John Stones' experience of being away the England squad has led to him disagreeing with his Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne over June's Nations League schedule.
De Bruyne slammed the competition as "unimportant" last week and once again raised concerns about the lack of player welfare, saying "we have a little more than three weeks of vacation 12 months". Most countries — including Belgium and England — face four games in less than two weeks in June, before the 2022/23 season starts earlier than usual to accommodate a winter World Cup.
While De Bruyne hit out at the schedule, Stones struck a more diplomatic note, one conditioned by his experiences of being on the outside looking in when it comes to England selection. The City centre-back played half an hour of the 1-0 defeat to Hungary on Saturday, but he is expected to start in Munich tomorrow night when England face Germany in their second Nations League fixture of the month.
