Stones needs to be a rock for the Blues
I still think John, at the age of 24, is searching for that understanding where he really knows his game Rio Ferdinand
JOHN Stones has made his mark at this World Cup as a goalscorer, rather than a goal-stopper.
But the City defender could just find that Russia 2018 is the making of him as a top-class defender as well.
Stones has been handed enormous responsibility by England boss Gareth Southgate as the kingpin of his bold three-man defence.
And with City team-mate Kyle Walker on one side of him having no previous experience of that position, and Harry Maguire on the other being new to this level of football, it is a big burden for a player who is still only 24.
At City, Stones is very much the junior partner – he has old heads Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi taking charge whenever he plays.
Even Aymeric Laporte, who is just one day older than Stones, has played around 80 senior games more. The long-term aim is for Stones and Laporte to carry this City team forward, two ball-playing centre-backs in tandem.
But at the moment the Barnsley lad is not first choice for the Blues, and that needs to change in the next 18 months.
Shouldering responsibility at this World Cup would be a huge step forward in that regard. Former United star Rio Ferdinand said at the weekend he made the leap from promising rookie to authoritative defensive rock at the 2002 World Cup.
“The penny dropped for me at the World Cup in 2002,” he said. “I began to understand exactly what I had to do to control not only my position, but those around me.
“I could start influencing Nicky Butt and Gary Neville, telling them where they needed to be and what to do. Once you understand your game you grow and can really help the team.
“I still think John, at the age of 24, is searching for that understanding, where he really knows his game.
“He is learning on the job, but in a championship-winning team under Pep Guardiola, the most high-profile manager on the planet.”
Stones had a frustrating season in some ways, as a series of niggly injuries – and the form of Kompany and Otamendi – meant he was sidelined for the latter half of the season. The fact Southgate kept faith in him is in itself a huge fillip, but the fact he has been handed the task of being the main defensive organiser should double the feelgood factor for Stones. At club level, he is fortunate to have a man like Kompany by his side – he even helped Stones cope with the series of niggling injuries which afflicted him.
But Kompany has huge faith in the man he may well line up against when England and Belgium clash in Kaliningrad on Thursday night.
The vastly-experienced City skipper said recently he has no doubts Stones will be a world-class defender. He also pointed out that learning to play in a Guardiola team, especially in the Premier League, is extremely tough.
“It’s a difficult combination to find in a player, to deal with both sides of the game,” said Kompany.
“You don’t usually have both sides of the game – so if you’re a defender that has to defend a high line, in Spain for example, you are
not facing the physical strikers, so you are always dominating in some way.
“But in England, if you play a high line as part of the game, then afterwards you have your big lumps going forward on set-pieces, and all these other things to deal with.
“It’s about finding a balance – Stonesy has everything to achieve all these things, but you shouldn’t underestimate how difficult it is for any defender to come in and do both sides of the job, in the Premier League particularly.”
Stones has admitted to moments of doubt that he could ever get his head around the technical aspects of what Guardiola has asked him to do.
He has also shown he is mentally strong enough to deal with the inevitable setbacks – in his debut season he looked like he had been destroyed by his elevation from Everton to a far more demanding role at City.
The one aspect he still needs to improve is his physicality.
The sight of him being bumped off the ball by Roberto Firmino as City’s unbeaten start ended at Liverpool – even though it was an unpunished foul – led directly to Otamendi and Kompany being preferred for the rest of the season.
Maybe Stones’ two goals against Panama, resisting the bear hugs and baulks of the rugged defenders, will also be a turning point.
He needs a little of that Sergio Ramos nastiness, or Kompany’s imperious strength, to give his game another dimension.