5 | John Stones - 2023/24

[Keeper!]

So are a number of our players Keeper just look at their records , JS 's record isn't as bad as many in the squad.

As I said he was out last year from two hamstring strains and a hip injury this season.

From Jan 2020 to 23 he hardly missed a beat.

He will play many more good games for us Keeper don't you fret or be saddened its part of the game.

if he was only available in 1 in every 4 games in his time at City he would have been shipped off long ago.

Your quite correct in saying that, but that becomes a problem when we have a relatively small squad and play a lot of games.

You can carry a couple of players that suffer injuries but we are collecting too many.

Ake, Stones, Kovacic ,Doku, KDB all miss a lot of football games, we either have to increase the depth of the squad or make changes.

All the players above are superb but we are starting to carry passengers and it's putting huge pressure on the rest.

 

[mancity111]

Your quite correct in saying that, but that becomes a problem when we have a relatively small squad and play a lot of games.

You can carry a couple of players that suffer injuries but we are collecting too many.

Ake, Stones, Kovacic ,Doku, KDB all miss a lot of football games, we either have to increase the depth of the squad or make changes.

All the players above are superb but we are starting to carry passengers and it's putting huge pressure on the rest.

Yes we don't need injuries to any players least of all those that have stood the test of time of a number of years now some you mention above but we have stuck to a program of around 18 -20 players plus academy players when needed for sometime now even prior to the Pep era and it us served us well.

Compare that to the likes of Chelsea and Manure and you can see what chopping and changing does to you over a significant period of time.

We would all like all of our squad fit and well and competing for positions throughout the season but its unrealistic to think that will occur year on year even within a season as we have found out this season.

Our summer transfer window doesn't look that great currently but we have to give it more time and losing a stalwart like Gundy was never going to be easy to replace and assume his role on and off the pitch and when its time to replace like for like we hope we get in enough better like as such.

We all want a fit JS and those players you mention available as often as possible.

To win three titles on the spin a league as difficult as the one we are in ( quite possibly a much harder feat than in the days of Fergie ) , is some feat and eventually we will come up short but we continue to compete year on year and that is all you can ask for as maintaining success is much harder than winning a title or two and not dropping off the perch for an extended period of time as you only need to look at Liverpool , Manure , Chelsea and Arsenal to know that who in the past 10 seasons have won 3 premierships between the lot of them , tow of them winning nought.

 

[skillman]

His left ankle straightened up as he planted it for the tackle. Will be a while, that.

Hopefully Dias sorts his form out and Akanji plays like he did in that second half last night. Luckily we’ve got enough CB cover but he’s still a massive miss.

 

[Kinkladze 1]

Looked like he tweaked his ankle ligaments to me. Hope it’s only a few weeks out.

 

[jimharri]

Frustrating. Very frustrating. The guy just seems unable to go an extended run of games without injury these days.

 

[Bluesince1979]

Very unfortunate last night and totally not his fault. A great saving tackle.

I feel for stones because he should be considered world class but i fear his injury record stops that.
Hes such a fantastic player and his skill isnt in doubt,

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

Time to start thinking about bringing in a replacement

 

[mdj0520]

Time to start thinking about bringing in a replacement

We have 5 centrebacks on the books for this very reason. The fact we don't have a left back outside of Gomez is purely to keep the 5 CBs happy with playing time as two of them can play there.

 

[blueparrot]

Your quite correct in saying that, but that becomes a problem when we have a relatively small squad and play a lot of games.

You can carry a couple of players that suffer injuries but we are collecting too many.

Ake, Stones, Kovacic ,Doku, KDB all miss a lot of football games, we either have to increase the depth of the squad or make changes.

All the players above are superb but we are starting to carry passengers and it's putting huge pressure on the rest.

We have more high level centre backs thatn anyone else.We can cope and Stone isn't going anywhere.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

This is where the rule about keeping the flag down when someone is through but offside is so palpably cretinous.
That said, Johnny doesn't half get injured a lot. Hope he's back soon. For that back line we've got Dias, Akanji, Aké, Walker, Gvardiol, Lewis, and don't forget Gomes (who is not the world's greatest player, sure, but who is a bit maligned on here). Should be enough.