fans are more than capable of coming to their own conclusions by actually watching games. John is the weak link in our defence and has an awful lot of work to do to get up to the level required. Today he is a great footballer, but not a great defender as witnessed by a match going fan who ignores (doesn't even read the gutter press).I don't know why I'm surprised to see it on here, but you'd think City fans of all people wouldn't be so easily swayed by idiotic commentating.
Today he's been fucked over by Cahill playing France in behind twice, Dier going completely AWOL in midfield and not tracking runners, and Jones not actually doing anything at all.
fans are more than capable of coming to their own conclusions by actually watching games. John is the weak link in our defence and has an awful lot of work to do to get up to the level required. Today he is a great footballer, but not a great defender as witnessed by a match going fan who ignores (doesn't even read the gutter press).
As ever, @Akiva is spot on with his/her assessment. Absolutely streets ahead of what the media pundits and sports reporters offer us. Thanks, and keep up the good work.Let me just throw out there that, maybe, his footballing ability and relative defensive weakness (which is overstated, see below*) works better for City than for England.
It takes an inordinately stacked team like France to really highlight the middling competency of this England side, who struggled for possession and any semblance of control against a team setup to hit on the counter-attack. Dier was dire, Cahill over the hill, the Ox more like a bull in a China shop. The whole side were in disarray and yet there he is, the fall-guy, John Stones who is singled out for abuse by a media hungry to berate anyone connected with City.
Yet behind all that is the ignored reality that Stones carries an immense amount of his manager's confidence because he's exactly the kind of CB his system needs. England might need a lumbering hulk who can wall off the gaping holes frequently left by Messrs Dier and Cahill, but City need a footballer who is still capable of stepping up in those few (like perhaps 3) occasions that possession is lost and a defensive shift is required.
(*he won 4 aerial duals, more than any other player on the park. Similarly, he made more successful clearances (4) and interceptions (3) than anyone else, while maintaining a 92% pass accuracy, England's best by a measure)
I remember us signing a 22 year old midfielder from Hamburg in 2008, who looked quite ordinary for a while....
He did have a great debut too.How about that 23 year old CB from Porto in 2014, had a great debut and looked to have world class potential.
The whole problem with this, is the transfer fee we paid, because he's English (as we may do for Walker) & he's worth nowhere near what we paid, not even half, & never was. He wasn't first choice for Everton, because he wasn't good enough.
If we take that fee out of the equation, we have a youngish player who may or may not become a top player in the coming years.
That's fine.
Accept it for what it is AND SIGN A FUCKING CENTRE BACK in case he doesn't live up to it.
Problem solved. Otherwise: maybe PROBLEM.
It's that fucking simple.