, Stones even quoted in saying he has had some of the best moments in his career playing for England.....why?

Best at card school or table tennis and darts?

We all know (when fit) he is a calm and composed player, but the amount of games played in recent seasons is pretty shite, and should count himself lucky he is still part of this squad

Got to be saying bye bye this summer, surely
 
Would be delighted for him to renew on a contract weighted by appearances made, as long as he retires from international football after the World Cup.
 
Nevizade said:
Would be delighted for him to renew on a contract weighted by appearances made, as long as he retires from international football after the World Cup.
Click to expand...
That would quite frankly be embarrassing from our perspective. We don't need to be a charity and act as if hes doing us a favour when he plays for us.

Let him go and Ake, we move forward with Reis, Khus and Bah.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top