John Stones had a nightmare performance on Sunday afternoon.
The Manchester City defender returned to his old team Everton and lost 4-0. Stones, the 23rd most expensive player in the history of football, struggled as part of City’s weak backline.
However, while Stones’ defending was poor on Sunday, it was a masterclass compared to Phil Neville’s attempt to defend him.
Neville was on Match of the Day 2, and pinned the blame for City’s defensive woes on everyone but Stones.
“I actually feel sorry for him,” the former Everton and Manchester United defender.
“I actually think he’s been let down so badly by his centre-back partnership, and the full-backs he’s been playing with.”
According to Phil, it’s the fault of everyone else but the young English defender.
It would be unfair to pin the blame on Stones for each of Everton’s goals, as City were a shambles at the back, but it is also a stretch to absolve him of any blame.
Neville failed utterly in his task and was completely blind to Stones’ numerous errors.
Like for example, third Everton goal, scored by 18-year-old Tom Davies.
Stones rushed out to make a tackle, and left an ocean of space behind him for Davies to run into and score.
Football statistics website WhoScored.com gave Stones the worst rating of any outfield player in the game.
Only the hapless Claudio Bravo received a lower rating than Stones’ 5.7 out of 10.
“But I actually feel sorry for John Stones,” Neville continued.
“I see Otamendi every week, I see Kolarov every week, and I see Clichy, Sagna, they’re all making mistakes, but Stones is the one who gets the criticism.”
Thankfully, Alan Shearer was on-hand to shoot down Phil’s nonsensical argument.
“People will come away from the ground today thinking: ‘John Stones had a nightmare’. John Stones did have a nightmare,” Shearer said.
“He is 22 now, he’s played nearly 100 Premier League games. And everyone keeps saying to me and the rest of the football world that he’s going to be a top player. But I keep seeing John Stones make mistake, after mistake, after mistake.”
“He didn’t make a mistake! He made one mistake,” Neville interjected, admitting Stones made a mistake.
Shearer, again, tore Neville’s nonsensical argument to shreds.
“I honestly think he’s going to be one of our best players,” Phil said.
If John Stone wasn’t “England’s John Stones,” Phil might be able to notice his numerous errors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB5DYF7Q7GQ
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