Guardiola warns Stones that staying in team will depend on eliminating errors
JOHN STONES has been told he will now be judged on mistakes rather than his ability on the ball, which was the rare asset that made him England’s most expensive defender four years ago.
The 26-year-old was starting backto-back matches for the first time since March and appears to be on the comeback trail.
His £47.5million record move from Everton has since been eclipsed by fees for Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Aaron Wan-Bissaka among English players and he has also been overtaken in the pecking order for City and England.
Stones started every game for England at the 2018 World Cup but is not in Gareth Southgate’s plans two years on. At City, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte are first-choice for Pep Guardiola, with Nathan Ake competing for a place and Eric Garcia remaining at the club despite wanting to return to Barcelona. It means Stones has been limited to just two Premier League starts this season.
“Some of the time, it was because of my decision, but most of the time it was because of injuries,” said Guardiola. “It is good because he was so concentrated on not making mistakes. What we are looking for from the back four is ‘don’t make mistakes’.
“If your opponents are good and you make a good action, it is not about this. Make mistakes when you can avoid it, then people up front are going to score the goals.”
Guardiola says there is no room for rotating his squad during such a hectic start to the season. Stones is in the team due to injuries but selection is down to form when players are available.
“It’s not about rest here. I saw Kevin [De Bruyne] a little bit exhausted mentally, that’s true. But right now I see the players who are
in the better conditions or more focused,” said Guardiola.
“If the players think they have been rested because I am rotating, they have made a big mistake. In every game I put the best players, sometimes for the benefit of the team, sometimes because of injuries, but especially the players who play well.
“It’s not about players who I believe deserve to start because I have been here with them for three or four years. We have Phil Foden who has the same treatment and opportunities as Fernandinho, our most experienced player.
“And it doesn’t matter if you win a lot of titles in the past or you score a lot of goals, you have to show it on the pitch, in the recent past, in the present and especially in the future.”
Foden is one player who should be starting more Premier League games. That was the view of Glenn Hoddle as a pundit on BT Sport, who suggested England’s star of the last international break needed to be challenged in the Premier League regularly.
This was a perfect chance for Guardiola to give him game time but Foden instead came off the bench and set up Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick goal with a deft left-footed cross.
Ferran Torres and Benjamin Mendy got the other goals for City. Foden has not started a Premier League game in over a month, despite his form for England.
In general, Guardiola is viewing this period of games as part of his job, rather than deriving any joy from a 5-0 win or a Champions League trip to Porto this week.
“Now it is not a special day any more. What’s next? Go here, go here, go here . . .” he said. “Of course, the players want to do it and it is incredible how they run, they enjoy playing football, but not the joy for the situation.
“It’s like all the people and families around the world, you don’t go to restaurants, you don’t go out, you don’t go if you are scared about being contaminated in this pandemic situation. Even journalists, you cannot go to the press conferences and see your friends, you are at home working and it is different. Football is not an exception. We go and we have to play, we play and that is all.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)