John Stones will make a comeback on Wednesday but the question may well be if he is going.
Pep Guardiola could have a new preferred centre-back partnership, and without the Englishman who excelled in the first-half of each of his two title-winning campaigns. The Manchester City manager is reluctant to discuss summer transfers, either incoming or outgoing, but he will have end-of-season talks with Stones.
While City could move for a new centre-back, they already have one of sorts. The 19-year-old Eric Garcia took advantage of Stones’ absence, when the World Cup semi-finalist missed the first three of City’s June games, and while the Englishman has since been an unused substitute, Guardiola likes what he has seen from the teenager.
Stones’ chance will come against Newcastle on Wednesday as both managers will make changes. “He is going to play,” pledged Guardiola. It will be just Stones’ 13th league appearance of a stop-start, injury-interrupted season.
“The quality of John is there: never doubt it for one second,” Guardiola said. “It’s just when you don’t play, you are rotated and injured again. What we want for his future and ours is for him to come back and to be able to play two, three or four months with no injuries.”
Stones has done that as an automatic choice in the past and, in 2018, Guardiola said that Stones would be at City for as long as he was. Now the manager implied the defender may wish to move on in search of first-team football.
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Southampton v Man City ratings
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SOUTHAMPTON RATINGS: Alex McCarthy – 9, Outstanding. All that practice in his garden with his daughter during lockdown paid dividends with a fine display. EPA -
Kyle Walker-Peters – 9, The Tottenham loanee was resolute in defence, and could have had an assist to his name with a deft through ball for Ings in the first half. EPA -
Jack Stephens – 8, In the right place at the right time – all the time, as he blocked shot after shot. EPA -
Jan Bednarek - 8, Much like Stephens, he was overworked and benefitted from good fortune at times – but fortune favours the brave. EPA -
Ryan Bertrand – 6, Had to have a sit down in the second half, given the hard time he had had from City’s forward line. Reuters -
Stuart Armstrong – 8, Harassed Zinchenchko to create the sparkling opener for Che Adams, which typified his work rate. EPA -
James Ward-Prowse – 6, City’s dominance of the ball meant he solely had a spoiling role rather than anything more creative. Reuters -
Oriol Romeu – 6, Diligent enough, but was often overrun by the City midfield. AFP -
Nathan Redmond – 7, Knows he has an admirer in the opposition manager, and Guardiola should have been impressed by his industry here. EPA -
Danny Ings – 8, Led the Saints defensive effort from the front, which included one important clearance on his own goalline. Reuters -
Che Adams – 7, What a way to open his Southampton account, 35 games since his last goal for anyone. Audacious lobbed finish to win the game. EPA -
SUBS: Shane Long (on for Adams, 70') – 5, Saints could have done with the ball sticking with him for longer once he had come on for the goalscorer Adams. Reuters -
Will Smallbone (on for Armstrong, 90+7') – NA, Just enough time to get across the whitewash before the referee called time. Reuters -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson – 6, Wasn’t his fault Zinchenko gave the ball away as he did for the opener – but he was lax in getting back to his goal and was stranded in no-man’s land. AFP -
Joao Cancelo – 6, Carried a threat in attack, but was often loose at the back, too. EPA -
Aymeric Laporte – 6, Often looked unsettled, which was a surprise given City owned the ball for so much of the game. EPA -
Eric Garcia – 6, Lucky not to donate a second to Adams with a sloppy back pass in the second phase. EPA -
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 5, Copped an earful from his teammates after giving the ball away for Adams’ opener, and did not seem to regain their confidence, no matter how much he tried to redeem himself. Reuters -
Fernandinho – 6, Customary yellow card for a late tackle on Redmond, and did not let up thereafter, either. EPA -
Bernardo Silva – 7, Mis-hit a late volley when well placed to equalise, which summed up an evening of frustration. AFP -
David Silva – 7, McCarthy was in inspired form in the home goal, but Silva really should have beaten him when clean through. EPA -
Riyad Mahrez – 6, He was threatening on set pieces as well as open play before going off just before the hour mark. AFP -
Raheem Sterling – 7, Removal from the fray before 60 minutes were on the clock was probably more due to the workload than his effort. EPA -
Gabriel Jesus – 5, Booked for dissent late on to cap off an evening of annoyance for the Brazilian striker. AFP -
SUBS: Kevin De Bruyne (on for Mahrez, 60') – 7, Had the chance to score for a fourth game in a row, but sent his injury time free-kick into the Southampton defensive wall. Reuters -
Phil Foden (on for Sterling, 60') – 7, Looked perky when he was introduced alongside De Bruyne, but did not have quite enough time to prise a decisive opening. EPA
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“I am more than delighted with John Stones, as a person and a professional and I want the best for him,” he said. “At the end of the season we will speak about what will happen. Sometimes my wish is not the wish of the player.”
There has been a shift in his thinking and the pecking order. Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi have actually made the most appearances at centre-back for City this season but the Brazilian returned to his old role in midfield in Sunday's defeat at Southampton.
A month ago, Garcia had only begun two league matches. Now he and Aymeric Laporte have started together against Arsenal, Liverpool and Southampton, games in which City conceded a solitary goal. Guardiola likes what he has seen in the partnership.
“Eric and Aymer did incredibly good,” he said. “I wanted to give them more minutes.
"They communicate quite good. With the ball they are so safe, especially Aymer to be the unique left footed central defender, but Eric has played difficult games, against Arsenal – they are so fast with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Eddie Nketiah – and after with Liverpool with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
"They handled it really well, so that’s why I gave them two or three games in a row, to see how they develop, they deserved it and played really well.”
That safety has appealed to Guardiola. He believes that City’s inconsistency this season stems in part from defensive errors. “Eric doesn’t make mistakes,” he said. “Defensively that is what we want.”
That reliability could be crucial. City suffered their ninth league defeat of the campaign at St Mary’s. “When you lose eight or nine games you cannot win the Premier League,” Guardiola said. “Maybe years ago but not when the champions get over 90 points.”
City elevated standards, prompting Liverpool to hit the heights. Amid talk of “the new normal”, Guardiola believes the days of champions recording points tallies in the 80s will be consigned to the past. “I think for the level of the teams now it is always over 90 points,” he said. “You have to go far.”
