John Stones - 2017/18 performances

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Andrew___K said:
Incredible. Have to retract all my criticism as I've almost lost any hope for improvement this summer. He's so determined, have you noticed the change in his facial expression? Like a different person.
I don't know what Pep did to him, but it works fine so far.
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It's incredible isn't it? I tried to stay neutral regarding my judgement of Stones but definitely didn't have any expectations for any significant jumps this year. You said it well by mentioning that he looks like a completely different person. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a jump in performance in this short of a time in any sport. Fair play to those who were bullish on his progression. I certainly didn't see it coming.

My issue with him was that he was too passive in making tackles and got pretty conservative towards the end of the season on the ball in tight situations. Felt like he kind of needed to make the conservative plays in tight situations (boot it out with any doubt etc) instead of the more optimal but riskier play. It's understandable that he was more conservative with his approach later as he was prone to the occasional lackadaisical moment. He is completely confident on the ball now, aggressive at closing down the ball/making tackles, and cleared up the confidence issues.

I think Nico taught him a thing or two about aggression and tackling :-).
 
ADegenerate said:
It's incredible isn't it? I tried to stay neutral regarding my judgement of Stones but definitely didn't have any expectations for any significant jumps this year. You said it well by mentioning that he looks like a completely different person. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a jump in performance in this short of a time in any sport. Fair play to those who were bullish on his progression. I certainly didn't see it coming.

My issue with him was that he was too passive in making tackles and got pretty conservative towards the end of the season on the ball in tight situations. Felt like he kind of needed to make the conservative plays in tight situations (boot it out with any doubt etc) instead of the more optimal but riskier play. It's understandable that he was more conservative with his approach later as he was prone to the occasional lackadaisical moment. He is completely confident on the ball now, aggressive at closing down the ball/making tackles, and cleared up the confidence issues.

I think Nico taught him a thing or two about aggression and tackling :-).
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You can blame me for my previous disbelief, but tell me how such improvement can be predicted? What happened to him? OK, the defending in general has improved because the team acts more coherent, like a machine, defenders spend less time under pressure. But what happened to Stones' personality? Even his face has changed. In such short period of time.

Edit: Maybe Pep can do his magic on Delph and turn him into Roberto Carlos? I wouldn't be surprised by anything since this night.
 
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Andrew___K said:
You can blame me for my previous disbelief, but tell me how such improvement can be predicted? What happened to him? OK, the defending in general has improved because the team acts more coherent, like a machine, defenders spend less time under pressure. But what happened to Stones' personality? Even his face has changed. In such short period of time.

Edit: Maybe Pep can do his magic on Delph and turn him into Roberto Carlos? I wouldn't be surprised by anything since this night.
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maybe he was just always a good player, who needed time to settle and a good keeper behind him.
 
John Stones has completed 191/194 passes (98.4% successful) in City's last two games.
108/109 vs. Stoke (99.1%)
83/85 vs. Napoli (97.7%)
 
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