Manchester City will only realise the importance of John Stones now they are deprived of their defensive rock
There was a point at which John Stones could do no right, only wrong. Almost every time he took to a football pitch, the centre back was perceived to be at fault for something. Some of the criticism he faced was fair, some of it less so. Regardless, Stones was the Premier League’s great lightning rod of opinion. Everyone had one on him.
Now, though, nobody really talks about the 23-year-old. That’s a little strange given that Stones is currently playing in the best team he has ever played in, with Manchester City running away with the Premier League title, eight points ahead of the chasing pack after just 12 games. What’s more, Stones is excelling in this team.
He is one of the cornerstones of the side Pep Guardiola has built at the Etihad Stadium over the past 18 months. While the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and co. have hogged the headlines, breaking records and blowing away opponents with frightening frequency, Stones has been just as integral to City’s success at the back.
So why are we so reluctant to praise the centre back? Stones was a target for so many for so long, it seems unfair that now he is fulfilling his potential, that now he is becoming the player he was always predicted to be, he is being denied the congratulations he so clearly deserves. It says a lot about the British sporting psyche, or rather the psyche of those who watch British sport.
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Perhaps it will only be in Stones’ absence that his contribution is truly recognised. The 23-year-old could be out for as much as six weeks, picking up a hamstring injury in the weekend’s win over Leicester City. Guardiola says the injury will test Man City’s strength, and he has justification for that claim.
“We don’t have a big squad,” Guardiola said ahead of the midweek Champions League clash with Feyenoord, for which Stones will be sidelined. “It is a big pity we lost a month and a half of Vincent Kompany and now John Stones. To win the titles we need all the squad, especially important players like John and Vinny.
“On the other side we have an opportunity. We have to play 12 games in a short space of time with only three central defenders. One of them is a risk, in Vincent only just back. It is not easy but I want to see how we react. Always when you are champions you have to handle the big situations, the tough situations.”
Compare the situation Man City now find themselves in with the one endured by Manchester United in the absence of Paul Pogba recently. It was only in the absence of Pogba that Jose Mourinho’s true reliance on the Frenchman was exposed. A similar thing could now happen to City in light of the injury sustained by Stones.
Of course, there are some who have acknowledged the development of Stones this season. Guardiola, for one, has more than once spoken about the progress of the England international. The Catalan was always considered the perfect mentor for Stones, and so it has transpired.
But considering the extreme criticism that came his way not so long ago, the praise has been decidedly disproportionate. Stones might like it that way, of course. The less talk, the better he is likely playing. That’s the way it tends to go for central defenders, such is the nature of their responsibilities in a team unit.
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Stones was seemingly destined to become just another case of English unfulfilled potential, but the dynamic has shifted dramatically over the past few months. The centre back is now at the heart of a team considered by some, at present, to be the best in Europe. Where are his headlines?
