5 | John Stones - 2024/25

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RayCTID said:
Liabilty is a too strong word but he can no longer be fully relied upon. I would move Ake on first before Stones as we are likely to get decent money for him and with Stones' contract running out at the end of next season and he could still provide some cover.
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Agree liability is too strong but the fact he is on a huge deal, 250k a week plus and is missing for half of the games , is that allowable?

Or should we be making a very hard and tough decision for a much loved player?
 
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Eccles Blue said:
I totally understand this reaction what I was reacting to was the remark about him always being available for England.
I apologise for my rudeness but I hope you understand that it was (over) reaction to people always bringing up the fact that he played for England.
Yes he did but he wasn't injured. As I have reiterated over and over again, he does not go out of his way to injure himself, it happens, it happens to others as well but somehow the fact that JB plays for England gets held against him.

If you (or I) were good enough to play for England would we turn down the opportunity? No we wouldn't, well I wouldn't but then it would be a blooming miracle if I played for them me being a woman!! *lol*

As I say I am sorry I told you to do that running thing that was extremely rude and disgusting of me. :-)
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You will be rude at me too blue. Don't worry it's allowed. Last night really done it for me a couple of minutes in and he collapses like the twin towers. The guy is good when he's fit but that is as rare as a hens tooth. One of at least six who need to be thanked for their service and set free.
 
Playing him in a game we were never going to turn around is utter madness, and should have had a rest. He should have been kept on the bench for Sunday which is a much more important game.
 
come-on-barney said:
Playing him in a game we were never going to turn around is utter madness, and should have had a rest. He should have been kept on the bench for Sunday which is a much more important game.
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Easy with hindsight, even this team is capable of beating anyone, sadly we did not turn up last night but Stones and the senior defenders had to play for me.
 
Keeper! said:
Easy with hindsight, even this team is capable of beating anyone, sadly we did not turn up last night but Stones and the senior defenders had to play for me.
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I agree, we had to make sure we didn’t concede a goal early doors and maybe sneak a goal and that would have given them the jitters. Alas, we did concede an early goal as well as losing Stones. He’s been a great player for us, the times he has played. Unfortunately that hasn’t been as many as it should have been. There will be some interesting discussions during the summer months I should think.
 
Williecaballerno said:
But it is all happening at once. So who are you moving on?
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I'd start with Ake and Stones straight away. They are basically one player taking up two squad positions.
Don't think Dias is as bad as these two but if his fitness doesn't improve over the remainder of the season, then he can go too.
Pep shouldn't have waited until practically the whole defence are injured on a regular basis.
They didn't all start being injury prone at the same time.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
TV said 17th different back four of the season tonight!
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We're 25/26 games into the season. Look at how many Arsenal and Liverpool's best centre backs have been involved in this season in all competitions (excluding the FA Cup for some reason).

Saliba - 34 game (2865 mins)
Gabriel - 35 (2825)

Van Dijk - 35 (3147)
Konate - 28 (2177)
Gomez - 17 (865)
Quansah - 17 (757)

And now compare that to ours:

Akanji - 30 (2357)
Dias - 23 (1673)
Stones - 19 (1091)
Ake - 19 (966)
Khusanov - 3 (234)
Simpson-Pusey - 5 (222)

Liverpool and Arsenal are clearly seeing the benefits of having a fairly settled CB partnership, and in particular, their best player being fit literally all the time. Meanwhile it's telling that for us, the CB who has played the most is the one that probably would be playing the least if everyone was fit.
 
Father Paul said:
You will be rude at me too blue. Don't worry it's allowed. Last night really done it for me a couple of minutes in and he collapses like the twin towers. The guy is good when he's fit but that is as rare as a hens tooth. One of at least six who need to be thanked for their service and set free.
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No, I’ve got over the annoyance I felt last night. :-)

Yes, he went down but by golly he put as much effort in to the short time he was on the pitch as some of them did(n’t) in 90 minutes.
 
Both Stones and Ake are contracted through 2026 and 2027, respectively. Even if they are determined to stay and see out the remainder of their contracts, can the club carry both? Can the club continue to include them both in Champions League squads?
 
Gabriel said:
Both Stones and Ake are contracted through 2026 and 2027, respectively. Even if they are determined to stay and see out the remainder of their contracts, can the club carry both? Can the club continue to include them both in Champions League squads?
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One of them has to go and then we need to bring in 1 top class CB and Cambiasso.

If we can get one out of the door ( wages a big issue) then I could see us going for Kimmich despite his age/wage issue, cover for DM and RB
 
I love Stonesy so much but these injuries are killer. Availability is an important attribute and a part of reliability. Idk if the club can rely on him for a season.
 
In the last 5 years, the most league games he's appeared in, in any one season, is 23.

Within those 5 years, are seasons where he's featured in 14 and 16 games, and assuming he's injured again now, he's probably on course for similar if not less this season.

Thats just simply not acceptable for a player who would be the first name on the team sheet if he didn't have injury issues.
 
chris85mcfc said:
In the last 5 years, the most league games he's appeared in, in any one season, is 23.

Within those 5 years, are seasons where he's featured in 14 and 16 games, and assuming he's injured again now, he's probably on course for similar if not less this season.

Thats just simply not acceptable for a player who would be the first name on the team sheet if he didn't have injury issues.
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that last point isn't strictly true though - look at last season, he was on the bench for 8 of the final 10 league games

Availability due to injury is undeniably a problem but he's spent many many games available and just not being picked
 
northmr8 said:
that last point isn't strictly true though - look at last season, he was on the bench for 8 of the final 10 league games

Availability due to injury is undeniably a problem but he's spent many many games available and just not being picked
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He wasn't being picked because he wasn't fully fit. He was however fit enough to make a place up on the bench and perhaps play some part of required.
 
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