Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle on Saturday was another nail in the coffin for their title hopes, and it was their defence that proved to be City’s undoing. Kevin De Bruyne’s wonder strike looked to have sealed the victory, but Jonjo Shelvey took advantage of a sleepy City back line to strike for the equaliser.
John Stones was among the players to be singled out for criticism from fans after the game, and it’s easy to see why. According to SofaScore, he won 100% of his ground duels, but the issue there is that he only took part in three of them. The site also shows that, despite being calm on the ball, with a 97% pass rate, he lost possession two times, and that’s something Guardiola will surely be fuming with considering his key position on the field.
Fans are fuming too, with many taking to Twitter to express just how disappointed they were with his performance. One fan even made comparisons between him and Nicolas Otamendi, who hasn’t started a Premier League game since City’s 2-0 defeat to Wolves in October.
You can see some of the fans’ reactions here:
Stones going to ground gave me Otamendi flashbacks
— MCFC Boston (@MCFCBoston) November 30, 2019
He stones is part of shambolic defending making us dropping points he never improves.
— Tony Azameti (@AzametiTony) December 1, 2019
The so called defending for their second goal was awful the lot of you should be in at 8am tomorrow putting it right.
— jeff armstrong (@jeffarm46460350) November 30, 2019
Stones is very useless
— francis_85 (@franciskonuah85) November 30, 2019
He can’t even defend to save his life
— marek gucciano 1️⃣7️⃣ ⛵ (@LeRoiSan3) November 30, 2019
Sloppy as ever
— Centurion (@KingKong12890) November 30, 2019
Man City fans, what did you make of John Stones’ performance against Newcastle on Saturday?
