At fault for 4 goals since his return to the Manchester City team from injury. Looks like he's reverting back to last season's form.
Not seen the game myself but from what I've been told he failed to deal with a basic clearance leading to Bristol's first goal. I also know a season ticket holder at the Etihad who has said his form is a big concern.
What never seems to get pointed out is that Stones must receive the ball far more than any of his counterparts, it’s the way Pep wants City to play. So I think it’s conceivable he will make more errors than them simply because of how much of the ball he has. I also notice that he often spreads the ball about, picks a quick incisive infield pass to start an attacking move which rarely gets a mention by the commentator, the first mistake he makes though and it’s pounced upon by the commentators.
His vision and distribution is sublime. I still maintain that, had we had him for an extra year, we'd have converted him into a midfielder, and a world class one too.
In his first ten games this season when he had been on the pitch for 900 minutes for City & England he had actually scored more goals himself than the opposition had scored collectively against him, but he hardly got a mention until eventually he makes an error & the knives come out
Stones must be rubbish then. After all he's only 1st choice CB for the best team in the Premiership and is also Englands No1. He must be really ****.
Wind thi neck in! Where did I say he was ****? Mentioned that he was in poor form but never said he was ****. Hope he gets back to the form he showed earlier this season.
I think some folk need to remember that the lad is 23. A mere baby for a centre back. Rio Ferdinand was 22 before he moved to Leeds - he was nearly 24 before he went to Man Utd. At the age of 23, he had about ten or twelve England caps. Stones has 22. John Terry only got a run of games for Chelsea aged twenty onwards, was only really seen as clear first choice from the age of 21. He was nearly 23 before he even made his England debut. He’s made some bad errors, but he will learn. He’s also being asked to play in a particular way by Guardiola which has higher risk, he’s bound to make the odd ruck. It’s also rarely pointed out how often he is the starting point of successful attacks; how often he makes a killer pass, this is rarely the case for the likes of Cahill, Jones, Smalling. He’s England’s best centre back overall, though not the best solely defensively. He has the most footballing ability of any English centre back for a long while - but needs to brush up on basic defending. Martinez as a coach didn’t help him, Pep’s style puts the pressure on but he’ll get there. He has all the attributes and is a proper rolls Royce of a player. He’ll be in the england team for the next ten years injury permitting.
