Rumoured John Stones

[Parky 739]

Surprised at how strong he is for such a lanky tall lad but i'm sure he will fill out as he matures. Quite surprising to see a CB so comfortable with the ball and in possession even when under pressure. Need to see more of him to rate his heading and aerial ability though.

If everything goes well than Stones and Zouma could become a formidable partnership once both players mature.

[didierforever 7,349]

Our defence may be the best in the league , but it doesn't take much to embarrass it. One dimensional and reliant on excess protection

so except against the top 5 teams, u think our defence got excess protection? i cant buy that. hell, we even played a successful high line with gc and JT.

also, lets be realistic here. say we get stones. u think jose drops his tactics of counter attack and low block against the big teams? suppose we had stones in our squad right now, he starts yesterday and we play attacking football? i for one dont think so.

[Pizy 18,903]

and what exactly has stones done to warrant starting over GC or zouma?

i would love to have both too, but currently what we need is a CM. but we are wasting that money on stones, who will NOT be the difference between winning the league and coming 2nd. a CM will be.

He's much more polished than Zouma is currently. Much better on the ball both in possession and passing.

Don't understand why you're so opposed to this signing, especially worrying so much about the money. When you see City spending £50m on a player and bidding £50m for another, who gives a shit about transfer fees anymore? FFP obviously means fuck all.

Signing a CB doesn't mean we can't also sign a midfielder. If José WANTS Stones then he clearly thinks we DO need him.

[lucio 5,418]

so except against the top 5 teams, u think our defence got excess protection? i cant buy that. hell, we even played a successful high line with gc and JT.

also, lets be realistic here. say we get stones. u think jose drops his tactics of counter attack and low block against the big teams? suppose we had stones in our squad right now, he starts yesterday and we play attacking football? i for one dont think so.

What games did jt and hill play highline well? I only remember it vs hull and Southampton away. Both times it was rubbish

[didierforever 7,349]

He's much more polished than Zouma is currently. Much better on the ball both in possession and passing.

Don't understand why you're so opposed to this signing, especially worrying so much about the money. When you see City spending £50m on a player and bidding £50m for another, who gives a shit about transfer fees anymore? FFP obviously means fuck all.

Signing a CB doesn't mean we can't also sign a midfielder. If José WANTS Stones then he clearly thinks we DO need him.

i have seen zouma own eriksen, aguero, sterling and fellaini.

he is a defender, his skills on the ball are secondary, his positioning, tackling, defending and the primary things.

i am opposed to it cos it ruins all the good work we have done in the last 3 years. getting value for money. is stones better than costa, cesc, hazard, willian? better than our whole back 5 combined? soon every team will start doubling the price like in early roman years as soon as chelsea is involved.

[didierforever 7,349]

What games did jt and hill play highline well? I only remember it vs hull and Southampton away. Both times it was rubbish

most of the games we played at the bridge last year were high line with our forwards (costa-oscar-willian) pressing really high.

[lucio 5,418]

most of the games we played at the bridge last year were high line with our forwards (costa-oscar-willian) pressing really high.

Still , it was a slow , passive , reactive defence , that was prone to get the run around by the likes of fraser campbell. Which is unacceptable imo.

[Pizy 18,903]

i have seen zouma own eriksen, aguero, sterling and fellaini.

he is a defender, his skills on the ball are secondary, his positioning, tackling, defending and the primary things.

i am opposed to it cos it ruins all the good work we have done in the last 3 years. getting value for money. is stones better than costa, cesc, hazard, willian? better than our whole back 5 combined? soon every team will start doubling the price like in early roman years as soon as chelsea is involved.

Times have changed. They'll change even more next summer. There's an unprecedented amount of money being thrown around now. Comparing Stones' potential fee to Costa (who had a release clause or would've otherwise cost £60m) or Hazard who was leaving a tiny club in a shit league.

When Shaw costs £30m and Sterling costs £50m then I don't see how £34m for Stones is so outlandish. Just the way it is now. And if we don't pay it one of our rivals will happily pay it and we look like idiots.

To your point about clubs raising their asking prices when we become involved, that already happens.

[Stats 7,142]

i have seen zouma own eriksen, aguero, sterling and fellaini.

he is a defender, his skills on the ball are secondary, his positioning, tackling, defending and the primary things.

i am opposed to it cos it ruins all the good work we have done in the last 3 years. getting value for money. is stones better than costa, cesc, hazard, willian? better than our whole back 5 combined? soon every team will start doubling the price like in early roman years as soon as chelsea is involved.

While I agree with some of what you are saying, only 2 of those came at CB. And he nearly made a grave mistake against Liverpool. The recovery against Sterling which he used great pace to get the ball back, he made an error first. The other names you mentioned came with him playing CM. I am still not completely sold on Zouma being a regular yet. I am not sure if he is ready for a role week in, week out.

[didierforever 7,349]

Times have changed. They'll change even more next summer. There's an unprecedented amount of money being thrown around now. Comparing Stones' potential fee to Costa (who had a release clause or would've otherwise cost £60m) or Hazard who was leaving a tiny club in a shit league.

