Solid Stones back in England frame
City defender has best years of career ahead of him, insists Lescott
JOHN Stones can still play for England at Euro 2020 as he emerges from a prolonged dip in form and arrives into the best years of his career, according to Joleon Lescott.
The defender lost his place in the national team after falling well down the pecking order at City last season, with questions over his future at the club.
However, with Barcelona’s interest in Eric Garcia offering him encouragement to stay, the 26-year-old has knuckled down, got over personal issues and injury problems and has shown he will give Aymeric Laporte competition this season.
Former City defender Lescott, who now works as a loans manager at the club, was among those concerned for Stones and understands how difficult it is to bounce back when you begin to be surpassed in the manager’s preferences and your confidence takes a hit.
However, with the renaissance this season under Pep Guardiola and with the centre-back situation for Gareth Southgate still undecided, Stones has given himself a platform to get back to the top.
“I was half worried for him at the start of the season. City had bought two new centre-backs, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake,” said Lescott.
“Fernandinho had been picked in games ahead of him too. You could arguably say he was viewed as sixth choice in that position, so it was daunting.
“His standards and his attitude haven’t dropped in training because the manager wouldn’t pick him otherwise. That enables you to perform and be consistent.
“He deserves all th the credit for ke keeping his head do down and pe performing. If he co continues to do th that I’m sure h he’ll be back in the E England team.
“I have been impressed. What is pleasing is that he is not doing anything you would regard as outstanding. That is the consistency you hope to have as a defender: keep clean sheets, go unnoticed.
“Then all of a sudden people start to recognise it. Did he do anything differently against Marseille on Wednesday to the first game he played? Probably not, and that is the consistency of performance, that coincides with clean sheets.”
What was particularly impressive about Stones in midweek was the confidence he exuded from the moment he stepped onto the pitch for the injured Garcia.
Having looked the senior man playing with the youngster for the final 20 minutes against Burnley a fortnight ago, the former Everton man outclassed Laporte against Marseille.
As well as important interceptions, Stones was bringing the ball out of defence in a way that he had stopped doing in recent seasons.
Lescott sees this as a natural consequence of him doing the basics right - something Guardiola has specifically demanded in recent months - and he reckons that the stronger Stones looks the less defending he will have to do.
“It is hard when your confidence goes. Every player has a dip. John is still a relatively young player and he deserves credit for coming out the other side,” he said.
“Confidence is huge. You’re stronger, you’re faster, you feel you can jump higher.
“Defending well enhances everything. If I was defending well, I was better in possession. The defensive side helped my game massively.
“If I defended well and had a bad game on the ball I was okay confidence-wise.
“You do feel taller. Everything is enhanced, your attributes and instincts. We’re seeing that with John. He’s stopping crosses, shots, and it all adds to his confidence and then allows you to showcase your ability.
“You’ll be surprised that when you showcase that it has an impact on the opposition.
“Before, when his confidence was lower, with the odd mistakes, teams would put him under pressure more often in trying to force an error.
“I don’t see that at the moment. “I think the next two to three years are going to be his best defensive years because he’s going to be at the peak of his powers in terms of physical attributes and he will have all of this understanding from his experience so there won’t be many things that he won’t have been exposed to.”