5 | John Stones - 2024/25

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Bit of a hospital pass to Akanji, but then Foden did similar. Passing square like both did will always be dangerous. Biggest problem is that none of our central defenders look comfortable playing a vertical pass between the lines, which is partly down to confidence and partly down to the midfielders not being mobile enough to get into position quick enough to make the defenders’ lives easier.
 
thegoatsthegoat said:
Stones has always been poor without a leader next to him. Kompany or Dias and he plays his role perfectly. He should be the man to step up when he isn't next to a player like that but he doesn't. Of course he plays the ball out well (not today) and treble season came into midfield beautifully. He is now unreliable and hasn't reached anywhere near them levels since. Such a shame, will go out a legend
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Utter shite.

Your post that is, incase I wasn’t clear.
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
You want players to shoot from outside the box. They rarely result in goals.

They got lucky today. The deflection could have gone anywhere.
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I think he was at fault with the pass to Akanji, ultimately it was Akanji who lost control of the ball. Their shot for the goal was lucky in that the ball deflected off Stones but the pass from Foden, dear me, what on earth was that? Overall though, not a good game for Stones, why is it when teams play us, they seem to block almost every shot on goal and yet shots against us get through. Is it our defending? Not defending properly?
 
thegoatsthegoat said:
Stones has always been poor without a leader next to him. Kompany or Dias and he plays his role perfectly. He should be the man to step up when he isn't next to a player like that but he doesn't. Of course he plays the ball out well (not today) and treble season came into midfield beautifully. He is now unreliable and hasn't reached anywhere near them levels since. Such a shame, will go out a legend
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Stones doesn’t come under the banner of a “Legend”……
 
stan bowles said:
Didn't enjoy watching him repeatedly turning away from efforts on goal. You take it in the bollocks if it means preventing a goal.
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Annoyed the life out of me today mind the handball rule as is doesn’t help.
 
I don't blame him for the deflection, that can happen to anyone, but there are times he tries to pick a pass when it would be far safer to just clear the ball. I don't really blame him for picking a pass either as I'm sure Pep has drilled it into him and he's generally clever on the ball, but I thought he contributed to the general nervousness at the back today and that's not ideal from someone with his experience.
 
pbueno16 said:
Put him in the 6 when Dias and Ake are fit because I can't watch the suicide midfield of Kova-Bernardo-and whoever the fuck else is in there anymore
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This is a misunderstanding of the problem. Thr six is not the main problem, our turgid error prone build up is a bigger problem.

The 6 cant protect the back 4 if every player from our team is in the oppositions half and our Center backs are the ones spending thd most time on the ball trying to orchestrate.

Where exactly is the 6 supposed to go lineup? Behind the Center backs?

The problem is predominantly Pep's turgid tactics or players who are unable to execute it quickly.
 
WT86 said:
I don't blame him for the deflection, that can happen to anyone, but there are times he tries to pick a pass when it would be far safer to just clear the ball. I don't really blame him for picking a pass either as I'm sure Pep has drilled it into him and he's generally clever on the ball, but I thought he contributed to the general nervousness at the back today and that's not ideal from someone with his experience.
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He has always done that annoying move of holding on to the ball too long. And now Akanji and the other defenders have pocked up that bad habit.

Defenders should not consider themselves playmakers. You should known your 2 options before you get the ball xnd inten.d to move it on in 2 touches top.. No defender should be holding the ball and pointing st players ro move into other spots its dumb.

Moving the ball is what opens the other team. Not your genius. Someone has to explain that to Johnny
 
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He should not play for England this season. The amount of injuries he had, he should be giving 100 percent to club
 
Dax777 said:
This is a misunderstanding of the problem. Thr six is not the main problem, our turgid error prone build up is a bigger problem.

The 6 cant protect the back 4 if every player from our team is in the oppositions half and our Center backs are the ones spending thd most time on the ball trying to orchestrate.

Where exactly is the 6 supposed to go lineup? Behind the Center backs?

The problem is predominantly Pep's turgid tactics or players who are unable to execute it quickly.
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Sadly I think that is correct for the majority of goals scored against us this season. All it takes is a couple of decent passes and we are immediately in a 2 vs 2 or 2 vs 3 footrace. I have watched it unfold all season. Remember how many times in the past we have been rescued by a full pace Walker. We don’t have that last line of defence any more and we don’t seem to have adjusted anything to account for that. Havertz’s goal yesterday was a good example. They transitioned from their own box. It took two passes.
 
Keeper! said:
I thought he was very poor yesterday after looking majestic in midweek, sadly when it came down to out and out defending he was severely wanting.
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I don't get why people just can't say it, if this was any other player most here would be calling for their head. This isn't a young player, he has been here for almost a decade. He had a very poor game
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Sadly I think that is correct for the majority of goals scored against us this season. All it takes is a couple of decent passes and we are immediately in a 2 vs 2 or 2 vs 3 footrace. I have watched it unfold all season. Remember how many times in the past we have been rescued by a full pace Walker. We don’t have that last line of defence any more and we don’t seem to have adjusted anything to account for that. Havertz’s goal yesterday was a good example. They transitioned from their own box. It took two passes.
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It was happening last season as well, although clearly to a lesser degree.

Chelsea away last season was a good example- two or three simple passes and they were clean through.

As bad as it’s been this season in terms of conceding, I think there’s been a couple of games where we’ve got away with one. Brentford and West Ham at home could easily have put 3 or 4 past us.

The declining mobility of Stones, Walker and Ake has been exposed by the sheer number of counter attacks we face now. But having 8 or 9 players camped outside the opposition penalty area, passing it sideways until we lose it is the real issue, particularly when several of the team can’t be arsed running back.
 
Txiki Txiki Bang Bang said:
I don't get why people just can't say it, if this was any other player most here would be calling for their head. This isn't a young player, he has been here for almost a decade. He had a very poor game
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He wasn't very poor. It was his 2nd full game after 2 months out. He was good on the ball, but made it a bit more risky than necessary. Should have passed the ball to Ortega, not to Akanji.

We were a bit arrogant on the ball and got punished. Arsenal have the energy and aggression to press really well. Without Rodri we were going to be vulnerable, should have been more reasonable in our build up play. Hopefully those mistakes will help us avoid mistakes vs Real.
 
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