John Stones

[OB1]

Disagree with this, if a manager's good at setting up a defence then I think they'll end up doing good

Mourinho is good at setting up a defence (before this season lol) and were linked with stones in the summer...just shows how highly he rates him

Sorry; do you mean we won't find out if he is any good if he joins us because the defensive set-up will protect him?

 

[Shirley]

The rag PR machine in full flow......

John Stones has Manchester United "written all over him" according to the club's former defender Gary Pallister.

 

[Neville Kneville]

The rag PR machine in full flow......

John Stones has Manchester United "written all over him" according to the club's former defender Gary Pallister.

Well he has been failrly shit recently.

Same thing.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

The rag PR machine in full flow......

John Stones has Manchester United "written all over him" according to the club's former defender Gary Pallister.

This type of crap is precisely why that club is decaying. Long may it continue.

 

[Avoidfrt]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-morata-romelu-lukaku-and-gonzalo-higuain-as/

At the end of this article it says City are expected to make their opening offer for Stones in the next fortnight

 

[TRUE BLUE NO1]

Kristian Sturt ‏@FootieWriter 4m4 minutes ago
Antonio Conte has opened talks with John Stones and Romelu Lukaku. (Source - HLN)

 

[taleofbluehalves]

The rag PR machine in full flow......

John Stones has Manchester United "written all over him" according to the club's former defender Gary Pallister.

That won't look good when he's in his 80s you'll hardly be able to read it with all the folds and creases!

 

[Super David Silva 21]

Not a fan of Stones, hasn't done anything near enough to warrant a move to a top club.

 

[Chi-town blues]

Why are we after him ? He is Overrated .

 

[Yates]

Again, this is mostly revisionist history.
1. We played a more defensive style for a good portion of that period.
2. Between fall 2010 and Fall 2012 Kompany was in fact the best individual defender in the world. This is before the injuries began to plague him constantly and he began to decline. That Lescott was his partner at the time was incidental, not causal.
Check Kompany for Belgium in that period and he was great. Check Lescott for England he was average.
3. We played with 2 DMs Barry and DeJong. Both well Schooled in helping protect defense to the detriment of our offense.
4. Kompany's littany of injuries began to pile up just as Lescott was being replaced. The Injury caused Kompany's and our defense' decline, not the loss of Lescott. This can easily be verified by the fact that anytime Kompany stayed healthy long enough to get into footballing shape, he returned again some excellent top class performances regardless of who his partner was.. Unfortunately, those became rear the more injuries he picked up.

Lescott was a ripoff. A stiff skill bereft bigman who was lucky to be purchased by a growing team that couldn't get top end talent at the time. He served us well. And I thankhim for it. But let's ease up on the false attributions.

I don't think we've purchased a weaker CB since Lescott.

You make great points which I agree with for the most part, Kompany has elevated every defender he's played with simply due to his good positioning sense ( albeit Kompany isn't immune to getting carried away and chasing lost causes ) and sheer dominance physically and yes Mancini's set up Also helped us out defensively but Lescott did compliment Kompany very well which we can also see with Mangala, quite similar in style and stature. Lescott has never been a top quality player but he does deserve credit as he did contribute and compliment Kompany well. Just. To make clear,i agree with most of what you say except feel Lescott does deserve recognition.