John Stones

[bluestevon]

Then he sits on the bench.

Martinez is doing it correctly, people have come in and done a job, Lennon, Mori, Oviedo prior to his injury, Robles and they are retaining their places and rightly so, the likes of Stones, Geri, Besic and Baines have to wait for their chance and take it when it comes.

Its how it should be done.

Could argue that the othe rnight Baines showed an advantage in having that mentality of fighting for places, came in played his best game for a long time and probably should keep his spot now and so on... now Besic has the chance to stake a claim over the next two games against very good opposition,

 

[Khalekan]

There is a big, nay huge difference between wanting to sell Stones, and not being overly bothered if a sale were to happen. I think there is a small minority on here (possibly being mischievous) who want to sell him. Many more just aren't so bothered about him and feel that as long as we get a fair price, no tears will be shed.

Exactly.

I don't want to sell him.

But if he wants to go I won't be losing any sleep over it.

I think we tend to overrate him anyway.....and this season he had not improved any on last, IMO.

 

[Polish_Blue_Army]

I want him to be sold because i don't like him, don't think he's worth half of what Chelsea has offered and most of all I think it would be a good business for Everton

 

[Zatara]

I wonder if Martinez will sign another CB this summer.

We were linked with the Kiev CB Khacheridi in Jan and now again today. It would make sense to sign someone to prepare for Jags leaving (34 at season start) or playing less games and any player from a foreign league may take a season to settle in (taking Jags position the following season perhaps when he hits 35).

So, that being said its not inconceivable that Stones could be moved into Barrys position (like he played against Wham). Otherwise perhaps unlikely we could bring anyone decent in with 3 centre backs ahead of them?

Ignoring whether it would be the right or wrong move, could he be a success there? Dier has done well for Spurs there...

 

[Goat]

I wonder if Martinez will sign another CB this summer.

We were linked with the Kiev CB Khacheridi in Jan and now again today. It would make sense to sign someone to prepare for Jags leaving (34 at season start) or playing less games and any player from a foreign league may take a season to settle in (taking Jags position the following season perhaps when he hits 35).

So, that being said its not inconceivable that Stones could be moved into Barrys position (like he played against Wham). Otherwise perhaps unlikely we could bring anyone decent in with 3 centre backs ahead of them?

Ignoring whether it would be the right or wrong move, could he be a success there? Dier has done well for Spurs there...

Dier hasnt done well for Spurs, he looks like a CB playing in midfield, the same as Stones would.

 

[mkrudden]

Dier hasnt done well for Spurs, he looks like a CB playing in midfield, the same as Stones would.

Agree with this.
It's ok playing Dier there at first so that when his inexperience does provide a brain-fart, he has 4 defenders behind him. He will at some point though have to make that shift to CB and learn how to deal with any mistakes he makes.

I have no doubt that if still here, John Stones will be a different beast next season.

See Barkley
See Lukaku
See Deulofeu

 

[Zatara]

Agree with this.
It's ok playing Dier there at first so that when his inexperience does provide a brain-fart, he has 4 defenders behind him. He will at some point though have to make that shift to CB and learn how to deal with any mistakes he makes.

I have no doubt that if still here, John Stones will be a different beast next season.

See Barkley
See Lukaku
See Deulofeu

All things considered, id keep him at CB.

But i wonder if Martinez will make another CB signing this summer? If he does then i guess it would be an international player who would expect games....We will have Stones, Jags and Mori already so its a case of who drops out i guess as even though its a squad game you need a settled partnership.

 

[Goat]

All things considered, id keep him at CB.

But i wonder if Martinez will make another CB signing this summer? If he does then i guess it would be an international player who would expect games....We will have Stones, Jags and Mori already so its a case of who drops out i guess as even though its a squad game you need a settled partnership.

We wont sign a CB in the Summer.

We have :

Stones, Jags, Mori, Galloway, Holgate, Browning.

Why do you feel we need to replace Jags when his replacement is already in the squad?

 

[mkrudden]

All things considered, id keep him at CB.

But i wonder if Martinez will make another CB signing this summer? If he does then i guess it would be an international player who would expect games....We will have Stones, Jags and Mori already so its a case of who drops out i guess as even though its a squad game you need a settled partnership.

We need another CB, definitely.
I know FM has played well, but his tendency to forget how to head the ball when we are under the cosh really winds me up.
I am not sold on Galloway as a future CB. Happy to be vaulted though.
We need another one in the mould of Shawcross or Dann. Players who just want to defend everything. Then a long term partnership could develop between that new player and Stones. Don't get me wrong, I love Jagielka, but at 34 you have a point about looking for a replacement long term.

