John Stones Has Much to Prove, but He’s the Right Man for the Pep Guardiola Role

Two moments around the turn of the year, on the same small patch of turf six days apart, define John Stones and the debate around him.

Against Stoke City on December 28, the England international was caught in possession and conceded an injury-time penalty that led to Everton losing 4-3.

On January 3 against Tottenham Hotspur—in almost exactly the same place on the Goodison Park pitch, under pressure from Heung-Min Son—he again tried to turn away, but this time he did so successfully enough to win a free-kick.

Stones responded by gesturing to Everton fans who had been baying for him to clear it to stay calm, a remarkable assertion of his confidence in his principles and his self-belief.

There are still many, though, who will argue that against Spurs he got away with it, that the percentage option was to put the ball into touch and let the defence reset. Perhaps they are right; such issues tend to be judged on results rather than the thought processes that led to them.

It’s about risk management, and accepting the occasional mistake for the benefits that a more audacious approach brings. That Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admires Stones sufficiently to sanction a £47.5 million purchase perhaps shouldn’t come as a great surprise: for his possession-based game the ability of every position in the team to pass is paramount.

But while that’s fine in theory, it’s hard to quantify. How many times does a defender need to be caught in possession before it outweighs the greater fluency brought by passing out from the back? And what if a goal is scored from a throw-in or corner conceded by the clearance, or from the move begun when the opposition is presented the ball back in their own half?

And even the most committed proponents of having defenders who can pass the ball would surely acknowledge that Stones was caught out rather too often last season—the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool, when he ended up going off with stomach cramps, was perhaps the nadir. Is there ever a time when a defender doing a Johan Cruyff turn in the six-yard box is a good idea?

Part of the problem, perhaps, is terminology, and how that defines expectations. If Stones is referred to as a defender, then …

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