John Stones

[schfc6]

I have my reservations about this lad. But if he plays like he did against the Rags in the second half he could be some player. My fear, we'd get the first half Stones.

 

[Jazzman]

There is no doubt that this lad is a wonderful talent. Buying and developing him is off course a risk, but you can't have a talent and the finished article at the same time Gentlemen. Aren't we all crying for talents from our EDS to come into the team? Well same thing, to make them finished article they have to play, and when they start there will be errors. Some will not make it, some will - hopefully. I am all for getting John Stones. Give the lad a chance FFS.

 

[IWasHere]

I also think he could play in the Busquets role as a central pivot on front of a back 2 with full backs pushing higher up the pitch. Do think he is versatile

Wouldn't mind that:

Denayer vinnie laporte left back
Dinho stones gundogan

Still think we should get another centre midfielder though

 

[TonyM]

I know I'm repeating myself but people are making out like no other defender in the world can pass a ball. I see Stone passing to the keeper, passing sideways to a defender, passing to a midfielder or occasionally driving on with the ball. I see the very same from most other central defenders in the world. He does his job. Nothing more. Some people have gone insane....(as they did last year).

 

[Ryanl2801]

This is where having one of the best managers in the world comes in...the potential is there, the system is the right fit and the best manager to bring out those talents.....Pep wants these players, so must feel his system will bring out the best in them....I feel the same about Sane(winger)...young with lots of potential and if Pep feels the system and his coaching will make each of these players world class....then his track record shows Pep can do it! ; )

I agree, pep could get the best out of them, but it might take a lot longer the instant success city are hoping, pep is the best manager in the world but even he is a virgin to life in the prem, it as proven tough asks of a lot of foreign managers in the past. I trust in him but the prem is the most challenging league in the world

 

[Dax777]

I know I'm repeating myself but people are making out like no other defender in the world can pass a ball. I see Stone passing to the keeper, passing sideways to a defender, passing to a midfielder or occasionally driving on with the ball. I see the very same from most other central defenders in the world. He does his job. Nothing more. Some people have gone insane....(as they did last year).

Wrong! Yes, he is making simple passes, but watch his response to pressure. It's calm, controlled and purposeful. He has a plan. It is not just the passing. It's his understanding of the game at such a young age. It's his organizng a goalie before heading over to go do his job. It's pointing out where Barry needs to be. It's telling Jageilka where to pass to. It's the confidence you see in his goalie, who calmy stops a pass from him and returns it to him even though the semblance of opposition pressure is forming. It's other teammates differing to him instinctively.
His understanding of what the next player is doing or attempting to do.

When you watch long-term Barca defenders these are the same types of attributes they exude.

Anyway, I guess at this point in sounding like a Stones Homer. Don't want to. As all players have their good and bad qualities. But that's not the point. This will be the equivalence of some concluding we shouldn't have gotten KDB coz he gives away possession cheaply sometimes. And I'm not talking about when he is trying to drive us forward either. I'm talking about multiple instances when his technique simply just fails him.

Yes, we saw those errors too. But the upside was too good to conclude don't get him coz he has a 72% pass completion rate.

Will Stones male mistakes? Off course. Our best defender probably of all time, Kompany, makes them constantly. Lots of them don't get punished. But the ones that did are plenty enough.

Nothing of the overblown list of Stones errors are outside the realms of normal. So fuck what he made a bad pass to a keeper trying to keep possession once. Sagna was dispossessed by a Liverpool attacker trying to dribble, and he has been our most consistent defender this year.

These unique errors happen to practically every defender. That some know nothing media types have chosen to nitpick Stone's and fans have lapped it up is a shame. :(

 

[Super Joey Hart]

If Pep wants him I will trust his judgement but not for me this one. Seriously hope we leave this fella well alone. A complete and utter disaster on the numerous occasions I have watched him. And yes watched full matches not just highlights on MOTD. If he was from a country like Serbia or Africa etc you wouldn't pay a penny over £10m for him and that's even with the price players are going for these days.

Can't defend, positioning is terrible and the supposed great part of his game is his passing? Never seen a player give the ball away in dangerous positions more than this lad... And I watch Mangala every week!

 

[onceabluealways]

Lots of people saying how average this lad is yet it is common knowledge that Chavs (Mourinho) were after him and now Pep wants him. These are arguably the best two managers on the planet.

Are they both wrong?

People are picking up on his mistakes - when I've watched him he certainly is prepared to throw his body on the line and looks fully committed to defending - He is still a bit naïve at times but he is still very young in relative terms.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I know I'm repeating myself but people are making out like no other defender in the world can pass a ball. I see Stone passing to the keeper, passing sideways to a defender, passing to a midfielder or occasionally driving on with the ball. I see the very same from most other central defenders in the world. He does his job. Nothing more. Some people have gone insane....(as they did last year).

Agreed. Sounds just like Denayer at Celtic. This lad is far from the finished article and we already have the likes of Mangala, Denayer, Tosin, Humphreys at the club – a queue of young talented CBs.

 

[Dax777]

Weirdly I see the opposite as the problem with him on the ball, often he looks super calm with it - then just passes it straight to their striker. When he seems panicked on the ball he'll usually get rid somewhere safer, it's when he seems under no pressure & overly confident that he seems at his worst with the ball to me.

I don't know. When I watch him, he is highly uncomfortable in body language and technique. What you described above is more of Otamendi. Who has a greater confidence in his ball technique, than his technique suggests he should.

But Mangala correctly lacks confidence in his technique, and his touch suggests he is right to lack confidence in it. And yes, there are occasions when he shows confidence, but these I believe are confidence of physical power. I saw him once stand on the ball with a defender on his back, as he pretends to look over the defender trying to find an outlet. The speed of his head darting left and right, suggests he was just acting as opposed to really looking for an outlet. And the confidence he showed there was of the knowledge that the defender he was backing couldn't push him off the ball.

That is a confidence if power rather than skill or knowledge. Lots of big defenders show that confidence of power. Kompany does it too and so does Morgan at Leicester.

I know coz I used to do it too back in the day.