Rumoured John Stones

[lucio 5,391]

We have enough defenders really after we get a new LB. If we sell a defender then yes bring another one in but its not an urgent need.

RB: Ivanovic, Azpilicueta, Zouma has even played RB before.

CB: Terry, Cahill, Zouma, Ivanovic, Ake perhaps although hes quite small physically.

LB: Azpilicueta, new LB, Ake.

Azpilicueta, Ivanovic and Zouma aren't all going to be injured at the same time.

He is a center back, does he need to be a playmaker now or do what Luiz used to do and do needless 40-50 yard passes trying to force something. Hes more than comfortable on it, he will take the ball, hes neat and tidy keeps it easy which center backs should really do theres no point over-elaborating when your building from the back. Might as well resign Luiz if we want someone like a midfielder to play center back. Our issue was always in midfield with the ball, no deep lying midfielder with the brains or vision to make the team tick, now we have that and we are back again complaining about CBs on the ball?

Any footballer worth his salt , could replicate cahills passing. He doesn't make many major errors with it , but its slow , and leads to predictable buildup. Actually watch stones , he moves it much faster.

Cahill s passing doesn't bother me much , compared to his other major flaws, but I could never praise it.

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Not sure why Ake is in there considering Mourinho doesn't even fancy him (for whatever reason).

You have mentioned only the injury factor. What about the players' form? And Azpi, Ivanovic and Zouma aren't going to be injured at the same time? It's unlikely but we had Costa, Remy and Drogba all on the treatment table at one point last season (if not three, at least two were out injured at the same time).

And Stones can play at RB too.

Hes in the because he is at the club but yes don't think Jose is that keen.

Players form? Cmon he didn't drop Ivanovic or Azpilicueta once when they played poorly. He dropped Cahill for a few games yes but still Mourinho hardly changes his team. Having Costa, Remy and Drogba all out injured was a one off.

Stones can play RB yes but still 34M for a player who in my eyes is really average, has to play every week anyway if he is going to be a 30+M buy and has to play to improve? JT is not going to be done this season...

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Any footballer worth his salt , could replicate cahills passing. He doesn't make many major errors with it , but its slow , and leads to predictable buildup. Actually watch stones , he moves it much faster.

Cahill s passing doesn't bother me much , compared to his other major flaws, but I could never praise it.

What about the fact Everton move the ball much faster than we do a lot of the time too? Sure Stones okay he moves it faster maybe but we don't play a really really expensive game anyway, we play to such an extent but we don't mind slowing it down and taking the sting out of the game either. I don't think theres much difference in their distribution, I've seen Stones enough times to know one of his biggest assets is when he has the ball at his feet as opposed to his actual defending.

[Special Juan 27,102]

I for one do not believe that JT can be at that level or even play that many games next season. Even if he does, and we pay this fee for Stones he has to be played, has to be played no doubt, and if that's the case then GC is the man who loses out.

I hope JT is at the level, damn sure I do, but in the grand scheme of things we need to look past the now, and that's the reason we are chasing Stones.

[Pizy 17,860]

Still haven't signed him yet...

This is like the exact opposite of last summer. The club seem to be moving in slow motion. FFS, we still haven't even announced Luis is off yet and it's been known for ages.

If he's thought of as a JT replacement and will be a top player for a decade or more then why are we twiddling our thumbs and waiting so long? Just drop a bag of cash on Everton's doorstep and get our man.

Let him get a few preseason matches with the team under his belt so he's not thrown into matches that matter having not prepared as well as he could. Waiting until deadline day and hoping a deal can be struck would be so stupid. It would leave Everton without enough time to find a replacement, which would in turn make the money useless to them.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Did someone just claim Luiz's passing is a needless skill?

Just one of many examples why a ball playing defender in vital in football.

[didierforever 7,349]

I for one do not believe that JT can be at that level or even play that many games next season. Even if he does, and we pay this fee for Stones he has to be played, has to be played no doubt, and if that's the case then GC is the man who loses out.

I hope JT is at the level, damn sure I do, but in the grand scheme of things we need to look past the now, and that's the reason we are chasing Stones.

JT, just today, said he'd be fine with being benched this season for the good of the team... seemingly opening the door for stones, letting him know he will have playing time. In any case, out of the 4 CBs if Stones coms, Cahill is the one at risk at the moment imo...

nope its not. it will be zouma who lose the most. he will have next to no playing time. if GC was to be replaced by anyone this season, it should be zouma.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

JT is 35 before the end of the year while Cahill is an average defender. JT was very good last year but he clearly isn't the same player he once was. He needs a lot protection now because he's extremely vulnerable in 1v1 situations with his lack of pace. It also hinders our playing style because we're forced into a deep block against decent teams.