When Shaw costs £30m and Sterling costs £50m then I don't see how £34m for Stones is so outlandish. Just the way it is now. And if we don't pay it one of our rivals will happily pay it and we look like idiots.

To your point about clubs raising their asking prices when we become involved, that already happens.

times have not changed as much to have a max 20mil value stones to be sold at 34mil.

luke shaw was a bad transfer. and in the end the club who payed that outlandish amount came out looking like idiots.

50mil pounds (70mil euros- 6th highest transfer fee ever) is simply IDIOTIC. its going to take a hell lot of goals and assists to convince people about that fee.

so as i see it, 2 of our challengers did stupid things, i dont think we should follow that. stones is a good defender, but no where near that money.

[Pizy 18,903]

times have not changed as much to have a max 20mil value stones to be sold at 34mil.

luke shaw was a bad transfer. and in the end the club who payed that outlandish amount came out looking like idiots.

50mil pounds (70mil euros- 6th highest transfer fee ever) is simply IDIOTIC. its going to take a hell lot of goals and assists to convince people about that fee.

so as i see it, 2 of our challengers did stupid things, i dont think we should follow that. stones is a good defender, but no where near that money.

Shaw and Sterling will lock down their respective positions for their clubs for a decade potentially.

As with players like Rooney and Rio Ferdidnand, their prices were thought of as insane initially but after years of world class service they look like bargains.

[iseah100 5,612]

He's damn good...

[The Skipper 20,609]

times have not changed as much to have a max 20mil value stones to be sold at 34mil.

luke shaw was a bad transfer. and in the end the club who payed that outlandish amount came out looking like idiots.

50mil pounds (70mil euros- 6th highest transfer fee ever) is simply IDIOTIC. its going to take a hell lot of goals and assists to convince people about that fee.

so as i see it, 2 of our challengers did stupid things, i dont think we should follow that. stones is a good defender, but no where near that money.

Shaw has been very good in the opening two games of the season, looks like he's going to be a good signing for United in the end. Can't believe you're writing him off already - he's still very young.

With Stones it's the same - you're not paying for his actual value now, you're paying for potential. Surely you see that?

[The Skipper 20,609]

Shaw and Sterling will lock down their respective positions for their clubs for a decade potentially.

As with players like Rooney and Rio Ferdidnand, their prices were thought of as insane initially but after years of world class service they look like bargains.

Exactly this.

[iseah100 5,612]

Shaw has been very good in the opening two games of the season, looks like he's going to be a good signing for United in the end. Can't believe you're writing him off already - he's still very young.

With Stones it's the same - you're not paying for his actual value now, you're paying for potential. Surely you see that?

Pretty much the case with every young player. You're paying for potential, which is very, very high. And worth it.

[Stats 7,142]

times have not changed as much to have a max 20mil value stones to be sold at 34mil.

luke shaw was a bad transfer. and in the end the club who payed that outlandish amount came out looking like idiots.

50mil pounds (70mil euros- 6th highest transfer fee ever) is simply IDIOTIC. its going to take a hell lot of goals and assists to convince people about that fee.

so as i see it, 2 of our challengers did stupid things, i dont think we should follow that. stones is a good defender, but no where near that money.

The only reason why Shaw was considered to be 'bad' (if you want to use that word) last season because of his injuries. Pre-season, apparently he has worked with an excellent fitness coach to help stop the injuries. When he is fit he is a cracking LB. As much as Azpi is good for us, imo he can hinder us because of him being right footed. I hope Baba can prove to be an excellent addition and challenge for that LB spot. Have heard excellent stuff about him.

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

Come to dad jose...

[didierforever 7,349]

Shaw has been very good in the opening two games of the season, looks like he's going to be a good signing for United in the end. Can't believe you're writing him off already - he's still very young.

With Stones it's the same - you're not paying for his actual value now, you're paying for potential. Surely you see that?

we have zouma who is showing "potential", we have the likes of christensen who is showing "potential", surely we dont need to spend 34mil on another one with "potential".

and i am not writing shaw off. i was saying that just because a player is being over-hyped, it does not mean we have to sign him. and it also does not mean that if one of our rivals do sign him, "we would look like idiots"

[didierforever 7,349]

Still , it was a slow , passive , reactive defence , that was prone to get the run around by the likes of fraser campbell. Which is unacceptable imo.

fair enough. it was not the most eye pleasing defending and we were not comfortable always BUT, we conceded 27 goals in 35 games to win the PL (not counting the dead rubbers against pool, wba and sunderland). 5 of those 27 were against one team where we were not playing a high line. so 22 in 34 games is not a bad record, is it? (i know we were not playing a high line or high press in a lot of them like city double, utd double, arsenal away, pool away). i would take that this season too.

[didierforever 7,349]

The only reason why Shaw was considered to be 'bad' (if you want to use that word) last season because of his injuries. Pre-season, apparently he has worked with an excellent fitness coach to help stop the injuries. When he is fit he is a cracking LB. As much as Azpi is good for us, imo he can hinder us because of him being right footed. I hope Baba can prove to be an excellent addition and challenge for that LB spot. Have heard excellent stuff about him.

i dont think so. even when he was not injured, shaw looked average and no where near 30mil. blind looked better than him which is saying a lot.