John Stones starred for Manchester City as the Sky Blues beat Manchester United 2-0 in the EFL Cup semi-final, capping a fantastic run of form since making his return to the starting eleven. He was recently named Player of the Month for December too.
The 26-year-old not only helped to shut out United at Old Trafford, he stopped them registering a shot on target over the 90 minutes. Stones has forged a formidable partnership alongside Ruben Dias this season and may be recalled to the England national team as reward for his performance.
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The 6ft 2in centre-back made 13 appearances in all competitions, winning 12 and drawing one, in addition to keeping 10 clean sheets and conceding only three goals. Stones looked on his way out of the Etihad when he was behind Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake and Eric Garcia in the pecking order, but now he’s one of the first names on the teamsheet.
As per WhoScored, Stones hasn’t had an unsuccessful touch, hasn’t been dispossessed, won 14/20 aerial duels (70%), blocked nine shots/crosses/passes, made 18 clearances, has given away only two fouls, has been dribbled past once, has shut out five opponents and averaged a tackle (5) or interception (9) every 45 minutes in seven Premier League games.
Guardiola recently said of the Englishman to Sky Sports News in December: “I’m incredibly happy for John Stones. In the end, the players have to show for themselves, we can’t help them for certain points.
“I never changed my mind. When we bought him from Everton we thought he had the quality to do it. But footballers are not just footballers they are human beings, human beings have problems and personal lives.
“Some footballers when they have a problem outside, they forget it when they are inside and other ones put the problems inside.”