Pep talks have been crucial as Stones ups his game
PEP Guardiola has hailed John Stones for the way he has bounced back from his winter of discontent.
But the City boss claimed he does not spend any more time coaching the 22-year-old England star than any of his other players.
Guardiola spent time with Stones on the pitch immediately after the win at Sunderland on Sunday, talking him through an aspect of the game.
He did the same with two other players, but Stones has been a frequent recipient of advice from the touchline during games – in one recent match, barely a minute had elapsed before he was calling the defender over for a word.
Guardiola has a habit of making tactical or technical points to his players on the pitch in the immediate aftermath of games, and he has explained why he does so.
“Everything is fresh, they remember it,” he said. “The action is two, three minutes ago. We’re always on the pitch after the game, to celebrate how good they were.”
But he denied that he singles out Stones in particular, even though the player’s age and the difficulty of playing centre-back when you are so inexperienced, would justify it.
“I try to be honest, I try to be fair on all the players,” said Guardiola. “I didn’t pay more attention to John than the others but of course he’s young and now he’s playing at a high level.
“Dealing with long balls, avoiding more mistakes when he is alone. He’s becoming a better player.”
The same can definitely be said of Leroy Sane, who has also been a recipient of Guardiola’s post-match wisdom recently, but has been in red-hot form.
A slow start was to be expected from Sane at City, especially after he injured a hamstring in pre-season training, but he has recently burst into spectacular form. Guardiola explained his sudden form, saying: “He knows his teammates better. People believed that immediately he would settle within a few seconds - he needs time. “From the moment he was involved, on and off the pitch, the English players like Raz and John helped him a lot. The quality was there in the beginning. “He’s playing good, but also we’re showing him a lot of clips - how many not good things he is doing and what he can improve. “He has a lot of time to be a better player - a lot. “You give a lot of credit to managers, but without his qualities his willingness to be better would be impossible. Sane has good actions winger, but sometimes he disappears a little bit. That’s why it’s nice to work with younger players because you can imagine what they are going to be like in the next years.” Pep Guardiola