Is this Everton star in danger of going from wonderkid to wonderfully overrated?

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A season of increasing and costly individual errors and poor decision-making has led to criticism and debate in the press and amongst the fans. His quality as a footballer is obvious, his merits as a defender are not so apparent.

At the age of 21, John Stones is far from the finished article and is only a step down the track to a destination everyone appears to believe he is heading. Touted as a future England captain and ‘the next John Terry’, Stones has some developing to do to fulfil that sort of potential and that sort of tag. However, with over eighty appearances for Everton in all competitions since 2013 and eight senior international caps, he is no amateur and has gained sufficient experience to know how to navigate around the demands of the Premier League.

Being a ball-playing defender shouldn’t necessarily mean more risk, in truth it should provide two things, more possession of the football and in the right moment, a launchpad for attacks. This,however, is reliant on good decision-making and this season Stones has not always made the right one. This has led to defensive errors that have led to incidents of last-ditch defending, which are not always successful. Stones is leading the way in defensive errors for Everton and crucially, seventy-five percent of those errors have led to a goal being conceded – an alarming trend for a player put in a position to keep the goal count down.

Playing the percentages is part of the decision-making process and crucial for a defender and this is something that appears to have been lost on Stones this season, with the defender opting for another touch or one pass too many. Everton’s home fixture against Swansea earlier in the season saw Stones repeatedly making bad decisions. One of those decisions led to Tim Howard giving a penalty away after receiving the ball from Stones, when perhaps a clearance from himself would have been a better option. The Toffees lost that fixture and the atmosphere at Goodison was hostile at times. Throughout the game the Everton fans consistently vented their frustration at unnecessary, avoidable mistakes being made.

The current playing style at Goodison is a possession driven style and therefore it can be argued that Stones is only carrying out the directions of recently sacked manager, Roberto Martinez, and therefore any mistakes being made should reflect on the Spaniard. In reality the mistakes just lead to a loss of confidence and increasing abuse from the fans witnessing it. It was not Martinez on the pitch, it was Stones. The proverbial vicious cycle then prevails, by which a  loss of confidence hits and the pressure increases, and at this point Stones is only likely to revert to type and play as he clearly has always played – controlling, and passing the ball. The pressure part of that cycle makes the decision-making compromised and has cost both player and club at times. 

Stones will never be a defender to smash it into ‘row z’ ahead of a short pass into midfield, but for the sake of his career the defending has to improve. The cut throat nature of elite football means that mistakes will be punished and in many ways he is only throwing himself under the bus. England manager Roy Hodgson has also warned Stones to cut out the mistakes ahead of Euro 2016, but also maintains that he should not change his natural game as a talented, composed, technically gifted defender.

Subject to much speculation during multiple transfer windows, its clear that Stones is destined for pastures new. Chelsea were public in their interest in Stones and having bids rebuffed by Everton once already won’t dampen their interest. Another pursuit for his signature will surely follow the end of the season. Chelsea won’t be the only club and given Everton’s poor campaign they are likely to have their resolve tested a number of times. Stones himself will have a decision to make; will he remain loyal to Everton and try to improve at Goodison, or, does he make the move from Merseyside?

His quality and potential are not in question, but the fulfillment of that talent and potential hinges on what happens next. Learning from the mistakes made this season will prove critical and a new manager and a new club might help with that. A different voice and a different perspective may inject fresh impetus into his career. His internal voice and perspective must also freshen up and making the right decisions at the right times will allow him to add clarity and decisiveness to his game. It will also make him a reliable defender and not have to rely on last-ditch recoveries that are both high risk and low reward.

The post WHY A STALLING JOHN STONES IS IN DANGER OF GOING FROM WONDERKID TO WONDERFULLY OVERRATED first appeared on thefootballwriterblog.wordpress.com.

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