As the dust settles on Manchester City's dramatic 3-2 defeat to Tottenham at the weekend, attention has turned to making sense of the unusual shambles that was City's defence.
While Harry Kane & co. clearly played very well, the three goals they scored from seven touches inside City's box were partly enabled by the series of mistakes from Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker.
The heart of City's defense looked particularly vulnerable, prompting calls for Pep Guardiola to reinstate John Stones.
Stones is a well-liked figure among City fans, but his return would necessitate one of Dias or Laporte dropping out of the side. So, what is City's best centre-back partnership that includes Stones?
Stones & Dias
While there is no definitive data to back this up, it seems clear that most City supporters would like to see the return of the Stones-Dias partnership.
The duo formed a close on and off-field bond last season, forging a defensive understanding that inspired a 21-game winning streak en route to Premier League and Carabao Cup glory.
There is undoubtedly a nice balance to City's defence when the two play together. Stones is one of the best ball-playing centre-backs around, a quality that is crucial in Guardiola's side building attacks from the back and progressing the ball up the pitch.
Dias, while good on the ball, is no Stones or Laporte, but he makes up for this by being the best of the three when it comes to 'traditional' defending.
Since joining City in September 2020 the Portugal international has earned a reputation for no-nonsense, body on the line defending, while his leadership qualities are among the best in the squad.
However, bringing Stones into the team alongside Dias would mean that the entire City back four would be right-footed. Last season Oleksandr Zinchenko was the first-choice left-back, but there is no way that Cancelo will lose his sport any time soon.
That lack of width in defence would likely necessitate playing Phil Foden as a natural-sided left winger, but as City's best false nine option, Guardiola may be reluctant to do that on a regular basis.
Stones & Laporte
It's easy to assume that Laporte-Stones has always been a back-up plan, but the duo have plenty of credit in the bank.
They were Guardiola's first-choice centre-backs during the first half of City's domestic treble-winning 2018/19 season, although during the title run-in Vincent Kompany replaced the England man.
The alliance formed by Dias and Laporte in recent times means that Stones has only partnered the Spain international on four occasions this season. However, in those games, City have only conceded once.
Having a left and right-footer gives a bit more balance to the back line, but the main advantage of Stones and Laporte is their ability to make progressive passes that break the lines and set City up to attack.
This is not only beneficial against teams that sit deep and force City to try and unpick them, but also against opponents that aggressively press City's defenders when they have the ball.
While Dias rarely makes mistakes under pressure - Spurs game aside - Stones is more likely to make good, attack-starting passes when the heat is on.
Which centre-back partnership do you think would be the best? Or should Guardiola stick with Dias and Laporte? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
