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Louise Thomas
Editor
John Stones says he pays no “attention” to the off-field issues surrounding Manchester City as it is something he “cannot control”, and that his position is to simply “put a lot of trust in the club”.
The centre-half was speaking ahead of England-Greece, in an international week that has been overshadowed by news of the latest legal case involving the Premier League champions.
Monday brought the judgment in City’s challenge against the competition’s Associated Party Transaction Rules, which will see some rules rewritten. That preceded a storm of controversy amid competing claims about who “won”, with new acrimony in the Premier League as City wrote an email to the other clubs threatening further legal action.
That was before it was announced influential sporting director Txiki Begiristain will be stepping down at the end of the season, by which point there is also expected to be an outcome in the long-running Premier League hearing.
Such developments have created a lot of noise around the squad, but Stones says he is not concerned.
“The honest truth is no, it doesn’t worry [me],” the centre-half said on the eve of England’s match against Greece. “I am very much someone if I cannot control it, I don’t give it the headspace or attention. That might seem a bit wrong in some ways, but that is how I deal with it.
"At the end of the day, it is out of my hands and I put a lot of trust in the club and the people around me are good. I think I have quite a simple mindset towards things that I can control and what I can affect and I don't think it has done too bad so far or maybe I haven’t got the capacity to deal with all those things so I choose to put them to one side.”
Stones has actually found it difficult to get into the City team at the moment, as he faces one of those customary spells when Pep Guardiola keeps a senior player on the bench. The 30-year-old says the only way to cope is to simply keep trying to perform as normal, something he knows well from working under the Catalan since 2016. Stones arguably knows this approach better than anyone.
“Just consistency and keeping my standards up, I have been with Pep for nine seasons now and he knows all my qualities, all my weaknesses, and it is not about trying to impress him or prove anything to him. He already knows that, it is about being ready when called upon.
“I don't think I can reiterate enough how important it is when you are out of the squad to stay positive and to stay there for the team which is a difficult thing to do and grasp your head around when you want to be playing.”
Stones does argue that Guardiola’s ability to keep everyone on their toes has also kept City at the top of the table for so long.
“I do believe that is why we have been so successful because we have had players who have been in similar situations to what I have been in, or have been in at the minute, being positive for the team, ready when called upon and, honestly, being in that positive mind-frame when called upon is massive.
"Like I said before, when you are down and overthinking it and expecting to play, frustrated, that transfers onto the pitch when called upon. We have so many games and the manager has said how important I am and that he needs all of us. He has called upon me at different times already, obviously not starting, but off the bench. I know that my time will come along with a lot of other players as well.”
