Rio Ferdinand believes that defensively, Joleon Lescott was better than John Stones.
In January, Gael Clichy claimed that the retired centre-half “does not get enough credit” while lauding his partnership at the back with Vincent Kompany during the 2011/2012 season.
Last season, Joleon Lescott had claimed that even the likes of Ruben Dias and Raphael Varane would find it impossible to play in John Stones’ hybrid role.
Rio Ferdinand says Joleon Lescott was a “better defender” than John Stones
Jamie Carragher also stated that he has never witnessed a centre-back do the things the Manchester City colossus was doing in his signature role.
Rio Ferdinand has acknowledged that John Stones is world-class in possession but as a pure defender, Joleon Lescott was better than him.
“He’s not better than [John] Stones, I don’t think [Joleon] Lescott.”
“Lescott’s a better defender than Stones, for me. But with the ball, Stones is elite.”
“Get a forward and say, right, you play against Joleon today or John Stones and they’re going to have to defend against you one v one, I think they’d rather play against Stones every day of the week. And get more change out of Stones, certain players anyway”, Ferdinand said on his show, ‘Vibe With Five.’
That is a wild take about John Stones
As excellent as Joleon Lescott was at his best, for Rio Ferdinand to even mention him in the same breath as John Stones is just absurd, in our view.
Lescott was a quality centre-back but never was he one of the best in the world like Stones is and has been for years.
As a pure defender, the 29-year-old is far better than the former Wolves colossus was, both inside the box and defending the channels while in possession, it is a no-contest.
Apart from Vincent Kompany, there is no centre-back to have played for Manchester City in the Premier League era who can be classed as clearly superior to John Stones defensively.
For Rio Ferdinand to nonchalantly name Joleon Lescott was a bizarre take.
