Pundit Eamon Dunphy has hailed the coaching abilities of Pep Guardiola, pointing to the transformation of John Stones at Manchester City as clear evidence of this.
City have just won their fifth Premier League title in six seasons.
The relentlessness of City and mounting pressure on Arsenal finally told, with Guardiola securing a third ‘three-peat’ of his managerial career.
When Pep came to City, fans expected him to do great things.
He’d won league titles with Barcelona and Bayern Munich and there was just a feeling that City would become the new dominant force with him at the helm.
And that has been the case, with the Spaniard having now won 10 trophies at the club (and a further two Community Shields).
During his time at City, many players have flourished under his management.
So many have gone from being good players to top-class players, and there is just no doubt about Pep’s coaching at this point.
This was a topic of conversation on The Stand with Eamon Dunphy (episode 1731), with Dunphy highlighting the transformation of Stones at the Etihad Stadium.
He said: “What I think of Pep is that he improves players. John Stones was the most expensive centre-half ever in English football. He was a nightmare as a centre-half, an embarrassment at times.
“He’s now found a role for him in midfield that frees up one of their attacking midfield players. I think he is a great coach, and I think he has done a job with City that’s really amazing. I’m a convert.”
Danny Murphy had a similar line of thinking recently, stating that Stones seemed to be ‘done and dusted’ at City at one point.
On Match of the Day 2 on Sunday, Jermaine Jenas stated that Stones has had ‘the season of all seasons’ in 2022/23 for City.
Pep Guardiola is one of the best ever at improving players he works with, as Eamon Dunphy points to John Stones transformation
It is perhaps a little strong of Dunphy to label Stones a ‘nightmare’ in his early days at City.
He did struggle early on and the weight of his price tag did seem to affect him. But it may be a little too far to call him that.
But there is no doubt that Stones is now a world away from the player he was when he first arrived at the Etihad.
When Guardiola retires from management, Stones is probably going to be the player a lot of people first think about when talking about who the Spaniard improved.
His transformation has bee nothing short of amazing.
Without doubt, he’s now one of the best players in the world – and Pep has played a huge role in that.