 

[sageyefc]

We need another CB, definitely.
I know FM has played well, but his tendency to forget how to head the ball when we are under the cosh really winds me up.
I am not sold on Galloway as a future CB. Happy to be vaulted though.
We need another one in the mould of Shawcross or Dann. Players who just want to defend everything. Then a long term partnership could develop between that new player and Stones. Don't get me wrong, I love Jagielka, but at 34 you have a point about looking for a replacement long term.

Forget how to head? You do realize FM heads more than PJ and JS combined, he regularly finishes games as have completed the most headed duels on the pitch

 

[Zatara]

We need another CB, definitely.
I know FM has played well, but his tendency to forget how to head the ball when we are under the cosh really winds me up.
I am not sold on Galloway as a future CB. Happy to be vaulted though.
We need another one in the mould of Shawcross or Dann. Players who just want to defend everything. Then a long term partnership could develop between that new player and Stones. Don't get me wrong, I love Jagielka, but at 34 you have a point about looking for a replacement long term.

No idea on Galloway yet.

Jags being 34 as @MoutsGoat said we have Pennington (who i think wont be here long) Holgate (likely seen as next to come through) and Browning (whose looked fine).

However i can see those young players all going on loan next season and a new CB coming in. When they come back off loan the following season Jags will be 35 years old.

If we did sign someone he's going to likely be at the level of expecting to have games. Martinez will want to do something about the goals we are conceding and i think we will be looking at someone ultra defensive.

Koulibaly from Napoli and now this chap at Kiev have been heavily linked. It may well take either some time to get used to the Premier League and adapt as well...generally its said a season for foreign players and defenders pose a higher risk i guess as we saw with Kroldrup.

Im not sure if say Koulibaly for example would be too thrilled to be competing with our club captain, future england superstar and argentine international defenders for one of 2 positions.

So with that in mind i wonder if Stones may be ALSO playing DM to keep him on the pitch in some games when we need to be more defensive?

Just an idea...otherwise i wonder how morale would be if we did sign Koulibaly for example and he and Mori were first choice keeping Jags and Stones on the bench...Stones especially needs games.

 

[Goat]

You say both are heavily linked.

A simple google search of both tells me that we arent.

 

[Hellerad]

No idea on Galloway yet.

Jags being 34 as @MoutsGoat said we have Pennington (who i think wont be here long) Holgate (likely seen as next to come through) and Browning (whose looked fine).

However i can see those young players all going on loan next season and a new CB coming in. When they come back off loan the following season Jags will be 35 years old.

If we did sign someone he's going to likely be at the level of expecting to have games. Martinez will want to do something about the goals we are conceding and i think we will be looking at someone ultra defensive.

Koulibaly from Napoli and now this chap at Kiev have been heavily linked. It may well take either some time to get used to the Premier League and adapt as well...generally its said a season for foreign players and defenders pose a higher risk i guess as we saw with Kroldrup.

Im not sure if say Koulibaly for example would be too thrilled to be competing with our club captain, future england superstar and argentine international defenders for one of 2 positions.

So with that in mind i wonder if Stones may be ALSO playing DM to keep him on the pitch in some games when we need to be more defensive?

Just an idea...otherwise i wonder how morale would be if we did sign Koulibaly for example and he and Mori were first choice keeping Jags and Stones on the bench...Stones especially needs games.

Stones' flexibility serves a role when a RB or CDM is injured or suspended 28 games into a season, but he's a CB and we aren't skint anymore. Come the summer, Stones should get minutes at CB or be sold for a tidy profit.

 

[Goat]

Stones' flexibility serves a role when a RB or CDM is injured or suspended 28 games into a season, but he's a CB and we aren't skint anymore. Come the summer, Stones should get minutes at CB or be sold for a tidy profit.

People just love fitting square pegs in round holes.

 

[mkrudden]

Forget how to head? You do realize FM heads more than PJ and JS combined, he regularly finishes games as have completed the most headed duels on the pitch

I know mate, but then there are games like Chelsea away and WH where he doesn't attack the ball at all.
Good player, I'm not disputing that, I just am yet to totally believe he is the answer long term.
My view should be tempered though with the fact that the intensity of the English game means he can't switch off for even a second. He's probably not used to that, absolutely.

Let me reiterate. I like him. A lot. I just wouldn't mind another "stopper" defender to go into the mix.