John Stones defends like a cricketer. But is it becoming a problem?

New York Times

18-02-2025

If you grow up in England playing sport, there's a good chance that your upbringing consisted of football and cricket.
Indeed, in football's initial development stage, it took many cues from cricket, the dominant sport of the time. Many football clubs were originally cricket clubs: Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and even Milan. That's why there are 11 on a team. It's why football is a winter sport, to fit around the summer cricket season. There's an extensive list of players who have played top-flight football and cricket: most notably former England cricket captain Ian Botham, who made 11 Football League appearances for Scunthorpe.
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The extent of professionalism means that is no longer viable, but many footballers retain an interest in cricket. Joe Hart, cut from England's World Cup 2018 squad by Gareth Southgate, didn't watch the quarter-final win over Sweden because he was playing cricket for Shrewsbury CC. Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall seemingly played a bit for Binfield CC last summer. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was a promising wicketkeeper before choosing football.
Early in his football career, John Stones was spotted at Stockbridge CC watching some mates play cricket. And perhaps he's learned a thing or two, because Stones' defensive play owes something to the 'long barrier' technique that is essentially the first thing you're taught when learning cricket.
For the uninitiated, the premise is simple: when fielding a ball rolling towards you, you turn the leg that corresponds with your throwing arm inwards, putting your knee close to your opposite foot, and form a solid block. You still attempt to stop the ball with your hands, but if that fails, your leg should come to the rescue. Simple enough.
In football, it's common to see shots from the edge of the box flying through a defender's legs as they attempt to block the ball. In that case, not only has the block been unsuccessful, it often makes the goalkeeper's task trickier too. So, in recent years, Stones has been using a cricket-style long block to prevent shots from nutmegging him.
Here's a classic example, from a Champions League tie against Real Madrid a few years back. Karim Benzema lines up a shot, and Stones gets into his cricket-style stance. The ball cannons off him to safety. If he'd been stood with his legs open, the ball may have whizzed between them.
Here's an example from an England training session at World Cup 2022, as Jack Grealish prepared to shoot. Here, Stones' knee isn't quite to the floor, but it's probably low enough to stop the ball going underneath it.
Here's an example from way back in 2016, which was actually unsuccessful, as Spain's Iago Aspas bent the ball around him into the far corner. But it shows the technique. Stones has to wait until he's sure the striker is about to shoot…
… then turns his knee inwards…
… and then, by the time the ball has been struck, he often has his knee on the ground.
This has been a common theme of Stones' play in recent years. Here's an example from a game four years ago against West Ham…
… and in the immediate aftermath of a shot from Arsenal's Bukayo Saka…
… and against Southampton…
… and at Euro 2024 against Slovakia.
No particular analysis is required and in each of these shots, Stones successfully made blocks. There's nothing wrong with the technique in itself.
But, with apologies, 'John Stones made a good block last weekend' probably doesn't merit an article. It's more noticeable when a player uses an unusual technique, and it proves unsuccessful.
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And Stones' blocking technique was relevant to three of City's concessions in the 5-1 loss to Arsenal earlier this month. For the opener, when Stones' ball to Manuel Akanji resulted in a turnover in a dangerous position, Martin Odegaard had a great chance with Stefan Ortega out of the equation and only Stones able to prevent a goal.
Stones did his usual long barrier, and Odegaard's shot deflected off his thigh and into the net. If he had stood up straight, perhaps he would have blocked it with his midriff.
Thomas Partey's deflected goal also prompts questions about the approach. Because Stones' technique relies on coming to a complete stop and planting his feet, he sometimes doesn't get close enough to the shooter. Here's Partey lining up a long-range attempt, with Stones on the edge of the penalty box.
By the time Partey's shot hits him, Stones has retreated slightly into the box, making it less effective than if he was charging forward. More problematically, Stones' stance makes a back for the shot, and sends it looping past Ortega into the far corner.
Shortly afterwards, Myles Lewis-Skelly curled the ball around Stones for Arsenal's fourth goal. It's a different technique here — more of a slide, and still a sizeable gap between his legs.
In isolation, there's nothing that unusual about this example, but in combination with the other two, it paints a picture of how Stones approaches these situations differently from most defenders.
Overall, the technique probably works. There's a danger of Stones planting his feet too quickly, and collapsing into a lower block than other defenders, but the danger of a shot flying between defenders' legs shouldn't be underestimated.
The long barrier remains a useful technique in junior cricket, although by senior level, and with the increased speed of the sports, players generally trust their ability and collect the ball on the run. Therefore, perhaps the place for the long barrier at professional level is actually in football, despite Stones showing its drawbacks recently.