Stones' lack of progress a concern for Manchester City and England
Pep Guardiola has been routinely doubted following his appointment as Manchester City boss. Tactical naivety has been the target of his critics, with the Spaniard looking to implement a similar approach to the one deployed at Barcelona and Bayern. However, the dip in quality between the personnel he had available for his previous and current employers hasn’t helped him transition as smoothly as many had expected, with a serious lack of investment at the back hardly helping.
City spent big over the summer to improve the squad, yet largely neglected the defence, with John Stones the only - albeit expensive - defensive addition. The arrival of Claudio Bravo has created nerves rather than settled them, but the performances of Stones have also drawn concerning looks. There were worries over his concentration when he moved to the Etihad Stadium, with City coughing up £47.5m to secure the England international’s services, making him the second most expensive defender in history.
His style may match Guardiola’s demands to play the ball out from the back, but the youngster has struggled to develop the defensive side of his game accordingly. Since breaking onto the scene with Everton, Stones’ career trajectory has failed to match his immense potential, even with the monster move to Manchester last summer. He’s living up to the billing as the ball playing defender Guardiola craves, of that there is no doubt. A pass success rate of 90.6% is second only to Ilkay Gundogan (91.9%) of City players to make at least one league start this season and matches a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘passing’, yet it’s the lack of defensive solidity that is a huge cause for concern.
A centre-back shouldn't need to rely on tackling to ensure the opposition has a clear run at goal, but even here Stones is faltering. He’s made just 15 tackles across 18 Premier League appearances this season and 27 interceptions. City may be averaging the most possession (60.3%) in the Premier League this season, which means they are not under pressure as routinely as a number of their rivals, but when required, Stones struggles with denying opponents.
Granted, City’s defensive woes have hardly helped the youngster bed in at the Etihad Stadium. Vincent Kompany has ben sidelined for much of the season, while Guardiola has routinely chopped and changed his defence, with Nicolas Otamendi and Aleksandar Kolarov both also playing alongside Stones at the heart of the backline this term. It only adds to the pressure for the England international to succeed instantly, but inexperience continues to rear its ugly head.
Stones has developed a statistically calculated WhoScored weakness of ‘concentration’, which has contributed to a number of unforced errors at the back allowing opponents to score. Indeed, Stones has committed more errors that have led to a goal (3) than any other outfielder in the Premier League this season. It’s unfair to lay the blame of the club’s defensive deficiencies solely at his feet, yet Guardiola is evidently aware of the issues that come with Stones starting.
He’s started just five of their last 11 Premier League games, with City’s form arguably improving when the young centre-back does not start. It’s particularly notable in that City are unbeaten in the seven Premier League games Stones has not started, winning six and conceding an average of 0.86 per game. Conversely, the team have won just seven of the 15 he has started this term, with the team shipping 1.47 goals per game. Having been dropped for the FA Cup win at Crystal Palace, Guardiola, when asked how Stones can reclaim his starting spot, said: “Fight like he fought in the beginning of the season.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Stones reclaims his place in the side for Wednesday’s trip to West Ham, especially as one of the main reasons the 22-year-old was left out of the starting XI for the win at Palace was due to the aerial threat of Christian Benteke. The City backline is likely to endure a similar physical battle at West Ham, where Andy Carroll looks set to feature once more, while Guardiola will hope to build up some consistency at the back. The issue here is over Kompany’s fitness levels and whether the Belgian can now play two games in the space of a week following such a long spell out.
Stones has a modest 60% aerial success rate in the Premier League this season, which is an underwhelming return for a centre-back and further highlights his struggles in headed battles. Against a West Ham outfit that are set to maximise Carroll’s strength in the air, it could be another evening that Stones starts on the bench. That being said, at 22 years of age, there is ample time for his flaws to be ironed out, however, City have every right to expect more from their big money summer arrival.
