5. Extremely confident and highly valued
John Stones has an extremely cool head irrespective to the match situation. He had the nerve to gesture “calm down” to Everton fans towards end of an unexpected win over title chasing Tottenham in January, after dribbling out of his own area with the ball.
At 19, he took a panenka in a preseason penalty shootout against Juventus. Over the last season, Gerard Pique and Rio Ferdinand had lavish words of praise for Stones as a player who ‘understands football’, ‘brings in something extra to the team’, ‘has personality enough that a team can be built around him’.
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First Test: John Stones vs Sunderland
Since I was writing closer to GameWeek 1, I thought about publishing this piece only after watching Citizens’ opening encounter. Man City got all three points vs David Moyes’s Sunderland, however their performance was patchy, uncomfortable at the back and evident with clear lack of penetration.
John Stones though would be one of the players who came out of match with positive signs. He had 91% pass completion rate, won 67% aerial duels, made five tackles and was extremely comfortable on the ball (even when the Black Cats were pressing high).
Considering he landed in the club barely five days ago amidst a rebuilding team and new manager, these are good numbers.
