John Stones' World Cup performances worthy of starting Manchester City role
Why England’s World Cup campaign ended, as ever, in disappointment, there were a number of real positives to take from an unpredictable summer.
Indeed, some of the players to impress the most for Gareth Southgate in Russia were those that weren’t necessarily guaranteed a place in the side earlier in the year.
Kieran Trippier ended the tournament as England’s highest rated player (7.96) but were it not for an unexpected shift to centre-back for Kyle Walker the Spurs star may not have featured. Harry Maguire impressed having held off the calls of some for Gary Cahill to return to the side after a strong end to the season at Chelsea, and Jordan Pickford was in a real battle with Jack Butland for the number one spot in the run up to the main event but justified his spot with some superb saves.
Another question mark heading into the World Cup revolved around the match sharpness of John Stones, who had fallen out of favour since the turn of the year at Manchester City.
The former Everton star was dropped after a 3-1 win over Newcastle in January and while he had an abductor muscle injury that ruled him out of action in April, the 24-year-old wouldn’t start again until May in the league.
It wasn’t the sort of preparation that Southgate would have hoped for from his first choice centre-back, and while there was never any question that Stones might lose his place for England, there were understandable concerns as to whether he would be at his best.
The Three Lions fans needn’t have feared, however, as the defender came out of the tournament with his reputation intact, if not enhanced. While Nicolas Otamendi’s Argentina crashed out in the round of 16 following some dire defending, and Aymeric Laporte failed to make the cut for France, Stones was proving why he should be in Pep Guardiola’s plans next season.
His passing statistics were typically impressive and basically in line with those he boasted for City last season. That may seem unremarkable but given the disparity in quality and dominance of the two sides, averages of 68.3 passes per game and a 94.8 per cent accuracy were outstanding.
Stones was superb in the air too, winning 22 out of 27 duels to boast a success of 81.5 per cent - up from 75 per cent last season - and as one would expect he was busier defensively too. Averages of 1.6 tackles and 4.9 clearances per game doubled his figures in England’s top-flight and while his campaign wasn’t without the odd slip, the centre-back was a star performer for the Three Lions in general, earning their third highest rating from WhoScored.com 7.28.
Stones will hope that his displays caught the eye of his club manager having reasserted his former status as one of the top young centre-backs in the game. If he can’t find a place in Guardiola’s starting line-up ahead of next season there would no doubt be plenty of takers for a defender whose best years are certainly still ahead of him, and another big money move wouldn’t come as a surprise.
