Jermaine Jenas believes John Stones has had ‘the season of all seasons’ for Manchester City.
Yesterday saw City lift the Premier League title at the Etihad Stadium, after beating Chelsea 1-0.
Confirmation of City’s title win actually came on Saturday night when Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest.
So Sunday was all about the celebrations for City, and they were in full swing after the game.
It has been a remarkable surge by City in recent months, with Pep Guardiola adopting a 3-4-2-1 formation that no team has really had an answer to.
The team have been relentless in hunting down Arsenal and ultimately surpassing them.
Key to the success of this new system has been Stones, who moves into midfield when City have the ball to create overloads.
It is a role that has seen Stones take his game to another level, and he has come in for a lot of praise for helping City gain even more control in games.
And the classy star last night came in for praise on Match of the Day 2 from Jenas. He picked out Stones for the amazing impact he has had this term.
He said: “Pep’s always been clear that he likes to use overloads. And in doing so, he usually goes with a false nine. This year, it’s been like a false centre-half in the way that he’s played John Stones in that defensive area and using him in midfield.
“I just think he’s had the season of all seasons John Stones, and I include the World Cup by the way, he really stood out. He’s had to develop his game, this is what Pep has asked of him. He’s been able to rise to the occasion. That man deserves his fifth Premier League title I think he’s been absolutely brilliant all year round.”
John Stones deserves all the plaudits that come his way, after winning his fifth Premier League title with Manchester City
Stones has been a key cog in ‘the new City’ this season.
The system change to a 3-4-2-1 was a stroke of genius from Pep. But it likely doesn’t work without a quality player like Stones joining Rodri in there.
The 28-year-old has been incredible playing essentially two positions.
It just shows how intelligent he is as a footballer, considering he does both sides of the hybrid role so well.
It was great to see him being spoken so highly of last night during the analysis on MOTD 2.
Players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland have rarely been out of the headlines this season. So it’s fantastic to see such an important player like Stones getting some solid recognition.
