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John Stones has pulled out of the England squad with muscle injuries and the Man City defender has suffered injury problems in recent years.
Anybody in any doubt as to just how good a footballer John Stones is only needs to listen to the way Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel talk about him. Two of the greatest coaches of their generation wax lyrical about the quality of the boy from Barnsley.
"I'm a big fan of John, his personality and his quality,” is Tuchel's view. There are countless Guardiola comments about his centre-back, a man he describes as a "top class player" and "massively important" in City's most successful seasons.
But Guardiola and Tuchel agree elsewhere on Stones as well, and that is the 31-year-old needs to stay fit, because his quality is irrelevant if he isn't available on a regular basis.
Things were going well for Stones on that front this season. He played all but eight minutes of City's first three Premier League games and looked back to his best. But he has had to pull out of England's games against Andorra and Serbia and could now be a doubt for the Manchester derby next weekend.
“He came with minor issues — muscle issues — to camp and didn’t progress as we thought and hoped he would, so he left camp this morning because we will not take the risk up against Andorra and also, unfortunately, not against Serbia,” Tuchel said on Friday.
That is a shame, as Tuchel revealed he was considering using Stones in midfield against Serbia, a role he loves playing and has proved his quality in for City. He was the best midfielder on the pitch in the Champions League final in 2023, despite starting from a defensive position and then popping up as a No. 6 and a No. 8.
When fit, there is no doubt that Stones remains England's best centre-back. You don't make 280 appearances for City in this era without having some about you.
But staying fit has become more of a challenge in recent years. When he started at Wolves on the opening day of this season, it was his first competitive game in six months, and now there are concerns about his fitness. Tuchel wants him to be a key figure in his England team, as long as he can prove his fitness and durability.
“I’m a big fan of John, his personality and his quality,” Tuchel said of Stones on BBC Radio 5 Live. “He could be an important figure, of course, but he needs to be available.
“I hope he keeps his spirits up because he will stay important for us. I saw in these three days what he means to the group as a personality and as a social cue within the group. What he brings to the pitch is outstanding quality as a central defender and possibly as a pivotal No. 6, but we have to adapt to it. He’s now not available any more. We will find solutions for it.”
Stones missed 32 City games with four different injury problems last season and was absent for 10 games the year before that. In total, Stones started just 13 games last season and only once managed to play three in a row, which ended with that early injury against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
He hasn't started four games in a row since February and early March 2024. If he is fit to face United at the Etihad, he could reach that mark, but that is a question mark now. With injuries piling up in defence, Guardiola will be keeping is fingers crossed that Stones can prove his injuries are behind him.
Asked before the start of the season how important it was that Stones remained fit, Guardiola said: “Massively. In the years of the Treble and quadruple, John Stones was massively important for us.
“He is a top class player but last season he played less than 30 per cent of the games for us. He was injured a lot of time.
“What we want is for him to be fit. He didn’t play much in the Club World Cup. He played the first 45 minutes here and it’s step by step because we need him.
“We have good central defenders but we need him.”
City - and England - will hope this is just a minor blip.
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