#5 | John Stones - 2021/22 Performances

[Eccles Blue]

My only fear is that one day he kills two birds.

As long as it is metaphorically and one of them is Savic and the other one is Ronaldo that’s fine by me!

 

[domalino]

I love the fella, and am so glad it looks like we'll get all his prime years.

Incredible progress from where he was a few years ago. Always had the talent but gave the impression there was some vulnerability there, both physical and mental, that meant we couldn't quite rely on him.

But he's a total beast now. Obviously been looking after himself, getting body and mind into their best condition. It's not that he never makes mistakes any more - everyone does - it's that he's reduced them massively and, if something does go wrong, you no longer get the impression he's going to fall apart as a result. So calm and collected, on and off the ball, and increasingly showing plenty of leadership attributes too.

I wonder, if Ferna does leave at the end of this season, is there anyone better placed than Stonesy to fill the gap in the captains team?

Captaincy under Pep is more about off the pitch stuff and Stones seems pretty happy just being one of the lads from what I’ve seen - he’s not mentoring people or being the hub of the players community.

When Pep does eventually leave though, and if a non-Spanish manager replaces him, I would expect him to take the armband. He’s the right age, right temperament, right quality.

I think he’ll be England’s next captain too.

 

[Dazzle84]

Ake is our best defender aerially.

Ake has had a couple of good games where he's shown his quality. He's got a long way to go before he's considered better than Stones and I'm an Ake fan

 

[OB1]

Ake has had a couple of good games where he's shown his quality. He's got a long way to go before he's considered better than Stones and I'm an Ake fan

Stones is a better all round player but Ake is City's best header of a ball, in both boxes.

 

[WallyA]

I think Stones is actually the best CB out of the 3, his game has developed to the point where he has no weaknesses, and everything is a world class strength.

Compared to other CBs (in Europes top 5 leagues) he ranks up in the elite of the elite (Across the last year)

Dominant Aerially: 99th percentile in aerial duels
Dominant Passer: 99th percentile in pass accuracy
---> And he makes passes forward often, 84th percentile in passes to final 3rd
Rarely dribbled past: 88th percentile
Dispossessed: 84th percentile
Carrying the ball forward: 99th percentile


There are many stats to look at but I think for a Pep defender I consider these to be some of the best in addition to the eye test of course.

In comparison while Dias and Laporte are doing really well, they fall short a little on some of these metrics relative to Stones.

Dias for example slightly beats Stones in passing metrics, but is currently in the 34th percentile in aerials duels (remember this is over a year) and 51st percentile in dribbled past and has been dispossessed more often, 66th percentile.

Laporte is the best passer in every way, is also rarely dribbled past and carries the ball well like Stones.
He is a little closer to Dias in terms of being dispossessed more often, and is very good at aerially duels (79th percentile), just not Stones good.

This is a little stats heavy, but it shows why I can see why maybe Pep might go with Stones and Laporte again. There are of course intangibles that stats can't show like Dias' captaincy ability, but right now, as good as he is, he has room to improve.

Just gonna leave this here again lol, as some stats on Stones are coming out, I threw this up in January regarding how dominant he has been for more than a year.

 

[MCFCFanTX]

This man is a big game player. He needs more respect in world football!

 

[SebastianBlue]

Captaincy under Pep is more about off the pitch stuff and Stones seems pretty happy just being one of the lads from what I’ve seen - he’s not mentoring people or being the hub of the players community.

When Pep does eventually leave though, and if a non-Spanish manager replaces him, I would expect him to take the armband. He’s the right age, right temperament, right quality.

I think he’ll be England’s next captain too.

You’ve come a long way from berating me and calling me embarassing for suggesting Stones could become as good as Kompany. Glad you came around.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

To my mind, John is the classic example of a player who was good, for sure, who had potential, but whose career absolutely would not have developed at anything like the rate it has done had he not been with the group of players that he's been with, and the coach he's been with. I'm pretty sure he knows it. I'm not talking about the cups he's won, but his general nous as a footballer — his positional sense, his sense of when to commit totally to a tackle and when not, his confidence in his ability to distribute the ball intelligently, his communication with his fellow centre-half and full backs. All of that. He was merely a good centre-half at Everton, with some serious doubts about him. He is streets away from that now.
It's the more impressive in that his head wasn't in the right place for quite a while, his form was dreadful, and he came back from all that.
When you think how Stones got absolutely done by Falcao in that match against Monaco, way back in early 2017, I just don't see that happening now. Yes, he'll be beaten by forwards, as any central defender will, but not at that level of naivety.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Incidentally, something I've just looked up, which I was not fully aware of. Aké, Laporte, and Stonesy are all twenty-seven. Rúben is twenty-four! A baby.
Virgil Van Dijk is thirty, by the way. Just for info.

 

[Indaparkside]

Incidentally, something I've just looked up, which I was not fully aware of. Aké, Laporte, and Stonesy are all twenty-seven. Rúben is twenty-four! A baby.
Virgil Van Dijk is A **** by the way

Edited for accuracy