BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks has lavished praise on John Stones amid his brilliant purple patch, believing he no longer takes ‘a ridiculous amount of touches’ on the ball.
The 28-year-old has put in a string of brilliant performances in recent weeks, playing in a hybrid role of right-back/central midfield.
At the weekend, Stones scored a brilliant goal with his weak foot from the edge of the penalty area.
He was then taken off at half-time, with Pep Guardiola thinking about the Champions League quarter-final second-leg with Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Stones has been coming in for a lot of praise lately.
Many have been blown away by his adaptability and versatility. Kolo Toure called him ‘gifted’ after the weekend win over Leicester City.
And Crooks is the latest to hail the England international.
Picking him for his latest Premier League Team of the Week, he said (BBC Sport): “This is a player who has done very well to survive at Manchester City. Pep Guardiola places serious demands on his defenders and not putting the ball at risk is one of them.
“Not only is John Stones a better defender under the direction of the best coach in the world, but a much better footballer. Stones no longer takes ridiculous amounts of touches in a deliberate attempt to provoke strikers into trying to steal the ball from him before passing it on to a teammate without a care in the world about the time he has left his teammate to deal with the problem.
“It made Stones look good, but with little consideration for his team. These days I seldom see Stones have more than two touches whenever he’s on the ball, and sometimes only one touch in the bigger games – the ball moves on.”
The Athletic reported after Stones’ performance in the 4-1 win over Liverpool that almost 50% of his passes against the Reds were played first-time.
Another 15 were played with his second touch. So 65% of his passes were played quickly.
John Stones is much sharper in possession these days at Manchester City
Stones has definitely become a lot sharper in possession at Manchester City.
He has always been good on the ball and very accurate when picking a pass.
But with this new role has been playing, it has helped him to become quicker. But he still maintains the accuracy which is brilliant.
When he was younger, he did take a bit more time on the ball and sometimes that could be his downfall.
Now he is receiving the ball and popping it off and giving opponents next to zero chance of dispossessing him.
