With 49 points from 24 games this season, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are within the touching distance of a place in the Champions League next season, but they will have to hope for a miracle late in the season to have a shot at the Premier League title. The addition of Gabriel Jesus, who has 3 goals in 2 league games for City, has made them stronger, but Pep Guardiola still has to work on their biggest weakness, their defense. The manager spent insane amounts of money in the summer transfer window to improve the squad but the £47.5m purchase of John Stones, was the only addition to the defense.
And it seems to be haunting the manager as Stones is slowly, but surely becoming a liability at the Etihad. The English international rose to the limelight at Everton where he managed to put in some commanding performance at the back to help the Toffees to some impressive victories.
So it did not take long for him to attract interests from big clubs and Everton lost out to Manchester City and Pep Guardiola in the summer, with a transfer that made Stones, the second most expensive defender in Europe. But is he worth the tag? Or is he a tactical liability for Guardiola on the long-run? Here is a statistical take on the issue, based on a stats by Whoscored.com.
Known for the ability with the ball at his feet, Stones is beyond a doubt, one of the best ball-playing defenders in England at the moment. His passing percentage of 90.6% makes this trait his strength while his ability to dribble past opponents even in dangerous areas also helps his side under pressure. However, Stones has just not been able to provide a consistent performance for his side and is now one of the most error-prone defenders in the league.
Though he is in his first season at the Etihad, Stones has not made 3 errors that directly lead to the goal and cost his side some points, which will surely have an effect at the end of the season. He is, at times, criticized for dwelling on the ball for too long and this has, in fact, put more pressure on the defender who is now low on confidence.
But that is just a fourth of the problems that Stones has had so far this season. The English international is also not at his best in the air. He has a success rate of 60% in the air, which is mediocre for a center back in the Premier League and this has seen him come under even more pressure recently.
At 22, he has enough time to improve on this but Guardiola will now have to shield him against the sides who are strong in the air. To add to this, Stone has made just 15 tackles in 18 PL starts this season and also has just 27 interceptions this season, which is astonishingly low for a Premier League defender, and that has made Stones even more of a liability.
Though Guardiola has done him some favours by chopping and changing his lineup, while Vincent Kompany’s absence might have its own effects, but if these performances continue, Stones will be under severe pressure this season. The fact that City are unbeaten in the seven Premier League games Stones has not started, winning six and conceding an average of 0.86 per game, makes a bold heading.
Manchester City have won just seven of the 15 he has started this term, with the team shipping 1.47 goals per game. If these stats are anything to go by, Stones, is a real liability for Pep Guardiola but with the amount of potential he has, it is better for City to stick with him in the long term.
But do you think Stones can improve in years to come?