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John Stones

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Got to agree with Davek. I have also said he is not ready just yet and won't be for a couple of seasons. He will with no doubt be a cracking player but defensively he has a lot to learn. I always remember Gary Stevens being positionally useless and Kendall said so but he learned and turned into a great RB eventually. My only concern at the moment is that Jags and Distin also appear to have the wobbles and have digressed which doesn't bode well. Its too much responsibility for someone so young in a defensive position but he has to learn somehow.
 
I'd give him a few games playing in front of the back 4 in Europe or the cup.

It relieves him of the last line of defence duties and let's him dictate the game from the back as we saw at last season.

Could be a future Sammer/Matthaus I feel
 
He does most things right and looks cool and composed. He does have lapses of concentration which do cost us at the moment though. He should be used sparingly. Our best 2 are still Jags and Distin, Stones will be an exceptional player but he's not ready to play every single game in the Prem.

As good as he did last year, he still made mistakes which will be ironed out with age and experience. The thing with this level is top strikers will punish you for your momentary lapse of concentration.
 

toffee matt said:
I'd give him a few games playing in front of the back 4 in Europe or the cup.

It relieves him of the last line of defence duties and let's him dictate the game from the back as we saw at last season.

Could be a future Sammer/Matthaus I feel
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It's where I see him.

He's a very gifted player who can play to a high level in a number of positions. At the moment I dont think he's anything more than adequate at CB. As Banno says, Distin and Jagielka dont look up to anywhere near their best and so they're not readjusting to take Stones' lack of experience in. The telling moments for me on Saturday was when Barry had to mop up in our box a couple of times - getting in there ahead of three nominal CB's to do their jobs for them.

Unreal.
 
Turn it in lads, chatting some utter pony here. In the second half of last year when he was paired with disitn he proved hes a CB, on that form id even say he was our best CB, he does need to bulk up abit, and he has made a few mistakes in preseason but you have to keep encouraging him to play that way because ultimatly that'll what will set him apart from the rest.


Jags has just as many lapses in concentration as him, distin has just as many shaky moments, alcaraz is proper sketchy, just cos stones is the young lad your going OTT, you'll all be praising him as your next god once he has a few good games again
 
This kind of criticism often happens, then the player has a good game and everyone changes their minds and thinks he's amazing again.

He's got a bad mistake in him at the moment, Stones, but it's due to the way he plays and the fact he's only just out of his teens.
 
davek said:
Not a CB for me. Not part of a two or three at the back. This isn't going to work out, not in the short term anyway. I dont think he's anywhere near positionally aware or dominant enough to play in such a sensitive position. Mistakes made there are disastrous and this lad is costing us.

I've believed for a while that he's better further up the pitch. He shows for the ball very well and has excellent distribution. Unfortunately we have a number of players in the middle of the park who are ahead of him in the pecking order. For me he should be sitting out games now that Coleman is back. We go to a four at the back and Stones should be used as an emergency CB.
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Good work Dave, popcorning at its finest here.

Stones is class and the composure he shows at his age is phenomenal. Hes going to be a fantastic centre half for years to come and hopefully with us.
 

John Stones is absolute quality. He isnt a hoofball merchant and is exactly the type of player we need. He will get better. Posts on here lack Stones' quality.
 
A lot of the arguments that are being made against Stones here could very easily be made about Ross as well. As a few have said already, he has to make these mistakes in order to develop as a player. This is the very reason he wouldn't have gotten a chance under Moyes and the same reason why we missed the boat with both Eric Dier and Shkodran Mustafi (in my opinion)

Personally think John Stones is quality and we won't be seeing him at RB very often this season.
 
davek said:
No. I dont think you read my posts if you drew that conclusion.
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Apparently I didn't, apologies. He's not ready YET. But not many defenders are at his age. Moving him forward won't help, if his positional sense in his natural position isn't up to scratch then it certainly won't be in a new position.

He'll learn to be a top centre half by playing centre half.
 
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Center Half for my money, all day. Saw that when he slotted in there for last season. Was alright at rb but looked exposed when the extra pace fellow came on and put that chip into the atmos. Clearly still some mistakes in him but also the same with Distin and Jags, only experience and playing time will iron those out. Fantastic composure on the ball, good strength in the air (think him vs Carroll last year), good tackles when he needs to and alright positioning. Caught out by an unfortunate deflection and questionable shape at the back, were we playing 4 or 5. If 5 coleman should have had Wood. He will only improve, a fantastic talent
 

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