John Stones Over rated

[Jeffthered]

He steps out with the ball well, this season has demanded more from him (remember City were pretty scrappy prior to going on that mega-run)... he'll get better in that deep.lying midfield role.. but he has limitations. His passing is not so great, but he keeps things easy so that's good.

He doesn't have the authority, leadership or influence of Xavi Alonso, Sammer etc. Senna was a super player too. That's s v responsible role and I see a lot of money paid for players who, I personally, personally think can be replaced easier than some think. Declan Rice is good, but he's not worth £100m. And he will not transform Arsenal. A good Declan Rice is no better than a good Thomas Party for example.

That deep-lying midfield role should be a dominant role, not passive pass-the-ball-sideways-all-the-time.

 

[harms]

That’s a sweeper, right? Surely he plays too far forward to be one of those?

Not necessarily. Originally libero were sweepers – they were free of man-marking to sweep in behind. But when Beckenbauer came he used that freedom to not only sweep up but also to contribute offensively, essentially becoming an extra player in every stage of the game, very similar to Stones. So sometimes those words are used interchangeably but they’re not fully synonymous in football discourse.

 

[MileStolar]

Peps newest “innovation”. Rather than have one of his fullbacks move into midfield when they have the ball, it’s now Stones.

Tbh I’ve always thought he’d develop into a very good centre half so I’m not all that surprised at his development. Isn’t he a United fan too, this one was a bit of a miss for us tbh.

Honestly, it would be such a shame for his sake if he joined us at any point in our last 10 years, he would've drowned under any manager before Ten Hag.

With Pep he realized his potential, and even though some fans may dislike it, it's a good thing when people become best version of themselves rather than what the likes of Pogba, Januzaj or Maguire did with their potential.