John Stones: How Man City player is flourishing in new hybrid role under Pep Guardiola | Football News

The rain fell in Manchester and another record went tumbling.

City produced one of their greatest European performances as they overcame six-time champions Bayern Munich 3-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

The game will be remembered for a moment of quality from Rodri, a virtuoso Bernardo Silva display and Erling Haaland scoring his 45th goal of a remarkable season.

The Norwegian’s strike established a new record for the most club goals scored by a Premier League player in a single campaign, passing the previous best of 44 set by Ruud Van Nistelrooy and equalled by Mohamed Salah.

All very well, but it was Rio Ferdinand who highlighted how this latest City triumph was as much about how they defended as their ruthless attack.

“Defending is a huge art that seems to be creeping out of the game,” he told BT Sport.

“The first thing we think about nowadays with defenders is ‘they’re great on the ball, they’re composed, they can break the lines’. This was the first time we’ve said since the time of Vincent Kompany that this City side enjoy defending.”

Taking pride in not getting beat. Celebrating blocks with as much gusto as a goal. In the deluge, City delighted in their pressing and were emboldened by Dayot Upamecano’s despair in playing out from the back.

It made Ferdinand’s observation all the more pertinent, and yet arguably the poster boy of the modern-day defender was stood centre stage at the other end.

Jamie Carragher wrote on Twitter: “John Stones’ performances since the World Cup in that hybrid role for Man City have been outstanding.

“We have spoken for years about England having a centre back who can step into midfield and dictate the game. That’s what he did tonight. Will Southgate do the same?”

It is a question for the England manager when it is often wondered if the national team could or even should look to emulate how the game’s greatest minds in club football utilise the country’s elite.

It is never as simple as a copy and paste job, but Southgate will be fully aware of Stones’ ball-playing skills.

His ability to create the overload in midfield is only possible if you have defenders who do precisely what defined the careers of Ferdinand and Kompany: Take pride in their first port of call.

Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji have the attributes to play both centrally and to fan out wide to cover the spaces when the opposition look to quickly transition, as Leicester City will seek to achieve this Saturday, live on Sky Sports.

Against Bayern, the pair were happy to handle Serge Gnabry and Jamal Musiala in one-on-one situations. Both were substituted while Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman were equally kept at bay.

Ruben Dias was a man mountain and is coming back into form at just the right time, making three blocks and as many tackles. Ake made three headed clearances while no player won more than Akanji’s nine duels.

By contrast, Stones quietly went about his business but his influence and versatility were ubiquitous. It was his clever header which set up Haaland’s customary strike. It was his strength to ease Sane off the ball that preserved City’s clean sheet not long after.

Analysing Stones’ positional play

In City’s 4-1 win over Liverpool on April 1, Stones had a passing accuracy of 95 per cent.

The position he took up centrally allowed the rest of City’s midfield to play higher up the pitch, forcing Liverpool’s defence to sit deeper than they might ordinarily.

This image below directly led to City’s equaliser through Julian Alvarez after the ball was worked towards the opposite end of the field.

In the second half, and with City already leading, Rodri frequently slipped into defence to allow Stones to get on the ball in front of him.

The images below directly leads to City’s third goal against Liverpool, where Stones makes himself available to Nathan Ake, spreads the play and again wants to get onto the ball later in the move in a tight space and an advanced position.

Stones lends the ball to Alvarez, it is then worked wide to Riyad Mahrez and eventually Ilkay Gundogan scores the rebound after Alvarez’s initial shot is blocked.

How Southampton initially made life difficult

Despite being replaced before the hour-mark against Southampton last Saturday, Stones completed 29 of his 32 passes (90.6 per cent passing accuracy).

A booking for a lunge on Carlos Alcaraz on 36 minutes contributed to Guardiola’s decision to withdraw Stones at St Mary’s – but with one eye on the importance of his role against Bayern just three days later.

In truth, City had found it harder to manipulate the ball during the 56 minutes Stones was on the pitch against the Saints due to their opponents high pressing, but fatigue would eventually play its part in the final half hour.

The image below shows him instructing the ball to be played back to Ederson due to the early pressing Southampton exerted in the game.

At Southampton restarts, the way Stones is tasked with operating alongside Rodri and in front of the remaining three defenders is clear.

Against Saints, Stones predominantly appeared more on the right as he looked to get on the ball to escape the congested midfield. On one occasion, however, it would lead to him losing possession and compounding his error by collecting his caution.

Why Stones’ versatility makes him undroppable

In winning four of the past five Premier League titles, Guardiola has had to find new solutions to keep the opposition guessing, and Stones’ latest foray into midfield is forming the basis of a stellar fifth album.

Back in May 2019, he said: “To win the title we had to win 14 games in a row, this was the toughest title in all my career, by far.”

In 2021, City put together a 21-game winning streak midway through the season to overpower the chasing pack. A year later, 12 league wins in a row laid the foundations to a fourth domestic title under Guardiola.

Nine victories and counting, City have entered beast mode again and in order for these winning sequences to occur, Guardiola has had to settle more strictly on a tactical system.

