John Stones’ Omission from Pep Guardiola’s Settled Defence Raises Questions

Manchester City might have answered several questions with their excellent display in the comeback win against Arsenal on Sunday, but one player was again curiously left uninvolved throughout the 90 minutes.

Despite seemingly being a defender built entirely in the mould that manager Pep Guardiola would appear to like, John Stones was left on the bench for the second match running.

The England international had shown previously he was probably the best suited of all City’s centre-backs to play in the style the boss demands. However, for the club’s first clean sheet since the end of October—a 2-0 victory over Watford in the midweek before the 2-1 win over Arsenal—an out-of-position Aleksandar Kolarov was preferred over him.

On his day, Kolarov has proved he can do the job at centre-back, but City fans will know that the Serbian can be quite hit-and-miss at the best of times, even when in his natural left-back role. Moved inside, he’s been anything ranging from competent to a liability this season.

With Stones fit and available, it seems a little bizarre that he was left out for two games running, especially after the fuss made of the new signing when he first arrived from Everton in a £47.5 million deal, a record for an English defender.

Before the clean sheet against Watford, it could have been argued that City’s best defensive lineup had seen Stones alongside Nicolas Otamendi, too—but Guardiola chose to rotate again as he hunted for that elusive shutout.

It seems too easy to just suggest the manager was resting the defender ahead of a busy period. City have been awful at the back this season, and Stones was supposed to be the poster boy for their new style. But he has been left out of three of the last six Premier League games, despite being involved in each top-flight match before that, mostly as a starter.

Stones hasn’t been in the best of form since his transfer, it would be fair to say, with the nadir of his lack of confidence showing in City’s 4-2 loss at Leicester City. He was shaky throughout, and it was his underhit pass to Claudio Bravo that allowed Jamie Vardy in to round the goalkeeper and bag his first hat-trick in league football.

The new signing has also struggled when he’s been played in a back three. That City have failed to win when starting with that setup shows how unsuited they are as a team to the system; Stones has perhaps looked the most uncomfortable of all the defence when in that formation.

Of course, that was also part of the problem at Leicester—as Kolarov and Bacary Sagna proved to be ineffective alongside him, while there was no protection from the midfield.

However, Stones has hardly been the disaster that is often made out, and there’s a little misconception among those who aren’t regular viewers of City that the young centre-half has been an unmitigated disaster since his new club splashed out on him. He’s not been great, but he’s been …

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