‘Madly underrated’, ‘doesn’t get the clout he deserves’ – Man City fans react to ‘insane’ stats of John Stones

A number of Manchester City fans have reacted to statistics about John Stones, the man of many skills whose adaptability has proven a key asset in Pep Guardiola’s side title push this season.

The England international delivered a masterclass of a performance on Saturday, as City thrashed Liverpool 4-1 to keep the heat on Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

Despite injuries this season, he has had so much faith put onto him by Pep Guardiola. Back in 2018, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager made a vow.

“I do not know how long I will be here in Manchester, but as long as I am here, John Stones will be with us,” he said.

Five years on and Guardiola has stayed true to his word. After his terrific displays over the last few weeks, Stones is more important to the Manchester City cause than he has ever been.

After his incredible performance on Saturday’s really good win over Liverpool, he has attracted plenty of attention and praise.

In and out of possession, the England man is again showing why, for many, he is one of the best defenders in world football.

Opta’s latest Premier League data proves just how effective Stones has been on the ball at centre back, right-back and when venturing forward to play alongside Rodrigo.

Stones has only lost possession of the ball with 6.7% of his touches this season in the Premier League (87/1300), the lowest rate of any player with more than 150 touches.

In line with that, Stones has completed 1075 of his 1148 passes.

His passing success rate of 93.6% is the best in the Premier League, narrowly ahead of Manuel Akanji, Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte who make up the rest of the top five.

Man City fans are super impressed with this John Stones’ “insane” stats, as some reacted on Twitter.

@cheezy_city: “This is insane we don’t give these foos enough credit”

@EggyInnit: “This is crazy”

@Monty__1010: “Madly underrated”

@1894Aaronmcfc: “John stones is mustard and doesn’t get the clout he deserves best CB in the premier league at the moment”

@founded1894: “Club legend in my books”

@FPL_JD: “As impressive as this is (CBs usually have very high pass completions) it’s far more impressive that he’s spent so much of the season playing at RB & in CM. You even see him in the number 10 positions at time. An incredible player & an underrated one too..”

@Rorigo09: “Goated defender no doubt about it 💙”

@Sheggz01: “If stones can stay fit,he is a gem”

Rolls-Royce defender 🐐 pic.twitter.com/FJvWSzoAMx

— 17 (@DxBruyneSZN) April 5, 2023