That's what we thought about Phil Jones
John Stones | Performances
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
City have kept 1 clean sheet in 8 league games. In that game, Stones only played 39 minutes, fewer than every other game he has played where they conceded.
Obviously you can make stats paint any picture you like but some defenders can grip games regardless of playing styles and command a shut out, not seen that from him yet.
Obviously you can make stats paint any picture you like but some defenders can grip games regardless of playing styles and command a shut out, not seen that from him yet.
Yeah maybe not that bad.
He's not that shit tbf !
Ps - Bailly look twice the player for quarter of the price cheaper.
He's been written off aged 22 after coming up against the best attack in the world 
Rich man's you mean?
Agreed.
I always work on the basis that if he's English, he's unlikely to be any good.
Fixed.
Yep,alot of well established defenders would struggle with that Barcelona attack.He's been written off aged 22 after coming up against the best attack in the world
Can't stop laughing at that
He's just not good enough. Wasn't at Everton, isn't at City. He lacks basic defensive qualities, his reading of the game at the back is also meh.He's been written off aged 22 after coming up against the best attack in the world
I'm not surprised at his performances and pretty happy camper that we didn't pay over the odds for him like City did.
Such a random comment as well but that makes it funnier for me.Can't stop laughing at that
Based on what exactly?
That's it really, it is quite telling that during this constant undeserved hype he has received that people only ever seem to mention him being good on the ball and comfortable bringing it forward as if that is the number one priority for a centre back. Nobody seems to ever say anything about John Stones being good at a particular part of defending. It really is one of the most baffling things in football that people in this country have convinced themselves that John Stones is the next great defender. 50 million they paid for him, it's unreal when you really think about it. Phil Jones was hyped a fair bit but the thing is it's very easy to remember a number of games where he excelled at DEFENDING, it is near enough impossible to name more than one game where John Stones has excelled at DEFENDING. I'll be amazed if John Stones ever becomes a world class defender.
It's not like you are supposed to be shit against worldclass opposition by default if you're a young talent. Wilshere went toe to toe with Barca, Varane was excellent against them as well in 12/13. I think Laporte has impressed a few times too against Barca. Potential means you show your class against top opposition at least every now and then but Stones regularly looks total shit.
I actually do think he'll become a very good defender, in the next 2-3 years I think he'll improve by a large amount and be among the best in his position within this league. I've always rated him but he hasn't improved as quickly as I thought he would, but because of his skillset I think once it/if clicks he'll be class.
This.
When was he ever class in the first place? All people talk about this guy is his ability on the ball yet we hardly if ever hear any mention of his defending skills.
He ended up the season shit at Everton and was rightly dropped there then moved to City and he's suddenly this decent defender(class defender if we go with what the English media has been feeding the masses) when all he's done mostly is get shown up against any decent threat coming his way.
His excuse has always been his age. That he's young, not experienced, CB's develop late and so forth. It's ok if he constantly improves, but last year for me it was a step backwards if anything. He made a lot of errors, some crucial, some leading to a goal, some basic ones.
His biggest issue to me is his positioning and movement - he doesn't know what area to cover, his decision making and awareness are poor and that is something you'd expect a 50m defender to have.
I'm not that convinced he's that good on the ball either. I agree with what you've said above, it seems no one is picking on his actual defensive skills, but rather highlight his massive potential.
Yeah, but we got loads of extra hair thrown in with our purchase. John Stones barely has any hair. They got ripped off.
Having said that no one is picking on his defensive skills, I just remembered Merson grilling him not so long ago:
Yeah, you even see it in this thread, the constant mentioning of his age but you can name about 10 centre backs in the world his age or younger who are far superior with the defensive aspect of their game and none of them were signed for 50 million, Baily, Laporte, Varane, Gimenez, Rudiger, are all way ahead of him.
I don't think people around him helped, Martinez, pundits/media, nor did his selection for England, it's like he was surrounded by people telling him how good he was and it all got to his head. I've seen basically no improvement in any area of defending from him in the past 12 months. If anything I think Guardiola is almost as bad for him as Martinez was, most won't agree with that but Pep is not a manager who prioritises the defensive side of a defenders game and that is badly what Stones needs right now.
Stones is one of the most overrated English players in recent memory.
He has flashes of pretty solid discipline and awareness at the back and can pass decently well, but for the past year or so he is a mistake per game defender. A total liability.
Bailly is the same age, cost a lot less, and is twice the player.
He has flashes of pretty solid discipline and awareness at the back and can pass decently well, but for the past year or so he is a mistake per game defender. A total liability.
Bailly is the same age, cost a lot less, and is twice the player.
To be fair he's just decent technically. He's not ferdinand by a long way.
Agree totally
Imagine Baillys hype if he were English.
No surprises. He's wildly overrated,
But Stones doesn't get injured when a fly lands on his knee.That's what we thought about Phil Jones
Some of us have been hoping since he was linked to Chelsea for our club to stay far away.
He's not become a poor defender just because he now plays for City.
It cant be knee-jerk if one has had a consistent opnion about him.
He's been anything but class for a long time.
Maybe Anton
I had posted this somewhere else but this is a more appropriate thread.
I think John stones will be like Sakho (the Liverpool Vidic), Cavani or Harry Kane for England. It will take quite some time before people finally accept that maybe he is a bit overrated. They are players who give a good first impression and from there on their fans will always remember that and ignore most of their mistakes.
I understand that feeling all too well. It was difficult for me with Nani and Kagawa. It took me time to accept that they are not as good as I originally thought. So I would urge you all to get some John Stones jokes ready because he will always have people to defend his every brain fart however frequently they occur.
I think John stones will be like Sakho (the Liverpool Vidic), Cavani or Harry Kane for England. It will take quite some time before people finally accept that maybe he is a bit overrated. They are players who give a good first impression and from there on their fans will always remember that and ignore most of their mistakes.
I understand that feeling all too well. It was difficult for me with Nani and Kagawa. It took me time to accept that they are not as good as I originally thought. So I would urge you all to get some John Stones jokes ready because he will always have people to defend his every brain fart however frequently they occur.
I think it was Laporte then Varane, Stones
This may be controversial here but I think Stones has been excellent since he joined city and has really stepped up a notch. I wouldn't judge him too harshly on last night's match as Messi has been making better defenders than Stones look crap for years.
I have been saying all along. A defender's main role is to defend. The rest is a bonus. Rio, Maldini and Baresi could all pass the ball at a level Stones can only dream to do. However they were great defenders too
I fecking loved when he got immensely overrated over the summer because he's English and not inept on the ball. He's not a fecking defender, he'll look semidecent in Guardiola's system because of obvious dominance of his teams but look like an absolute clown that he is when tested.
got to agree with this, at this current time i dont think there is actually any world class defenders, the names that get mentioned in that bracket Pique, Hummels, Boateng, Ramos, Kompany are all pretty poor at defending, on the ball they are all fantastic, just a sign of the times sadly,
Bailly for me standouts in modern generation
Not a hint of bias there lol
He can kick a ball quite gracefully for an Englishman.
Nowhere near as bad as he's being made out in here, always rated his potential and still do.
Still going to laugh at him whenever the opportunity arises though.
Still going to laugh at him whenever the opportunity arises though.