'Coxon's Comments' #3 'Otamendi or Stones?'

Manchester City and their bottomless pit of money can't solve their defensive problems, whether it be Vincent Kompany's injuries, or in the last couple of years, Martin Demichelis playing the odd game and making people ask the simple question 'why is this man being paid?' Or letting one of the top defenders in the world leave when the big money first came in Jerome Boateng. 

City's defensive frailties are ongoing and don't seem to be coming to an end, even if the mountainous Kompany manages to find a period where he can get out on the pitch for a sustained period of time. So I'm going to look at what they have at the moment and see if it's heading in the right direction. 

Let's start with older of what I feel are City's two main defenders at this moment in time, Nicholas Otamendi. £34 million for the Argentine, which a couple of years ago would have been a record transfer for a defender but in this modern footballing world that's your going rate. This man came to England with the reputation as a sturdy brick wall that keeps all that try to scale it at bay, and with good reason. Playing in a defence that only conceded 32 goals in their domestic season, a tally only bettered by themselves back in the 03-04 season, the year Valencia last won La Liga. You'd be a tad foolish to question whether this bloke can defend, but a year and a half into his Manchester City career, these questions are beginning to arise. What exactly are Otamendi's strengths as a defender?

Physically he does look the part, quite a muscular, very athletic looking build and granted he does get around the pitch with ease. But I've felt he's always been lacking defensively. His reading of the game doesn't seem to be in tandem with his physical capabilities, his burst of speed to the ball doesn't have a back up plan if he's not the winner of the first encounter when going in for a tackle. He's at his peak and will struggle to adapt to a lot of Guardiola's demands but he will be aided through his physical capabilities, and perhaps a different type of defensive partner than John Stones. I'm a big fan of Shkodran Mustafi, and it's my belief Otamendi's last season in Valencia, where less goals were conceded than games played, was down to his partner, Mustafi. I think he's shown this with his recent move to Arsenal, not a foot has been put wrong, a shaky defence that's not had many changes over the years brings in one player and they're touted as potential Champions, more so than in previous years. 

In summary, my view of Otamendi is he's a good defender who was partnered with a even better one in Mustafi, and of the two, Manchester City have chosen the more expensive less capable option, and think this may have also been down to Manuel Pellegrini who from my perspective, preferred a South American in his squad due to his own nationality. 

Now it's time to talk about England's own John Stones. First of all, yes he's overhyped. Yes he's not great defensively and yes his transfer fee is one to be questioned on certain performances but, let's not forget why he's thought of so highly; because of his good performances. Even defensively, his best game I've seen him play was, ironically, against his new employees, Manchester City, not only controlling the game from the heart of defence but also ensuring no stacks were mounted against his Goalkeeper by mopping up what was infront of him. And a lot more good performances to add, but with what is expected of John Stones, when mistakes are made, he's dragged right back down, told to go back to the 'basics of Defending', but why curtail the way he plays? Why force him into playing a style that doesn't allow him to play to his strengths? I feel this criticism stems from where he comes from, England, where a sense of patriotism comes from seeing your big centre half put his toe through the ball, hitting an away fan square in the face and then jogging away. Fantastic, you've gave your opponent the ball, round of applause. 

This is John Stones' downfall. The fans expectation of a English Central Defender. The games moved on from kicking it away, it's came to a point where a shot at goal can be started from any position on the pitch, even from your goalkeeper, but I'll leave that for another article!

I think for John Stones to get better defensively he doesn't need to start kicking into touch when all avenues are being closed off. He needs to be applauded for trying to spring a trap on the opponent, to make something happen, he needs to refine his current playing style which Pep Guardiolla is encouraging. When his current style reaches the heights it should his defensive ability will shine.

Stones is closing in on 100 premier league appearances which for his age is a great testament to his ability. It shows he has the quality to play at the highest level, currently on 90 appearances he's lost 28 of those games. It's from these losses he will have learned from. How to adapt his game. And the Loss against Leicester will resonate with him for a lengthy period of time. The passing side of his game was brought into question when he played in Jamie Vardy to complete his Hat-trick in the 4-2 defeat to Leicester. Physically he still needs to bulk up I feel, it can't hinder his game. 

I think at this moment in time, both of these centre backs are not a good match and it's a shame, when it comes to defences I don't think many are better than their partners. It's a pairing made to work to make ones weakness diminish and compliment the other's strengths and at this moment at Manchester City, the two

main defensive options available to me are not a great compatible match. I personally see a cross roads coming for the club, where a decision has to be made on who stays in the Sky Blue kit and who will go onto pastures new. 

Age and ability coming into factor I think City need to make a defence that allows Johns Stones to be more expressive, less anxious and allows him to reach the heights that his team and country need him to.

I'd love to hear what others have to say on the issue!