Manchester City

John Stones: Working with Pep Guardiola "even better than expected"

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 14 December 2016

John Stones talks up the ability of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who he claims is "even better" to work with than he expected when joining from Everton.

Manchester City defender John Stones has admitted that Pep Guardiola was the "main reason" for him joining the club in the summer, and says that he has not yet been let down by the Catalan coach's methods.

The England international has failed to live up to his £50m billing since making the switch from Everton, as the Citizens have struggled for clean sheets this term and were at sixes and sevens at the back in last weekend's defeat to Leicester City.

Stones, whose poor back-pass allowed Jamie Vardy to race in and complete his hat-trick in that loss at the King Power Stadium, insists that Guardiola remains the best around despite City's disappointing run of form in recent weeks.

"He was 100% a major factor, if not the main reason for me coming," he told the Times of India. "There's a lot of factors to think about when you're moving clubs but in my eyes, he's the best manager in the world to work with. To be given that opportunity to work with him, I couldn't say no.

"And working with him has been even better than I expected. He will certainly tell you when something is wrong. It's part of football, being told off now and again. You are going to make mistakes. That's how it is. That's also how you learn and react. I think that's how every player moves on.

"I'm always the first person to know or say I've made a mistake. I'll do that openly because that's the only way you move forward and realise what you have done wrong. I'm striving to be a top player. I know I've got a lot of hard work to get through before I'm winning titles and becoming the player I want to be. But that's the aim."

City have won just two of their last seven Premier League outings, most recently losing back-to-back games against Chelsea and Leicester.