STONES LAMENTS HIS CITY DISPLAY BUT SAYS HE IS ON RISE
JOHN Stones says he was extremely disappointed with his first season at Manchester City despite believing he has grown as a player after his world record £47.5million fee – for a defender – from Everton last year.
With City finishing third in the Premier League, being knocked out in the last 16 of the Champions League and the FA Cup semi-final, Stones said that the club has fallen short of what was expected in Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge.
Stones, who started for England in the 3-2 loss to France on Tuesday, became the most expensive defender in the world when he made the move to City, which he did to win trophies and said: “I’m very disappointed, just purely because we had such a great team and we set the bar high.
“I’m disappointed on a personal note, as we all believe we can do better and in games I should have done better, which is what I want to improve on.
“But on another note it was unbelievable for me. My journey from the start of the season to the end, I’ve just changed completely as a player and grown, off the pitch as well, which is what I went there to do.”
His style of playing out from the back gelled with Guardiola’s desired tactics but attracted criticism.
After the 4-0 defeat against Everton in January, former England captain Alan Shearer said: “I keep seeing John Stones make mistake after mistake after mistake.”
Stones said: “You’ve got to have thick skin, not worry about it too much. You’ve got to listen to the gaffer and your teammates.
“They are the ones that are important. There are a lot of people that can talk on TV.
“It’s ultimately down to the manager, teammates and family that are sticking by you and getting you through situations and it’s how you learn from those situations and make sure they don’t happen again. That’s how I deal with it.”
He has generally received backing from Guardiola, who said Stones had “big balls” for playing the way he asked him to.
“It has helped to know he has got my back,” said Stones. “But it’s not just him, it’s everybody at the club. We started off on fire and then I took a bit of a dip. But I feel I’ve turned a corner since the start of this year.”
Stones also revealed that opposition players have contacted him to tell him to persevere with bringing the ball out from defence.
“I’ve had some nice messages from players who I haven’t spoken to before,” he said.
“I won’t name them and drop them in it but I’ve had messages from strikers and defenders saying they respect and love the way I play, telling me not to change the way I am.”
Meanwhile, what to do with Stones is becoming quite a conundrum for Gareth Southgate and it is a problem the England manager could do without.
Based on ability alone, Stones should walk into the England side. He is supposed to be a beacon of Southgate’s brave new era – a ball-playing centre back, fearless in possession and always looking to play the ball forward.
But Stones looks nervous and vulnerable and, make no mistake, his place is under threat.
It was not just the way Ousmane Dembele left him on his backside in the lead-up to France’s second goal, it was his all-round demeanour. Stones has lost his mojo.
The fact he lost his place at Manchester City at the end of last season has had an impact.
The big fear, certainly for Southgate, is that he stays on the City bench next term.
How can he select someone who is not playing regularly?
His lack of playing time during the final weeks of the season was given as the reason behind his omission for last Saturday’s World Cup qualifier in Scotland.
Tuesday night was an opportunity for Stones to provide himself with a much-needed boost of confidence. Instead, his performance merely raised more question marks over his position in Southgate’s plans.
Stones is a very good central defender, with the potential to be one of the world’s best.
The deficiencies are well documented, though. His eagerness to find a pass rather than look for row Z put his team under pressure on more than one occasion and he picked up a booking for pulling back Kylian Mbappe as the Monaco man threatened to sprint clear.
There was the occasional glimpse of his brilliance – the way he carried the ball 30metres in the lead-up to Harry Kane’s first goal underlined the benefits of having a defender as comfortable on the ball as him.
But it is those recurring mistakes of dalliance in possession that must be eradicated if Stones is to have a top-level career. – Daily Mail