John Stones | Performances

[Nogbadthebad]

He was one of the worst players on the pitch at Rooney's testimonial.

he has talent on the ball, but he is just poor at defending, and call me a traditionalist, but I kind of think a defender should at least have some skills in defending to be worth a punt.

 

[GazTheLegend]

Defenders don't really peak until late 20's. That mixture of maturity, experience and physical presence isn't all there until about then.

So there's no real way of knowing how good John Stones could really be just yet. That said if I was a City fan I would be concerned. The last few times I have watching him, Stones has looked like a total liability and even in Rooneys testimonial game Stones just gave the ball to Zlatan while under no pressure a few times.

Still, he's a young guy and too many big clubs were in for him for him not to have something special.

 

[MounchesterUtd]

So that's 150m POUNDS (?) for three CBs, two of which are long term gambles, one of whom is not worth that amount. Txiki and the other ex-Barca guys really going to town on that open chequebook .

 

[Womp]

Not really bothered by this signing, don't rate him as much as some others here. Good footballer, shite defender imo.

 

[Bubz27]

They've spent all that money trying to find a partner for Kompany, meanwhile Kompany turned into a crock.

 

[RobinLFC]

Terrible, terrible signing at that price.

 

[Dobba]

So £47.5m buys you the 59th ranked tackling defender last season. No wonder Pogba cost so much.

 

[salford_]

Of course their lot will try and defend the fee, and claim Pep will turn him into Puyol and Pique and hell be one of the worlds best. If that happens i'll pay their mortgage for the year. No bias at all but i genuinely, 100%, do not think he is a better defender than either Smalling or Cahill

Amusing though, giving it large last night over Pogba's fee, they wake up today and see Stones for £47.5m and realise they cant say feck all

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[padr81]

So that's 150m POUNDS (?) for three CBs, two of which are long term gambles, one of whom is not worth that amount. Txiki and the other ex-Barca guys really going to town on that open chequebook .

Your math is really questionable.

 

[BobbyManc]

Happy to have finally signed him. Reckon he'll do good at City for the most part, the real question mark is going to be his capability in the big games when his defensive ability is going to have to be up to scratch. With Guardiola's coaching and alongside a fit Kompany he'll instantly look a lot better than he did under Martinez though (lol, good luck Belgium).

 

[shaggy]

They laugh at our signings but they've spent over 150 million on stones, sterling, otamendi and mangala.

Absolutely terrible value for money there.

 

[FCBarca]

I'm a bit surprised Koeman sanctioned this move unless the club gave assurances to the player after Chelsea attempted to sign him previously. However, both coach & player have the same agent, soooo

Truth is, I would've been curious to see Stones under a defender like Koeman but Pep is no slouch there either - Pique & Boateng both say hello

 

[lem8sh]

Will turn into a brilliant player.

 

[salford_]

They laugh at our signings but they've spent over 150 million on stones, sterling, otamendi and mangala.

Absolutely terrible value for money there.

to be fair though, anyone who didnt support Liverpool or City knew Sterling was shite and massively overpriced

 

[ottosec]

Terrible defender, but he might work in Guardiola's system as he won't be under pressure much.

 

[Raw]

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Surely not

 

[balaks]

£14 million for Toby Alderweireld last season for my beloved Spurs. I'll just leave that with you.

 

[ti vu]

Defenders don't really peak until late 20's. That mixture of maturity, experience and physical presence isn't all there until about then.

So there's no real way of knowing how good John Stones could really be just yet. That said if I was a City fan I would be concerned. The last few times I have watching him, Stones has looked like a total liability and even in Rooneys testimonial game Stones just gave the ball to Zlatan while under no pressure a few times.

Still, he's a young guy and too many big clubs were in for him for him not to have something special.

This I agree.

Then as far as I think, top defenders all benefit from develop as a solid defensive unit. Very rare I see an Otamendi break through then stay at top level (which at the time people were drooling about him, I don't see the hype. I was one of those rather take Sergio Ramos if there is a chance ). So having the right kind of playing time is also important. Wrong kind of experience may not help defender to move to next level aka David Luiz.

 

[Stactix]

Anybody will look terrible in Martinez's system tbf
I think he will be a good signing for them actually

Depends, a manager can't be blamed for everything. Many of Stones mistakes were basic individual errors.
Every defender makes them, especially young ones.
But he was caught on the ball way to much, is he even comparable to say Blind on the ball? Meh not really.

Hes got potential no doubt, otherwise Mourinho / Pep would not of been interested but last season he was very poor, head wasn't in it.
I imagine saying that on bluemoon gets you banned now :P

Looking at their defensive situation, Kompany isn't as good as he once was & is constantly injured + will miss start of season.

Mangala / Otamendai both very inconsistent with the odd good performance. I imagine they'll do better this season but can they even speak English?
Stones is coming off a dreadful season.
None of them strike me as leaders. So again City will be incredibly reliant on Kompany being fit or they'll leak goals.
Poor fullback situation
Calamity hart in goal as well..

I imagine they'll have a similar problem to last season.
Very strong offensively but will be caught out at the back.

 

[Libano]

Hummels is also considerably older and abit of a crock.

