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John Stones praises Pep Guardiola for developing him 'as a player and a person'

The defender notched up another cleansheet over the weekend in City's trip to Chelsea

Miguel Delaney
Chief Football Writer
Tuesday 03 October 2017 23:44 BST
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John Stones is delivering more consistently now under Pep Guardiola
John Stones is delivering more consistently now under Pep Guardiola

John Stones has praised Pep Guardiola for bringing him on “as a player and a person”, after putting in what he felt was one of his best performances in a Manchester City shirt in the 1-0 win over Chelsea this weekend.

That result marked yet another cleansheet and sturdy performance from the 23-year-old, reflecting a significant transformation from last season, and Stones has put that down to the manager.

“He’s really good, always positive and wanting me to do better and that’s what I try to repay him on the pitch,” Stones said. “The games this season speak for themselves: clean sheets both in the Champions League and Premier League. I feel like I’m developing as a player and a person under him. That’s all down to the players around me, him himself and the staff that are there. All I want to do is keep this run going and see where it takes us.”

Asked whether it is ever frightening to be one of just two players along with Nicolas Otamendi left at the back in a side that often plays all-out attack, Stones said: “No, no. We know where everyone is on the pitch and it’s seeing it from a different point of view, from us to maybe you guys. We always know we’ve got willing runners to come back if we need that help.”

He also felt his display against Chelsea was one of his finest for City.

“I think so. I think I’ve always been moving in the right direction. Everyone has their ups and downs. We’ve started this season well as a team at club level. It was an important match against Chelsea. They won the league last season. It was an important game to keep the run going and keep another clean sheet. Defensively, on a personal note, it was maybe one of the best games I’ve played in.

“I’m enjoying my football. Just trying to keep improving day in, day out, mentally, physically, tactically, on the training pitch. The hunger to keep improving and keep getting to more targets in my game is driving me to become better. Keeping clean sheets has spoken for itself over the last five or six games. I’m enjoying my football. Any player that’s had a dip would say the best bit’s when you’re enjoying it and winning always helps as well.”

Stone said he's "enjoying" his football at Manchester City 

Stones also believes England have the talent to play as proactively as City.

“I’d like to think so, yeah. We’ve got the players to do it. It’s difficult to bring how you play in the Premier League into international football. It’s so different. But we’re always striving to become better and there’s a lot of likeness between how City play to international football, to how Tottenham do and various other clubs. To get all those things is very difficult. That’s the way football’s evolved. It’s changing. It’s not how it was 20 years ago.

“As long as England win and keep clean sheets and keep bettering ourselves every year and hopefully making the nation proud, that’s all that matters, that we keep progressing and trying to do our best for ourselves, our families and obviously the nation.”

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