John Stones believes he has come through the most difficult period of his career and not only proved himself to be a talented defender but also a leader.
Stones came under sustained criticism during his debut season at Manchester City having arrived from Everton for £47.5m in August 2016, but he has been excellent for Pep Guardiola’s side in this campaign and also impressed for England.
In back-to-back goalless draws with Germany and Brazil in the past few days the 23-year-old performed with assurance as the central defender in a three-man backline, and he was among the few players to feature for the entirety of both games. “I think my performances speak for themselves,” Stones said. “I’ve done my talking out there. You can’t argue with two clean sheets against two top oppositions.
“It’s about having a look at yourself and where you can improve and not shying away from where you’ve gone wrong. And that’s what drives you to be a better player.”
Asked if the past 15 months have been hard for him, Stones replied: “Yes, definitely. Football’s never easy. Me personally, and anyone in life, if it’s easy, you want a challenge. Everyone wants to challenge themselves in certain ways.
“I now try to pass it [personal experiences] on to the young lads and give them a few words. Like with Joe [Gomez]. It’s short and simple. You don’t want to flood his brain. That’s what I found when I was growing up, playing in big games. I didn’t want to have too much information.”
Stones’s focus now returns to club matters but looking ahead to England’s friendlies with Holland and Italy in March, he feels Gareth Southgate’s side are in good shape. “Knowing we’ve competed against the top two teams in the world, brought them to our home ground, not scored, but been so solid – it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.