27 is hardly old for a defender, he's just getting into his prime and already proven world class. I'd take him any day of the week over Stones, especially since he was already significantly better at age 22. That said, 47 Mio isn't more of a gamble than 94 Mio for Pogba.

 

[Rozay]

Super talent the kid. Great timing from City with the announcement too, Pogba deal takes the spotlight from the fact they just signed a young and learning defender for £50m.

 

[MounchesterUtd]

Your math is really questionable.

Quality post, mate. Just as good as Stones is at defending.

 

[royboy16]

He will thrive at City.

I concur,has a good manager in Pep to develop more too.

 

[Xeno]

£14 million for Toby Alderweireld last season for my beloved Spurs. I'll just leave that with you.

You shop in different markets than the elite clubs.

 

[balaks]

You shop in different markets than the elite clubs.

Yes because the Elite clubs are happy to vastly overpay for not as good players. I think I'll stick with Spurs thanks.

 

[salford_]

You shop in different markets than the elite clubs.

Maybe so, but Stones is not worth 3 Alderweirelds. If you ask me the guy replacing Stones potentially, albeit older, is better. Ashley Williams

 

[Attila]

27 is hardly old for a defender, he's just getting into his prime and already proven world class. I'd take him any day of the week over Stones, especially since he was already significantly better at age 22. That said, 47 Mio isn't more of a gamble than 94 Mio for Pogba.

Hummels had one year on his contract

 

[Tommy]

My thoughts exactly. Stones would be a good signing for Pep's Barcelona in the Spanish league.

However I really do think Stones lack of defensive qualities will come back to haunt City.

My thoughts exactly.

Stones looked shaky as hell last season. Good Premier League teams are built from the back, and I'm just not sold on him, especially for that price.

You shop in different markets than the elite clubs.

Still, a good buy is a good buy. This? This is... Questionable, at best.

 

[Ainu]

Could go either way. He's shown a lot of promise 2 seasons back and a lot of flaws last season. Under the right management he could become a very good defender, but I think he'll continue to make a lot of mistakes in the next few seasons. However, if by the age of 25-26 he cuts them out of his game and becomes one of the best defenders in the league, I doubt they'll care about those past mistakes. Or he could completely flop and end up at Sunderland by that time, who knows?

 

[hobbers]

Terrible signing really, another disastrous CB cock up for them.

Holgate will show up exactly how stupid this season.

 

[Bubz27]

Your math is really questionable.

£120m isn't much better.

 

[salford_]

Another young English man who can play CB Eric Dier, is miles ahead in defending and overall play. He cost Spurs what? £7m?

 

[Libano]

£14 million for Toby Alderweireld last season for my beloved Spurs. I'll just leave that with you.

Now that is a good transfer in case some of you might have forgotten what they look like.

 

[balaks]

Could go either way. He's shown a lot of promise 2 seasons back and a lot of flaws last season. Under the right management he could become a very good defender, but I think he'll continue to make a lot of mistakes in the next few seasons. However, if by the age of 25-26 he cuts them out of his game and becomes one of the best defenders in the league, I doubt they'll care about those past mistakes. Or he could completely flop and end up at Sunderland by that time, who knows?

He could become one of the best defenders in the league in 3-4 years - that is possible. Would it not be better to wait and see how he turns out and then pay that sort of money for him when he is the finished article rather than spend an absolute fortune on what is basically a gamble on a player who has been terrible for 2 years now. I cant get my head around this deal at all, the world has gone mad.

 

[Relfy]

There's a lot of potential there, but he'll need a strong partner alongside him in the early years, so it's essential for them to keep Kompany fit. I don't see him and Otamendi being a title winning partnership, especially with their weak full backs.

 

[Baxter]

Terrible defender, but he might work in Guardiola's system as he won't be under pressure much.

I'd agree with this. When they'll have 65-70% of the ball he'll do fine. He'll be caught out a few times but can't see him being a terrible signing.

 

[Untied]

So £47.5m buys you the 59th ranked tackling defender last season. No wonder Pogba cost so much.

You need to see both interceptions and tackles to make some judgement of defenders (interceptions reveals positioning/anticipation).

 

[padr81]

Quality post, mate. Just as good as Stones is at defending.

No matter how you look at it, they didn't cost 150m. I think 30m for Otamendi is not a bad deal and even better when you consider that Valencia owed us 22m they couldn't pay because they were broke. City simply wrote off what they were owed and paid £8m for Otamendi, is he worth Negredo and £8m, given his last 6 months at City and last season at Valencia we got a good deal out of that I'd say.

Mangala as I said in the Mangala thread we got robbed on and we'll take a £20-£25m hit on. He'll never develop his mental game to match his physical.

I'm not too worried about Stones defending he'll be fine. Is it world class? not even close. Will HE work in Pep's system? Better than MDM or Mangala.
Atm for what its worth I'm more worried about the system at the back than the defenders who play their, after watching Pelligrini's defence I know we can't get any worse.

 

[Libano]

Hummels had one year on his contract

Doesn't really matter to the buying party. If City were ever in for a shot (doubtful), I think they missed out on this opportunity.

 

[salford_]

Pep has obviously wanted to sign a footballer as opposed to a "defender" per se. Plenty out there better at that price though