STONES LOOKS WORLD CLASS
England star and partner Laporte are a dream duo
WHEN Anthony Martial slotted in his penalty to drag Manchester United back into the derby, I looked at Manchester City’s centre backs and thought, ‘ Can they handle this?’
It could have been a difficult last half- hour for John Stones and Aymeric Laporte. If anything, they went up a gear.
They continued to be bold on the ball. They stepped up into midfield when necessary. They kept on snuffing out danger.
Stones is now looking like a worldclass player. He is the Rolls-Royce I knew he could be when he first broke into the Everton team.
It used to rankle when Stones was criticised for dwelling too long in possession, for trying to play out from the back rather than clear the danger.
If he had been a young player in La Liga, he would have been praised for his ability on the ball, not hammered for the mistakes he made.
He is now working with a manager in Pep Guardiola who encourages those traits and can bring out the best in his game. In the last two and a half seasons, Stones’ confidence has soared.
Look at the players he is keeping out of this Manchester City team. Sitting on the bench yesterday was Vincent Kompany, a player I would name alongside John Terry and Rio Ferdinand as the greatest centre back the Premier League has seen.
There was not even room in the matchday squad for Nicolas Otmendi, a defender who was in brilliant form when City romped to the Premier League title last season.
Guardiola has struck upon a dream defensive partnership with Stones and Laporte. They are both quick, brave, strong and — the penalty aside — prevented United from having a single shot on target.
Suddenly, the prospect of life without Kompany does not look so bad. The scary thing for the rest of the Premier League is that these two are just 24 years old. They could be City’s centre-back pairing for the best part of the next decade.