Hitherto a mainstay in his side, Kyle Walker has been sacrificed in his manager’s tunnel vision. The full-back has started just one of City’s last six games, the FA Cup victory over Burnley.

Ahead of the 4-1 win over Southampton, Guardiola was asked whether Walker could play in the Stones role.

“No, he cannot do it,” he said. “He will always have pace; Kyle at 60 years old will be the fastest player in this room. To play inside you have to have educated movements – he doesn’t have every one of the characteristics.

“He has played as a full-back coming inside in the past with four at the back. He has done really well but this shape of three at the back and two in the middle, he cannot do it.”

The manager was pressed on what Walker needed to do to get back into the team. “Be himself,” he added. “Train good. The reason why is tactical. It’s not because we lost faith in Kyle.”

It was Jose Mourinho who once said as a pundit for Sky Sports back in August 2019: “One thing is the tactical system and another thing are the principles of play.

“For me, principles of play have to be permanent.”

One of those principles is the ability to defend compact. At times, especially in falling short of winning the Champions League, Walker, Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko were isolated as an area to exploit by opposition.

But since Stones has been used in the hybrid role – the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on March 11, City have conceded twice in six games – one of which took place with him off the pitch – and have scored 25 goals.

What we are seeing is a tactical system Guardiola has used previously this term with the likes of Cancelo and Rico Lewis being adapted with a player whose defensive capabilities far outweigh the personnel to have previously undertaken the role.

Cancelo has always been better going forward and his appearance as a second-half substitute against his parent club on Tuesday night pointed towards Thomas Tuchel being in agreement with Guardiola’s tactical viewpoint.

Lewis has been at City’s academy since he was eight so he will be will accustomed to the positional play Pep wants having progressed through the ranks, but 10 years his senior, Stones is fully formed.

When asked about his new midfield role, the England defender told BT Sport: “[It’s been a] big learning curve for me in positioning, being unselfish, knowing when to create space for others.

“It doesn’t come naturally, but I’m learning all the time and giving for the team first and foremost.”

Stones is being modest, but his time stepping into a more advanced position has been a long time in the making. Back when he was just 21 in November 2015 and playing for Everton, Barcelona’s Gerard Pique picked him in his world XI.

In justifying Stones’ selection, Pique said: “Now the position of the centre-back is not just about defending or being nasty or tough. It’s about knowing how to play football, control the ball, pass and be more comfortable in possession.”

It was Stones’ mentor at Barnsley – Head of Academy Coaching Mark Burton – who encouraged his protegee to model his game on Pique and Javier Mascherano during their time under Pep at Barcelona, so City’s latest tactical flex is one the player is well-versed in performing.

His full debut for Everton in August 2013 saw Roberto Martinez select him in midfield against Stevenage, and while he would eventually move into a centre-back role during the course of that season, it was his startling maturity and composure on the ball which instantly alligned itself with his manager’s way of thinking.

Southgate was England U21s manager back in June 2015 when an early elimination from that summer’s European Championship was not complete without scrutiny of how the team – and Stones – had performed defensively.

“Like all of our young defenders, there’s still a bit of work to be done in terms of that understanding that keeping the ball out of the net is the number one priority,” Southgate said.

“We’ve got defenders who can use the ball, but we’ve also got to have a desire to keep the ball out of the net. That’s a skill which at an academy level through clubs we’ve still got to encourage.”

The wrinkles in Stones’s decision-making have been ironed out since his £47.5m move to City in August 2016, coinciding with Guardiola’s arrival. The best teams – thinking of the Champions League holders Real Madrid – have had to gradually evolve but it is not without unsuccessful experiments along the way.

Speaking on his podcast this week, Gary Neville said: “I thought Pep was messing around a bit a few weeks ago with Bernardo Silva or Rico Lewis playing at full-back and coming inside. Now is not the time for experiments.

“They’ve got a proper back four, they’ve got a settled midfield three in Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne – and they’ve got a front three of Jack Grealish, Haaland and another, whether that’s Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez or Phil Foden.

“It feels like Pep Guardiola is at the business end of the season and they’re purring. They’re hitting the form at the right time.

“John Stones has played the holding role before and is solid on the ball, so I actually think Pep has got the blend right.

“Now, they’ve got players who can control games. Stones will like that position, coming inside. He wouldn’t like it as a conventional full-back. Arsenal will now feel they can’t slip up at West Ham because they’ve got City and Newcastle away.

“It’s going to go right to the death, it’s going to be a sensational last few weeks but it looks like City are reaching their peak at the right time.”

The game with Bayern Munich was billed as a Champions League quarter-final worthy of the final itself. But without Walker, without Mahrez, Foden and even the earlier-than-anticipated withdrawal of De Bruyne, City won the first leg at a canter.

As Tuchel rightly pointed out, City have been honing their game under Guardiola – their tactical system and principles of play – for seven years while he had been in place for just 12 days. But this was an ominous message to those left in this year’s competition – and to Arsenal.

It is unlikely to form part of any season-crowning montage, but with Stones stepping in alongside Rodri at the wheel, City roll on.

Watch Manchester City vs Leicester City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm this Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm