John Stones: ‘I feel like there is a weight off my shoulders’Central defender has thrived since his £47m move Manchester City and will be key to Sam Allardyce’s England against Slovakia on SundayIf this is – as Sam Allardyce would like us to believe – the beginning of a brave new world for England’s beleaguered national team then it does not need long in the company of John Stones to realise he sees himself as central to it.
That new era begins on Sunday in the City Arena, Trnava, when England take on Slovakia in Allardyce’s first match in charge and Stones lines up in the defensive position that could conceivably be his for the next decade.
For the 22-year-old, it feels like the natural progression, having slotted seamlessly into Manchester City’s back four since his £47.5m move from Everton a month ago. Yet it has not been an entirely smooth journey to this point. For a while Stones could not even get into Everton’s team last season as all that rich potential stalled. He has been scrutinised to a level many players would find intolerable and Roy Hodgson, perhaps with good reason, was among those wondering whether the centre-half was guilty of over-elaborating on the ball and too much of a risk. Stones was one of only two outfield players, alongside Ross Barkley, who did not play a single minute in Euro 2016.
Two months on, Stones is the most expensive defender in the history of English football and has taken on that title without a flicker of self-doubt, judging by his assured performances for his new club. Already, he says, he feels a better player and he is clearly relishing the opportunity to learn from Pep Guardiola.
“I feel like there is a weight off my shoulders,” he says. “It’s nice to be settled and enjoying my football, the new experience, playing in the Champions League and all the things you dream about when you start playing football. I feel like I’ve settled in quickly. It’s all come thick and fast and I’ve been taking in a lot of information over the last few weeks, trying to figure everything out. I’m under the best manager there is and I’m just really enjoying myself.”
Guardiola certainly feels like a neat fit for a player with Stones’s ability, regularly calling him over during matches to pass on instructions. Yet it is not all about intricacies on the ball and the Yorkshireman justifying his mantle as the “Barnsley Beckenbauer”. Stones also beams with pride when he recalls clearing the ball into the stands against West Ham last weekend when, by his own admission, there was a time when he might have tried something fancy and risked looking silly.
“The guy [Arthur Masuaku] absolutely smashed me but that’s the sort of thing I mean – I believe I have come on quite a lot, already, as a player. I was doing things before and then I would think: ‘Why have I done that? Why haven’t I just put it out in Row Z?’ Already I can see a difference in my decision making. So, of course, I’ll kick it into Row Z if necessary. We can all regroup from putting it in Row Z sometimes.
“I’ve always liked taking the ball out of defence and I will carry on doing that but at the end of the day I’m a defender, and that’s what I want to be known as – a defender, getting in the blocks and the headers that people don’t recognise I do, the dirty stuff that every defender should do and should be good at. The rest of it is a bonus, where I can play out and start attacks.
“But I know I have to evaluate myself, watch things back and realise when I can do things and when I can’t. I’m a defender first and foremost – blocks, headers, vital tackles, or even just the communication side of it, which is massive but doesn’t really get recognised. I’m working hard on that side of my game, just as much as the other side of it.”
If that sounds as if he feels slightly misunderstood and perhaps frustrated, the impression he gives in person is he can live with the scrutiny with no problem. Stones seems remarkably comfortable in his own skin, with a personality entirely in keeping with the way he plays football – calm, relaxed and completely sure of himself.
There have been difficult times. Referring to his last season at Everton, he explains there were “a lot of personal problems outside of football that didn’t make it any better, living-wise”. He would rather keep them private but it is a reminder sometimes there is more to a story than meets the eye.
“Obviously things got difficult,” Stones says. “As you know, the gaffer [Roberto Martínez] was sacked. It wasn’t enjoyable. We weren’t winning games. You want to go out every week and win – that’s our job – and when you don’t do that for a few games on the trot it starts to eat away at you, no matter who you are. It was a good test for me. I learned a lot about my football and myself.
“I feel I came out stronger and I never changed who I was or how I played. I’m proud of that. If I’d tried to change to suit other people, I wouldn’t have been true to myself and that’s what I wanted to be. Everyone’s going to make mistakes, I know that. I will be the first person to own up to that and that’s how I can move forward and grow as a player.”
The perception of many Everton fans was that not enough was done under Martínez to work on the team’s defensive structure and it was a long pause when Stones was asked whether his previous manager gave him the same amount of advice as his current one.
“It’s hard because they are different people, with different advice, different thoughts on playing football and different needs, I suppose. Roberto had his style of play and he changed that towards the end of his career at Everton. He changed the whole style of the team and things didn’t work out so you could say it wasn’t the best decision. But he was the manager and he had to make tough decisions.
“It was a tough period for me [being left out] because I was doing everything right. I was being professional, I was carrying myself well. I felt I was doing everything I could and deserved to play but I still wasn’t. That’s when I found it hard. It’s probably a question you should have asked him at the time because he wasn’t telling me.”
Allardyce has made it clear it is time to think of Stones as “the now” rather than reverting to talk about his potential. “That’s lovely to hear,” says the man in question. Others, however, are uneasy about a defender who plays the Stones way. Phil Neville, once a former team-mate at Everton, has described as “scandalous” some of the criticism the player has attracted and Rio Ferdinand was so aggrieved by the nature of one radio phone-in he stopped his car, rang the station and asked to be put through. “I’ve met Rio a few times and he has always been passionate about football,” Stones says. “To get that backing from him gives me great confidence. He was a top player and I’m striving to be a top player.”
As for the question of whether the criticism ever stings, particularly when it comes from seasoned former pros, it is still the same look of relaxed indifference. One thing is clear: Stones is not the sensitive type. “Everyone has their opinion. It’s part and parcel of football, I suppose. You just have to take it with a pinch of salt and carry on doing what you’re doing. It is something that will never change. I will always try to be true to myself and I’ll keep doing what I do.”
Guardian
