ROLLING STONES
England centre-half can resurrect City career with displays like this
The futures of John Stones and eric Garcia were intrinsically linked last summer. Barcelona wanted Garcia — and still do — but the Spaniard remained at Manchester City because Stones was out of form and favour. Similarly, Stones was never on his way out of the etihad Stadium as a consequence of the uncertainty over Garcia’s future. Although City ended up purchasing two new central defenders for around £100million, they did not fancy losing three in the same window given Nicolas Otamendi was bound to leave. Transfers and managing a squad is a delicate business, even more so during that elongated summer market and, at City, Ruben Dias did not arrive until the season had started. But crucially, the reason why Garcia’s move back to the Nou Camp never really got off the ground was Stones. Doubts over whether he could recapture his best form were deep-rooted and as such, City were not willing sellers of Garcia until very late in the window. Barcelona were given more encouragement in September after Pep Guardiola had witnessed a determination in Stones on the squad’s return to training, but they did not come close to matching City’s valuation of Garcia. It has seen an alternation in hierarchy, with Stones leapfrogging Garcia in the defensive order. On Friday, Guardiola said that personal problems plaguing the 26-year-old, thought to surround his family life, had subsided and he is now talking about him in purely footballing terms. That was 24 hours before a magnificent display against Burnley to back up a strong performance at Olympiakos in midweek. Stones had not started consecutive matches since March and he will hope these represent small steps to recovering his career under Guardiola. Stones won all of his aerial duals and completed 97 per cent of his passes, many of them through the lines into midfield. his first touch was more assertive, the confidence to waltz out from the back returned. ‘he was so concentrated on not making mistakes,’ said the City boss. ‘What we are looking for from the back four is: “Don’t make mistakes”. ‘The guys who help me, who help the team, they have more chance to play. The other ones… they have to wait for this opportunity.’ So taking the manager on his word, Stones — who has started 23 matches since February 2019 — should now own the shirt for now. Aymeric Laporte was omitted from Saturday’s squad, while Raheem Sterling was an unused substitute. It appears Guardiola used the weekend to send a message. ‘It’s not about rest here,’ he said. ‘If the players think they have been rested because I am rotating, they have made a big mistake. ‘It’s not about the players who believe: “I deserve to start because I have been here for three or four years” — they make a big mistake. It doesn’t matter if you have won 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 in the future.’ MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Ederson 6; Walker 7, Stones 8, Dias 6 (Garcia 70), Mendy 7; Gundogan 7, Rodri 6 (Fernandinho 46); Mahrez 9, De Bruyne 8, Torres (Foden 67); Jesus 8. Subs not used: Steffen, Sterling, Silva, Cancelo. Booked: None. BURNLEY (4-2-3-1): Peacock-Farrell 4; Lowton 5, Tarkowski 4, Mee 6, Taylor 4; Benson 6, Westwood 6; Rodriguez 6, McNeil 6, Barnes 6 (Vydra 81); Wood 5 (Pieters 67). Subs not used: Norris, Long, Gudmundsson, Dunne, Goodridge. Booked: None.
Man of the match: Riyad Mahrez. Referee: Lee Mason.