He has potential of course and Pep is the perfect manager for him, as it emphasizes his strengths and his weaknesses wont be exposed as much. Delighted we got Bailly over him though as he looks much better overall and much more suited to Mourinho and 90% of managers probably. Stones under Pep can obviously develop in a similar way to Pique so despite the ridiculous fee and him not being very good defensively, he'll do alright.
John Stones | Performances
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He isn't better than Jones at the moment and if anyone get Big Phil off us for £47.5m it'd be considered the biggest rip off in football history.
That said, he isn't a crock, and there are raw materials to work with, so we'll see.
That said, he isn't a crock, and there are raw materials to work with, so we'll see.
Can't agree a player is an idiot for wanting a big money move. What if he stayed and got a major injury and no club wanted him anymore? Or had another poor season under Koeman and the hype dissolved? Some players have the courage to turn down money for their own development and I respect that, but you can't blame someone for cashing in on the hype.At the risk of repeating myself, the guy is an idiot to not stay at Everton for another year and learn from Koeman. Would have done a world of good for his game, without the intense attention on him. Guess the lure of big money was too strong
He's awful at defending.
At the risk of repeating myself, the guy is an idiot to not stay at Everton for another year and learn from Koeman. Would have done a world of good for his game, without the intense attention on him. Guess the lure of big money was too strong
Bullshit post. What is he meant to do.. Be another Ross Barkley and stagnate at a smaller club. This way he gets more exposure to elite level football like UCL and learns under one of the all time great managers.
He wants to be the best in the world and He's a guaranteed starter at City so it's a brilliant move for him. Now he just has to apply himself and eradicate silly mistakes from his game.
Will he do that? Who knows but I would be surprised if he ends up worse than Jones.
I don't think Pep is the right manager for him. At 21 you want to learn and address your weaknesses, not hide them and emphasize your strengths. He's be much better off with a manager who can teach defence. Funnily one of them has recently joined his former team too.
As neville mentioned, he did well with Pique at Barca in a similar situation so I wouldnt say its a bad move for him at all.
He's English, so Neville will sing his praises all day long
Yep, this post was written immediately before Neville and Carragher started praising Rooney so I take it back.
Rooney and Pogba midfield
He comes across as a proper thickie.. Claims Pep is the best manager in the world when he's only played under Martinez, Roy and a Barnsley manager.
I've played under me Dad, me alcoholic P.E teacher and some arl fart who was probably robbing the subs for his coke addiction and I'm claiming Peps the best manager in the world.He's obviously going to say Peps the best.
That is something every Footballer at a top club does.
Yep, bit silly to criticise him for it. Everyone says x or y manager is the best in the world. Even this gran does, though she isn't exactly impartial.
I suppose I'm being unreasonable, I still think he's a thickie though.
He's got a point though.
He's awful at defending.
At the risk of repeating myself, the guy is an idiot to not stay at Everton for another year and learn from Koeman. Would have done a world of good for his game, without the intense attention on him. Guess the lure of big money was too strong
You dont think he can learn anything from Pep?
You dont think Pep can teach defence?
I remember Pique talking about Barcelona under Pep. He said that they were uncomfortable without the ball; by extension uncomfortable defending. Even if Pep's tactics have changed, his teams heavily rely on keeping the ball. Sure, Stones will improve under Pep, but it's a valid point to say that as a CB he'd have (perhaps) fundamentally developed more skills under, say, Koeman.
Flawed logic to base so much on a comment like that. Have you watched a Pep defensive training session and also watched a Koeman training session and compared the two? Not a valid point if its being based on such incredibly thin information.
Base so much? I've based precisely nothing on that quote. You disagreed with @Sarni and @MDFC Manager, I'm merely adding more stock to their comments from someone who played under Pep. The posters you replied to PERHAPS had some base to their arguments. Did I claim it be absolute, verifiable, undeniable fact? Did I ever say that Stones moving to City is a bad move? Did I in fact raise a new argument? No.
I don't understand why you're so opposed to listening to interesting insight from a former Pep player. It's very interesting to hear that Pique believes that Barcelona have become more complete under Enrique. Having heard the entirety of the interview, it's not "such incredibly thin information". He continues talking about it in the rest of the interview. You'd know more than Pique, though. Genius fella you are.
I havent made any mention of if Stones move was good or bad etc Not sure why you are bringing that up. I am merely pointing out what a thin argument there is regarding Pep v Koeman as to who would be a better defensive coach. There is scant little evidence being put forward apart from a comment that a player has made regarding how a team feels out of possession. thats pretty flimsy.
What more evidence will you get? This is the opinion of a player that played under him. It was quite largely debated too that no team could beat Pep's Barca going toe to toe with them, but their defence was always suspect. Same with his Bayern team. This may have nothing to do with Pep's actual inability to coach defensively, it may be to do with the tactics his teams play in (playing high, perhaps prone to the counter). Regardless of whether the former or the latter are true, their defence was widely seen as the "weak" point of their team; you could get at them. Perhaps this means that Stones may have developed the more fundamental sides of defending under a manager like Koeman, where a different style is favoured, putting Stones out of his comfort zone, but perhaps broadening his skills.
Perhaps he's watched enough of peps teams over the years to come to that opinion?
Interesting that for such a weak point of Guardiola's sides his teams have always conceded the least goals in the league. Defence has only been seen as a weak point because anything in comparison to that midfield and attack at Barcelona was 'weak'. I'd say he's an excellent coach defensively, and people forget he was a defensive player himself. At any rate there's no evidence to suggest Koeman is better at developing defenders than Guardiola, and the latter can point to the likes of Pique, Boateng and Abidal who all developed hugely under his management. feck, he's even made Kolarov look competent playing there thus far!
Daily Star
- John Stones admits recent dark times have provided him with the strength to develop into one of the world's best defenders.
From the Papers Gossip thread. Did I just read that? One of the worlds best defenders
From the Papers Gossip thread. Did I just read that? One of the worlds best defenders
From the Papers Gossip thread. Did I just read that? One of the worlds best defenders
We must've missed something. Been in hibernation for last 5, 10 years or something.
He's fielded the strongest teams in the league in each season, teams that tend to monopolise possession. So their offense is actually their best form of defense. And while that's brilliant for the team, one has to wonder how the pure defensive skills of a centre back would develop with that style. I need to say, though, that I'm not debating that he's a brilliant manager. He obviously is. I'm merely pointing out that it's interesting that one of his former players would say that the team is more comfortable defensively under a new coach.
I honestly don't know what Stones is on about. Martinez dropped him for about 3 games and defended him everyweek. Bit of a rats trick by him if you ask me.
Barcelona 4:0 Man City
Everton must still be laughing at the sum they got for him.
Was only a matter of time before he got found out. And he cost nearly two Bailly's.
He will produce some slick foot work next game followed by a nice pass into midfield. That will be enough to convince many of his quality.
Neymar just urinated all over him..
Unbelievable this guy.
He was shite before and he's still shite now. I love how virtually every journalist has pushed forward this notion that he's one of the better defenders in the league since he joined City.
Look how heavy footed he has looked for 2 of the goals. Lacks basic defending nous.
That half-arsed foot dangle reminded me of peak me
They tend to do that with Manchester clubs
I know half of it has been down to Koeman over Martinez but we have looked a defence transformed with Williams instead of him.
I thought I was going crazy when I was watching him be just as bad as last year most matches yet journalists kept talking about how much Guardiola had improved him in such a short time
Tbf he's obviously still too young to face one of the greatest attacks of all time.