John Stones

[eastlands oasis]

New cbs will almost certainly make the same mistakes early on.

But the thing Stones did do, was plenty of excellent defending either side of his fuckups, rather than the weak, hopeless, shit or Kamikaze nonsense, we have seen recently from others, which turns the whole team to jelly.

Agree. Our high line exposed even Kompany at times(think back to the Leicester game where he could have been red carded early on) the whole team tired in the second half and the intensity and press dropped off, leaving the central defenders exposed at times. I thought after that 15 minute spell of pressure and errors by Stones, he regained his composure and put in some good tackles, and kept close to the man he was marking to give no space to turn

 

[razman]

May get a good run of games

 

[Neville Kneville]

Agree. Our high line exposed even Kompany at times(think back to the Leicester game where he could have been red carded early on) the whole team tired in the second half and the intensity and press dropped off, leaving the central defenders exposed at times. I thought after that 15 minute spell of pressure and errors by Stones, he regained his composure and put in some good tackles, and kept close to the man he was marking to give no space to turn

His overall defending either side of the fuckups was way way above what we were used to seeing from our cbs last season.

The pressure was initially created by people such as Mendy & even KDB imo, suddenly trying to hit longish forward passes, when we were much more careful first half, plus Rodri's legs went shortly after half time & he was 2nd to everything.

The biggest mistake Stones made, was reacting badly to Ake attacking the ball. Decent chance that wouldn't happen much, if he got used to playing with him.

 

[sir baconface]

Stones did make a couple of errors but otherwise looked better and more motivated than many of us probably expected. That, plus his low current market worth, would persuade me to let him stay and fight for contention and let Ota and Garcia leave.

He knows he’ll start low in the pecking order but if he’s prepared to battle I wouldn’t write him off.

 

[riley347]

Desperate for Stones to regain his confidence. I’m in no doubt of his quality. A decent run of games will hopefully sort his head out.

 

[blue61]

It looked to me as though Stones and Ake were dropping back more than we usually do last night. We got exposed by a ball over the top when Ake followed Jimenez up the pitch. Stones seems to have a problem reading the game and I cant see anyway that can be improved. Overall I thought he played well as did Ake. Mendy as to be expected had problems with Traore but the midfield and especially Fernandinho definitely improved us defensively

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Desperate for Stones to regain his confidence. I’m in no doubt of his quality. A decent run of games will hopefully sort his head out.

Agree he has had the full arse hole treatment on here. When fit for a long run of games he is one of the best defenders in the league. He hasn't been in that form for a while now but no reason he can't get back there. No different to Mendy although at least he hasnt got a wrecked knee.

 

[come-on-barney]

One issue we have faced is rotating the back four so much. Particular the centre backs. The central pair need to have a run of games so that they have the understanding of how each other plays. Stones did make a couple of errors, but when he had that run of games before injury a while back he was excellent. Whatever partnership we come up we need to not rotate as much. Loved Ake yesterday, led the line well, and when he had the ball he was so comfortable. I had no worries at all when he had the ball, and no worries he was going to put us I trouble.

 

[bert38]

Stones and Ake both had a good game, especially as a pair, and considering the lack of preparation. Yes, there was a spell when we conceded chances but overall plenty to be positive about. Stones, la Porte, Ake and Kounde would do us nicely.

 

[Neville Kneville]

It looked to me as though Stones and Ake were dropping back more than we usually do last night. We got exposed by a ball over the top when Ake followed Jimenez up the pitch. Stones seems to have a problem reading the game and I cant see anyway that can be improved. Overall I thought he played well as did Ake. Mendy as to be expected had problems with Traore but the midfield and especially Fernandinho definitely improved us defensively

They were dropping back more, but it's because they were just much smarter & better than the people they replaced imo & doing their job properly. It covered most of the stuff which has caused us nightmares recently.

Stones' mistake was a result of misunderstanding what Ake was going to do & reacting incorrectly. I recon we'd have seen that 10 times if our usual, recent back 4 had started.