It was a nervous time for John Stones, the hours of last Wednesday stretching longer and longer and things becoming even more fraught on Thursday morning. Everybody knew that Gareth Southgate would recall him for the start of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign because, after Stones’s form for Manchester City since the end of November, how could he not? But until the centre-back had received the confirmation, he could not relax.
When the text message finally pinged and Stones was in for the ties against San Marino, Albania and Poland, the overriding emotion was relief. There is a certain symmetry about the comeback of a player who was one of the stars of England’s run to the semi-finals of the last World Cup in Russia. Yet Stones could also feel vindication, mainly in terms of the strength of his character; how he has refused to let the setbacks he has experienced over the past two years or so break him.
There have been plenty of them, beginning with how his grip on a regular starting place at City slipped from around February 2019. That season would finish on a low for him when he gave a nightmarish performance for England in the 3-1 Nations League semi-final defeat against the Netherlands and the records show that he has won only one cap since – against Montenegro in November 2019.
Stones was more in than out for City last season, particularly after football’s restart in June when he barely featured, and consider his situation in the early part of the current campaign. The club had signed Rúben Dias and Nathan Aké and, at one point, Stones was behind them, Aymeric Laporte and Eric García in the pecking order. It felt as if he had reached the end of the line at City, while an England recall appeared fanciful.
The turning point came after City’s defeat at Tottenham on 21 November. Pep Guardiola dropped Laporte and gave Stones his opportunity back in the lineup and how he has grabbed it. Everything seemed to click for Stones – the rhythm of his play, the partnership with Dias – and, more broadly, for City as a team. They have lost only once in 33 matches in all competitions, conceding 13 goals, to ignite dreams of the quadruple and Guardiola has counted on Stones, especially in the Premier League.
“I had a focus and one that was pretty clear in my mind,” Stones says. “It’s what I worked for and it was to get back in the team and play well. I didn’t try and over-complicate things, to think too much outside the box in respect of: ‘If I get a chance, what do I do with it?’ I just wanted to take it and enjoy it. I’ve always done that and believed in myself.
“It’s really difficult sometimes when you talk about [how] you can do more training, more training in the gym, the food [you eat], trying to get better off the pitch – and the mental aspect has evolved with me. It’s just that clear mindset of one thing that I really wanted and to focus all my energy on to it.”
Stones talks about feeling “more robust” after his difficulties and it has certainly been tough for him to have had to watch England matches on TV. “Very tough,” he says. “You feel a bit helpless that you can’t contribute but I used it as a motivation to strive to be better.”
Ditto the arrival of Dias and Aké at City. “As a club and a whole organisation we need to keep evolving,” Stones says. “Those players coming was added motivation to step up and prove my worth. I saw it as a challenge to fight and [then] a new challenge to retain that spot.
“I wanted to prove it to myself more than anyone else. You have got an added pressure to go out there and show people but the person I am trying to do it for – or prove to – is myself.”
It is an occupational hazard for defenders that their errors tend to be punished more harshly and Stones was at fault, to varying degrees, for all three of the Netherlands’ goals in that Nations League tie. The worst moment was when he attempted a trick on the ball as the last man only to be robbed for 2-1.
“Those things make a huge impact on you in a positive way if you look on them in the right direction,” Stones says. “I thought: ‘I am not going to let this get to me or have an impact on my career.’ Everybody makes mistakes and I wanted to bounce back.
“It’s been about maximising the things I was already good at and seeing if I can get even better. It’s the clean sheets and the mentality of bringing that into the game. We’ve made a conscious effort [at City] to keep the clean sheet and have that mentality and it’s paid off quite a lot this season.”
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Stones says that Southgate, with whom he has worked since their days in the England Under-21 set-up, has “texted now and then” when he has named squads without him. The communication from the Football Association this time was rather more welcome.
“I was very nervous,” Stones says. “I was hearing people say: ‘You should be in.’ But I wanted to hear it from a [reliable] source! Time goes a bit slower when you are sat about waiting for something to happen. It was a relief. And a really special moment.”
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