Is Everton's John Stones Under-Performing Or Unappreciated?

"John Stones has undoubtedly been going through a difficult period, he has struggled in some games but it seems his mistakes are highlighted much more than those of other defenders ." " We prefer to look at Stones because he is so unusual in the English game in wanting to play out
from the back. And that's something about eighth we're inherently suspicious as a football nation". "His confidence has clearly been affected. We need him to mature and grow without over-analysing every risk he takes. Gerard Pique is a good example of how the Premier League can stifle defensive talent. When he was at Manchestet United he was deemed too weak for our football and as having the wrong kind of style for our game", were all the statements made by former England coach Glen Hoddle regarding the excessive criticism of Everton defender John Stones.

It is difficult to decipher why John Stones appears to be heavily criticised this season after being linked all summer to Chelsea, which led to Roberto Martinez and Everton publicly rejecting a £40m offer from the West London club for the defender in the summer . It appeared that the lingering transfer affected the 21-year-old as he wasn't played for some time after the transfer deadline. However the bad news is that Stones appears to be off form and hasn't started a game this season since the loss against West Ham in the first week of March, after he was substituted  during half- time.

Also against Stoke, Stones inexperience was exposed after he allowed Stokes's Marko Arnautovic to dribble pass him before going to the ground to foul the Austrian, thereby gifting a penalty to Mark Hughes team, which was duly converted by Arnautovic to earn the Potters a win at Goodison. One of the reasons for Stones' loss of form is that he has regularly played with an inexperienced  back line this season unlike the previous season where he benefitted  from the experience of Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka . This season both Baines and Jagielka have missed most games as a result of injury. Stones has therefore had to play with the likes of Brendan Galloway, Ramiro Funes Mori and Seamus Coleman who all have a mean age of 22. Also Everton happens to be the team that has conceded most goals at home this season and that has partly been the fault of American goalkeeper
Tim Howard who has been dropped and has recently announced this season will be his last as he will be heading back to the MLS after the expiration of his contract in the summer.

The another problem with Stones, is that he is a defender who is comfortable with the ball and enjoys possession as statistics show that he has completed 81% of his take-ons this season.  What this means is that one is capable of making mistakes while boasting such style of game as such defenders like Matt Hummels and Gerard Pique who play the same way have shown us.,

Therefore at 21, Stones should rather be encouraged rather than criticised as his age is quickly forgetten, due to the fact that he came to the scene so early. With many years ahead of him and playing a rare type of football that is not common in the Premier League , John Stones surely knows that the sky is his limit if he continues to improve .