John Stones opens up about Pep Guardiola's footballing influence
John Stones has reserved special praise about Pep Guardiola’s football brain and influence.
Aside from Pep Guardiola’s enviable trophy haul at Manchester City, his biggest achievement during his time at the club remains how he has revolutionised English football and influenced player such as John Stones.
Since joining from Everton in 2016, Stones has gone on to make 202 appearances and win 11 trophies at the Etihad Stadium.
The England centre-back was one of Pep Guardiola's first signings at the club, and has won four Premier League titles under the Catalan's management.
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Stones has now detailed the influence of Pep Guardiola on his football.
“I honestly thought I knew football to a decent degree after I left Everton.
"After I turned up at Manchester City and started training after a week or two, I thought, 'I literally know nothing about football," he said, as quoted by GOAL.
The England international elaborated: “How his mind thinks about football and how he expresses that over to us as players to get us to do what he wants and what he thinks and what he believes is incredible. And then obviously the trophies that come with that.
"He speaks for himself because he’s done it everywhere and he’s still got that hunger now to go and do more and more.”
For instance, Pep Guardiola’s successful attempt at winning the Premier League twice, without the presence of a natural number nine blew most fans and pundits’ minds, considering most domestic champions are associated with a goalscoring striker.
With even players such as Fabian Delph waxing lyrical about how the ex-Barcelona manager gave them a rare insight on football as a whole, another top professional has done so in none other than John Stones.
When one of the best defenders in Europe is complementary to such a high degree about Pep Guardiola, it just goes to show that Guardiola possesses a once-in-a-lifetime footballing brain.
Stones has featured in seven matches for City so far this season, and scored a memorable equaliser against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League last week.
The Englishman scored an impressive long-range effort which rifled past Dortmund goalkeeper Alexander Meyer.
Stones also featured in the Blues' 3-0 win against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden were all on the scoresheet, as Guardiola's squad bounced back to winnings ways after consecutive away draws against Aston Villa and Newcastle.
Stones is currently away with England on international duty, with Southgate's side facing fixtures against Italy and Germany.
Topics: Manchester City, John Stones, Pep Guardiola, Premier League
Srinivas Sadhanand