Manchester City defender John Stones has admitted that he was “disappointed” with his showing in his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
The £47.5 million (Guardian) man was speaking to the club’s official website after the contest after City dropped points in their fourth Premier League game in a row.
John Stones returned to the starting XI from injury, starting in the middle of the park alongside Manuel Akanji against Unai Emery’s side.
Manchester City centre-back John Stones says he was “disappointed” with how he played against Aston Villa
While Martin Keown recently claimed that the Sky Blues were sorely missing the Englishman, his return to the side did not help the visitors get a much-needed three points at Villa Park.
Steve Nicol criticised Pep Guardiola for playing Manuel Akanji alongside the Barnsley-born colossus in the middle of the park, as the pair looked out of sorts throughout the contest.
After Manchester City lost to Aston Villa on Wednesday night, John Stones held his hands up and admitted that he was far from his best.
“I’m disappointed with my individual performance, as I think everyone else is in the dressing room.”
I think we’ve been successful because we’ve got players that’ll be self-critical in these moments. I think I can only speak for myself, but we weren’t good enough”, Stones told the club’s official website.
Fair play to John Stones
It’s fair to say that apart from Ederson Moraes and Ruben Dias, no Manchester City player, including John Stones did themselves any justice with their displays against Aston Villa.
However, one has to applaud the five-time Premier League winner for taking accountability instead of simply giving a clichéd response after a disappointing result.
Considering John Stones has just returned from injury and was playing as an actual holding midfielder, it was not a surprise to see him looking out of place against the Villains.
With Rodri suspended for the contest, the treble-winner lacked his usual partner in the middle of the park to help Pep Guardiola’s men dominate proceedings.
But even so, John Stones has decided not to hide behind any excuses as he accepted that his showing could have been a lot better, which must be a reassuring statement for Manchester City supporters.
