City fans writing John Stones off too early?

Shaelumstash said:
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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I know you didn't but he did have two absolute shockers in those games, good passing or otherwise.

I agree it is key to how we play, I disagree that Stones is a key part of it. Laporte tries to be much more progressive with his passing than Stones.
 
Too early? Didn’t we sign him prior to Pep arriving?

I haven’t abandoned Stones but I’m not going to judge other people who have, after they’ve watched him for over 3 years.

His battle is obviously mental, whereas Kompany’s was physical. Does he have the strength to overcome it? I’m not sure, is the answer.
 
Only Pep knows if it's time for writing off, Stones....or Jesus or ...
 
Others have said this but it appears mental with John and not physical. I only hope he does not have major mental issues as you can’t wish that on anyone. As a player he had 6 months where is was totally amazing, then I think he pulled his hammy against Leicester away and it’s been downhill since then. Maybe his confidence took a huge blow due to the injury!? I don’t know but from a city point of view I think it’s time to move him on, if it’s mental a change of scenery / people may do him the world of good.
 
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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Agree with a lot of that - though I would always maintain that the Kompany-Laporte partnership was much sounder defensively than Stones-Laporte. But that's now in the past anyway.
Be interesting to see whether Stones can force himself back into the reckoning and, if so, whether he can be effective alongside Laporte, who is obviously pretty much fixed as first choice for the foreseeable future.
The Stones-Otamendi partnership is also interesting - wonder how the stats would look if they went back through the six months or so prior to Laporte joining to include the start of the 17/18 season? Not that I would ever want us to go back to that pairing now!
 
Airbags Optional said:
Others have said this but it appears mental with John and not physical. I only hope he does not have major mental issues as you can’t wish that on anyone. As a player he had 6 months where is was totally amazing, then I think he pulled his hammy against Leicester away and it’s been downhill since then. Maybe his confidence took a huge blow due to the injury!? I don’t know but from a city point of view I think it’s time to move him on, if it’s mental a change of scenery / people may do him the world of good.
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Didn't he split with the missus last year, he seemed affected by that imo.
Whatever, he's just not a good fit at City, we should part company, for both him and City.
 
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