“Without John Stones, I can’t have Man City play that way,” manager Pep Guardiola said before John Stones got injured in the match against Young Boys. The question now is, in the crucial match against Chelsea, who will replace Stones and how will they play?
In the first 11 games of the season, when Stones was injured, Guardiola tried to find someone to replicate the player’s role. Perhaps no one is capable of doing that. Having a defender move up to create an additional attacking threat is a critical element of Man City’s triple threat. Stones has become influential in Pep’s tactics to surpass the opponent’s attacking personnel.
Man City achieved this during the period without a central striker, as they had a player in the forward line comfortable outside the penalty area. This is why Man City created many numerical advantages and dominance in the midfield. According to Pep, Erling Haaland cannot play as a false nine because he is more suitable as a center forward. Therefore, Pep spent the early months of the season trying to cope with the absence of an “attacking burden.” Eventually, he created a new role for Stones.
In the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, Stones operated in the midfield alongside Rodri. He then delivered deep passes into the opponent’s third defensive line, even making runs to break Real’s defensive line. Stones took on this role due to his experience before transitioning from a center-back to a midfielder instead of a right-back.
However, he played as a right-back in the Champions League final, but Inter Milan played with two strikers, meaning Man City would be in a 1v2 situation in counterattacks that Stones couldn’t reach in time.
So Stones’ flexibility is high, and the one who can replace him must be a defender. “He is brilliant and makes incredible runs while being a good defender,” Guardiola said about Stones on Monday. So, which defender can replace him? Right-back Kyle Walker is not considered suitable for this role by Pep, and deploying him would have a chain reaction to other potential options.
“Kyle cannot do it despite his speed. Playing the attacking role in the middle requires skills that Kyle doesn’t have. He played well as a wing-back in the 4-man defense system. But with a back 3, Kyle can’t meet the requirements,” Pep explained in April 2023.
Walker can play in the traditional 4-man defense system and become part of the back 3 when one of the center-backs advances to attack, similar to Stones’ case. If Walker replaces Stones, who will play at right-back?
Meanwhile, the option of using Rico Lewis also seems optimistic. The 18-year-old player is a natural right-back and has also played as a defensive midfielder in the academy. Pep sees him as a more attacking midfielder. In the match against Young Boys this Tuesday, Lewis also made runs behind the opponent’s defense.
He can comfortably play in midfield and is currently being used by Pep to contribute to the attack. However, having Lewis play at right-back will complicate everything related to Walker. Nevertheless, this seems to be the most reasonable option, even though he is still inexperienced, which Pep demands the most in this role.
Pep also has two other options, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji. When Stones was injured earlier in the season, his position was replaced by Akanji. This is perhaps the best center-back for this role in Man City, but he doesn’t pose as much of a threat in the final third as Stones.
Akanji does well in simple things and plays quite well alongside Rodri in the defensive midfielder role. However, Akanji’s solidity might be why Pep chooses him for this role, as he proves to be the best and least disruptive choice. On the other hand, Ake is similar to Akanji but with less efficiency.
