Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Stones and Dias have shown Liverpool exactly what they are missing... and it’ll win City the title
IT’S ONE of those stories that have people going ‘yeah, yeah’ — but last season when he was really struggling, I told a friend that Liverpool should sign John Stones.
He wasn’t getting a kick with Manchester City, wasn’t even carrying the half-time oranges, but I always thought there was still a top-class player there just waiting to mature.
It’s not rocket science, I know. Stones was good enough to play in a World Cup semi-final and win two Premier League titles.
And he’d done all that before he was 25, so if he had a dip last season it was probably not going to prove terminal.
You wonder if Liverpool, or any other club, tried to get him, and you wonder just how hard City would have fought to keep him if there was a decent offer.
Though I accept the answer would be ‘tooth and nail’, if it was their biggest title rival!
I’m not convinced that when Pep Guardiola bought Ruben Dias in the summer, he saw him with Stones in the heart of the defence. In fact, it was probably nailed on he was going to partner Aymeric Laporte.
So I’m not convinced Stones wouldn’t have been sold had a good offer from the right club come in. But sometimes you get lucky as a manager.
And in Pep’s case, he acted as decisively last summer as he did after his first season at City, when it was obvious his defence wasn’t good enough to win titles. He didn’t have to make five defensive signings this time, only two.
But the money he spent on Dias – I heard it was close to £70million – shows he meant business.
And you don’t have to be Martin Keown to know as a pundit that he’s transformed the team. Dias and Stones seem to compliment each other, and that’s exactly what you want.
The good news for City is that they’re an incredible age as a defensive pairing – they could have 10 years left in them.
What I would say as well, is that they will ensure City reclaim the title in May, even if Liverpool win today. I do think the title has gone for Jurgen Klopp, in fairness.
Not that they’ll be saying that in the home dressing room. You always think if you can win the next game things can turn around, Liverpool will still believe if they can give everything then they will have half a chance.
But I just can’t see it – I can’t see City losing the number of games they’d need to open up the title race.
They’ve gone 20 games unbeaten now in all competitions and will think they’re back to their very best.
People exaggerated their dip last season.
They were still top class, but because
Liverpool had a unbelievable recordbreaking year, critics questioned Guardiola and his team.
City still finished second, 15 points ahead of Manchester United in third, and with a points total that will probably win the League this time.
It’s just that they came up against one of the best teams in Premier League history.
And that’s the problem for Liverpool this time around. They’ve suffered horrendous injuries while City just can’t stop winning.
But they will be back. I have absolutely no doubt about that.
I believe they will be thinking they have to finish top four, first of all… and that’s not a given because there’s real competition.
They’ll need their new signings to come off to release Jordan Henderson and Fabinho for midfield. But if they do then they’ll be looking at the Champions League, and thinking ‘we know we can win it’. And they can. It may take a recalibration – but that has to be the thinking from now at Anfield.