Lampard, Cole & Cech all needed replacing yet people think he's indestructible lol. Father time will always remain undefeated.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

nope its not. it will be zouma who lose the most. he will have next to no playing time. if GC was to be replaced by anyone this season, it should be zouma.

Yet Cahill probably would've spent the remainder of the 2nd half of the season if Matic didn't pick up that stupid red card against Burnley.

[didierforever 7,349]

Yet Cahill probably would've spent the remainder of the 2nd half of the season if Matic didn't pick up that stupid red card against Burnley.

he did not though. and as far as i can remember, he was brilliant in the second half of the season, was not he?

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Poor distribution? Cahill is just as comfortable on the ball as Stones if not more so. There is some sort of myth that Cahill 1) can't defend at all 2) isn't better than Stones and 3) has poor distribution where he can defend, is Englands best CB after JT and has always been an asset for us in terms of playing out from the back along with JT. Remember the days of David Luiz and his sloppy passing when he would play CB at times?

So much wrong with this post I don't even know where to start. Claiming Cahill is as good on the ball as Stones. Claiming his distribution is better than Luiz's. Calling Cahill England's 2nd best CB....

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Did someone just claim Luiz's passing is a needless skill?

Just one of many examples why a ball playing defender in vital in football.

It isn't exactly necessary as much when you look at the fact Matic and Fabregas are good on the ball as well. Also for every Luiz pass like that you have to also remember the several others that were forced and didn't come to anything, surrendering possession needlessly. I get ball playing CBs being important sometimes but honestly defenders are there to defend first and Luiz couldn't defend...

So much wrong with this post I don't even know where to start. Claiming Cahill is as good on the ball as Stones. Claiming his distribution is better than Luiz's. Calling Cahill England's 2nd best CB....

Okay please enlighten me where did I say his distribution is better than Luiz's? Its more accurate because Luiz would always play needless long balls at times... I said Luiz's sloppy passing not Cahill's distribution is better than Luiz's..

I don't see who is better than Cahill, that is English and in the national team at CB? And well if you want to think Stones is better than Cahill on the ball that is up to you but really there's not much of a difference if there even is. I wouldn't take Stones ahead of Cahill right now.

[lucio 5,391]

he did not though. and as far as i can remember, he was brilliant in the second half of the season, was not he?

he improved from his previous shambles, and didn't do much wrong. but brilliant? not a chance

[Stats 6,980]

So much wrong with this post I don't even know where to start. Claiming Cahill is as good on the ball as Stones. Claiming his distribution is better than Luiz's. Calling Cahill England's 2nd best CB....

He is. That is why he their first choice CB. The others have been rotated. Stones may have a much higher ceiling but i would not say he is better than Cahill right now.

[the wes 7,212]

van dijk is linked with everton thats a good sign of getting stones

[didierforever 7,349]

he improved from his previous shambles, and didn't do much wrong. but brilliant? not a chance

GC was brilliant after being dropped.

[TheIceMan 596]

van dijk is linked with everton thats a good sign of getting stones

Not really, they got rid of 2 of theire CBs, Distin and Alcaraz! So they need replacements!

[didierforever 7,349]

It isn't exactly necessary as much when you look at the fact Matic and Fabregas are good on the ball as well. Also for every Luiz pass like that you have to also remember the several others that were forced and didn't come to anything, surrendering possession needlessly. I get ball playing CBs being important sometimes but honestly defenders are there to defend first and Luiz couldn't defend...

Okay please enlighten me where did I say his distribution is better than Luiz's? Its more accurate because Luiz would always play needless long balls at times... I said Luiz's sloppy passing not Cahill's distribution is better than Luiz's..

I don't see who is better than Cahill, that is English and in the national team at CB? And well if you want to think Stones is better than Cahill on the ball that is up to you but really there's not much of a difference if there even is. I wouldn't take Stones ahead of Cahill right now.

simple way to describe the current scenario - FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH.

go to the first few pages of the thread and the people who were the biggest detractors of this move are now the ones in the biggest support of it currently.

an year or 2 down the road, this same john stones will be valued at 15mil. i mean look at barkley. 2 years ago, he was the next rooney. currently, people here wont buy if he was available for 15mil.

similarly, currently john stones is the best ball playing defender in the footballing world, he is better than PL's best defender (apparantly) and buying him would mean we wont concede a goal for the next 10 years.

dont worry, if we end up not buying him, people will be back in this thread writing things like "bullet = dodged".

stones is a good defender. but i wont buy him for 34mil if we had just 2 defenders cos that if probably greater than double his real value. and currently we have 3 better CBs (or atleast as good) plus iva. simply put, we dont need him.