City fans writing John Stones off too early?

I think there’s a good player there. His career has gone downhill since the nations league, if you remember rightly that him and Laporte had a great run at the start of last season leaping vinny out of the Right centre back place. Then he saved us against Liverpool which turned the title our way. He was made a scape goat for the nations league defeat to Holland where he did make a mistake and then slated for the Villa goal at Wembley where he lost his footing which can be unavoidable sometimes, I thought he had a very good game against Villa apart from their goal. The media are at fault in my opinion. He should be a potential captain for us and England but has been unfairly treated in my opinion
 
Shaelumstash said:
The stats can only tell you so much, of course. And you can interpret them any way you wish.

I think the stats and the performances show that Stones and Otamendi as a partnership is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't think anyone wants to see that again.

But there seems to be a bit of a misconception among some City fans that our incredible success in the previous two seasons was based on Laporte and Kompany being the bedrock of it, and Stones has been a disaster waiting to happen. It's simply not true.

Stones' record alongside Laporte compares pretty favourably with the record of Laporte and Kompany.

But even putting the stats to one side, my personal view from watching the game is that Stones is our best centre half on the ball at breaking the lines and finding a forward pass in to midfield. I doubt even his biggest critics would dispute that.

Fernandinho has been brought in to centre half for his ability to make those passe. But I think as a centre half, he's made tons of mistakes. But he's a club legend, so people forgive them. If Stones had made the same mistakes, he'd be getting pelters on here.

I love Fernandinho, and he's done his best filling in for us in an emergency. But the OP was about what gives us the best chance of winning the CL this season. In my view, out of the players we currently have in the squad, based on the stats and my own opinion from watching the games, Laporte and Stones is the best chance we've got.
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There was a point a couple of seasons ago where this was true. Not anymore. As his form/confidence has suffered, not only is he not very good at the things hes not very good at (defending), the stuff he was good at, he now struggles with. He takes far too many touches on the ball and our play out from the back is at a snails pace when he gets on it.
 
He’s a player that needs a run of games to gain form, unfortunately for him, he’s also a player that can’t reliably play a run of games because of injuries. You can work around it like we did with Kompany but Stones isn’t an aging 32 year old captain and leader.

We’re not overflowing with home grown talent in the squad so there’s no reason to get rid to make way for others, he should be given every chance to come good but we can’t wait around for him any longer, bring in another defender and then it’s upto him to get fit and rise to the challenge.
 
OrigamiNinja said:
There was a point a couple of seasons ago where this was true. Not anymore. As his form/confidence has suffered, not only is he not very good at the things hes not very good at (defending), the stuff he was good at, he now struggles with. He takes far too many touches on the ball and our play out from the back is at a snails pace when he gets on it.
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I completely disagree. I think I'm right in saying his last two games were Palace at home and Villa in the LC final?

He was absolutely excellent on the ball in both of those games.
 
ninjamonkey said:
He’s a player that needs a run of games to gain form, unfortunately for him, he’s also a player that can’t reliably play a run of games because of injuries. You can work around it like we did with Kompany but Stones isn’t an aging 32 year old captain and leader.

We’re not overflowing with home grown talent in the squad so there’s no reason to get rid to make way for others, he should be given every chance to come good but we can’t wait around for him any longer, bring in another defender and then it’s upto him to get fit and rise to the challenge.
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I think I read that his contract is up in 2022. If this is the case, you either offer him a new contract now, or you sell him now. The thought of him getting another 4 or 5 years fills me with dread.
 
Shaelumstash said:
I completely disagree. I think I'm right in saying his last two games were Palace at home and Villa in the LC final?

He was absolutely excellent on the ball in both of those games.
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My overriding memories of those games were Stones being at fault for both Palace goals and him nearly costing us the league cup. Him playing some nice 5 yard balls in those games doesn't really make up for it.
 
Perfect fit at Arsenal.
Shame that he has lost form and struggles with injury but it is not like he has shown any signs of improvement since 2019.
 
OrigamiNinja said:
Not only is he not very good at the things hes not very good at (defending), the stuff he was good at, he now struggles with. He takes far too many touches on the ball and our play out from the back is at a snails pace when he gets on it.
Click to expand...

Shaelumstash said:
I completely disagree. I think I'm right in saying his last two games were Palace at home and Villa in the LC final?

He was absolutely excellent on the ball in both of those games.
Click to expand...

OrigamiNinja said:
My overriding memories of those games were Stones being at fault for both Palace goals and him nearly costing us the league cup. Him playing some nice 5 yard balls in those games doesn't really make up for it.
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I never suggested it did?

My reply was in response to your suggestion that he's no longer good on the ball. He just as good as he ever was on the ball.

"Nice balls" out from the back are what our entire pattern of play is based on. The build up from the back is absolutely key to how we play, and Stones remains our best defender with the ball in the build up.
 
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