City fans writing John Stones off too early?

[cleavers]

Hope he has a stormer

Get a smile on his face and some self belief back

True, but I'm hoping the defence and keeper have next to f**k all to do, in an easy win.

 

[lmhblue1]

Sounds like Pep is open to keeping him, but it's far from certain and depends on Stones/transfers?

To me it sound like the conversation at the end of the season is going to involve Pep explaining to him that his position in the pecking order probably won't be changing anytime soon and that he should probably move on.... Saying he "wants what's best for him" sounds like an indirect way of saying that, at least.

 

[Petethemancinleeds]

If the Nolan's can still go cruising the ship hasn't sailed yet for John!

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Quotes from Pep's press conference:

"I will continue to say that I’m more than delighted with John as a person, as a professional, everything. What I want is the best for him. We’ll speak at the end of the season about what's going to happen.
Sometimes my wish is not the wish of the players, or the wish of the club. I'm honest with them and the moment I will feel that we have to change any player, we’ll talk to them.
He’s a young player. We want him to be consistent, train regularly and recover. There are players who can play every three days for 11 months and it's not a problem, others struggle more and we have to find the key to training and playing every three days."

Not a resoundingly positive message for Stones

 

[wythenshaweblue£££]

Hope Stones can get back to form we had been a test player for us over the years no doubt he needs to improve but let’s not bin him off just yet.

 

[mikemcfc]

I'm rooting for Stones to get back on par and succeed, hopefully here, but if not, I wish him well whatever he does.
I've never seen him not try and that has to account for something.

 

[sh249]

Yeh it’s true, they showed the stats on MNF a while back and the Stones and Laporte partnership have an incredible record.

Interesting.
Had a quick butcher‘s - only stat I could find was one from the BBC (from after Laporte got injured in August/September 2019, Premier League only). They have our win % with Stones and Laporte at 73% from 15 games, which is notably down on Laporte and Kompany (91%) and Laporte and Otamendi (88%).
I actually rate Stones and agree with a lot of the original post. I‘m just not sure about the Stones-Laporte partnership - think they‘re both better suited to playing alongside someone a bit more aggressive.

 

[peoffrey]

I don’t think Stones has got a future under Pep. He’s lost confidence and I’ve seen little to indicate that he’s part of the future plan.

Classic centre half pairings compliment each other very well. As said, Stones and Laporte don’t seem to do that.

 

[adelaideblue]

always thought he actually compliments laporte well not so Otamendi. not long ago he was our best player for the first quarter of the year, just needs to stay fit

 

[Keeper!]

What are John's current injuries? always a mystery, makes me very suspicious what these"injuries" are!