#5 | John Stones - 2021/22 Performances

  • Thread starter Thread starter MAG
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
yeseye said:
View attachment 40628Absolutely ridiculous by Stones to back away here and pass back to Steffan when there is a easy pass to Cancelo to his right!
What is it with players these days afraid to pass it forward ?
It’s not rugby ffs!
Click to expand...
Because just out of shot is Luis Diaz quickly closing that option down. As soon as he makes the pass to cancelo there's nowhere from him to go, he would be under intense pressure on the half turn back to goal and no options. From there he has to either dribble past a player and seriously risk losing it in our own third, aimlessly go long across the pitch which inevitably hands them back possession or go back to the keeper with Salah and Mane even closer to him who will close the angles and force steffen to punt it. What stones did was absolutely fine, he can't expect the keeper to kill a ball dead when he clearly has to sweep it to the left and release.
 
Elegance personified. I hope Dias being back doesn’t automatically shift Stones to the subs bench for the foreseeable again.
 
He's looking like he might be our only option at right back for the first leg of the CL semi-final.

So even if it was just a really minor twinge, he absolutely had to come off. No point risking him in a match where we had cover.
 
I hope he's back before the end of the season. He's our best centreback and has been deprived of game time this season due to our use of Cancelo on the left.

Chances of him playing the next leg are slim to none but I'd feel much more comfortable if he were.
 
Our best centre back, by far. He has the perfect mixture of emotion and calmness in his game. He takes risks but he knows what he’s doing and is always communicating. When he’s fit, he should be playing. Simple as.
 
Had he stayed on the pitch we would not have , at least, conceded two goals.Hope he recovers soon.
 
Kadour75 said:
Had he stayed on the pitch we would not have , at least, conceded two goals.Hope he recovers soon.
Click to expand...
Not sure I agree. If fit, sure. But if your body's not giving you what you can usually rely on it for, it's very easy to make mistakes.

He looked decent tonight despite clearly having to slow to walking pace wherever he could (class being permanent and form - and fitness - temporary) but still, there were a couple of shaky moments. He stays on the pitch, maybe his injury gets worse, maybe he makes a mistake that gifts them a goal, and his body and his confidence both take a hit.

For me, he's our most complete centre-back. I think the others look better alongside him because his game's versatile enough to play in a way that complements them. I'd play him every big match he's fit for.

And he's our third choice right back at the minute, which is worrying given our second choice right back is our first choice left back (surely we need to bring in a full back in the summer?). So, Kyle and Joao being unavailable, I get why Pep started John. Even semi-fit he has a lot to offer.

Really hope it's not a lengthy injury. He deserves to be involved in the run-in.
 
Arguably our best defender , however injury has left him averaging just 20 games a year for us over the time he's been with us.

Recently signed a 4 year contract that will net him £50 million (£250k pw) in that period. No one will match that, so he is happy to rotate as necessary.

Third best earner at the club.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Unread Posts

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

SIGN UP
Back
Top