Abu Dhabi: Much-maligned Manchester City central defender John Stones insists he’s “going in the right direction” and “enjoying my football massively”, despite being made a frequent scapegoat for the club’s habitual defensive fragility.
Speaking in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, Stones admitted he was at fault for Radamel Falcao’s second goal for Monaco in the French side’s thrilling 5-3 away defeat to City in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old was left on his back as Falcao wrong-footed him and then produced a delightful chip over City goalkeeper Willy Caballero, although Stones claimed “there was a bit of luck involved”.
And although he made amends for this lapse by scoring City’s fourth goal, Stones and central-defensive partner Nicolas Otamendi were widely slated for their occasionally haphazard defending.
Stones – who became the world’s second-most expensive defender behind Chelsea’s David Luiz last August when he moved from Everton for £47.5 million (Dh217.36) – insists he will improve, however.
“Obviously the one v one with Falcao, I could have done a lot better with,” he told media on an Emirates Palace hotel pitch, where City are enjoying a three-day, warm-weather training stint. “I’ll try hard in training to work on it. I think there was a bit of an element of luck involved in it, but that’s what happens sometimes. It works harshly against me, but there’s a lot of things I will look at over and over again and see how I can improve.
“I think apart from that [his slip], we were quite solid and defended quite well except conceding three goals.”
Does he feel the criticism of him is too harsh?
“It’s always going to be harsh, so you’ve just got to take it in your stride and worry about yourself,” added Stones, who has won 15 caps for England since making his debut in 2014. “I think people have got behind me here and I know when I’ve had a good game or a bad game.
“I’ll always be honest with myself first to hold my hands up and say I made this mistake. I think I can improve on it and move forward. I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”
Has he suffered because City play out from the back more than his former side Everton?
“I think people can over-complicate things and think about things too much. I’m enjoying my football massively.
“I think how the gaffer [Pep Guardiola] explains things to us and how hard we work on things in training, we know what to do in games. We know our jobs, which makes it easier for us as footballers both attacking and defending.”
Stones added that he had no qualms about playing with Otamendi rather than the club’s vastly experienced, injured captain, Vincent Kompany.
“He’s a top player,” he said of the Argentine.
Of City’s chances of overhauling Premier League leaders Chelsea, who are eight points ahead of the his second-place side, Stones said: “I think we’ve just got to think about ourselves. If you start talking about Chelsea and other teams and what games they’re playing, I think you can get a bit sidetracked and not focus on what’s important. I think our form in the league has picked up and we’ve got to focus on that and take each game as it comes.”
And along with the Premier League and Champions League, City are still in the FA Cup; they face an eminently winnable fifth-round replay at home against Huddersfield Town next Wednesday.
“We’re in three competitions and I think that’s something we should be proud of at this stage. We have played quite a lot more games than some of the teams in the Premier League.”
