John Stones - A Perfect fit for Manchester City?

"Money can't buy you Stones" were the words Evertonians chanted against Chelsea last season and while Roberto Martinez managed to fend off the interest of Jose Mourinho, a £47.5m bid from Manchester City proved too tempting for the new Everton boss, Ronald Koeman to decline.

City acquire the former Barnsley player in an attempt to provide a partner for Vincent Kompany at the sixth time of asking, taking their spending on centre backs to over £122m. City's attempt to find a cultured partner for their captain, has largely been a disaster. Nicolas Otamendi was recruited last summer, and Eliaqium Mangala the season before, but neither have been the solution to the problem.

Otamendi can be chaotic at times, often favouring to go to ground leading to opposition forwards hurdling the challenge and skipping past the Argentine defender. When on form, the former Valencia man is physical, imposing and an aggressive defender but is too inconsistent to leave a glowing impression on the Etihad. Playing alongside Kompany obviously inspires Otamendi, delivering probably his finest performances of last season against Manchester United and Norwich City in October. At 30 years of age and injury prone, Nicolas Otamendi will need to adapt to playing without the Belgian captain in the near future.

The Citizens threw £42m at Porto for their French centre half Eliaquim Mangala in August 2014 and two years later, looks likely to be leaving Manchester having been omitted from City's Champions League roster. The 25 year old, never cemented a first team space at City and the tone was set in his second game where he scored a lamentable own goal against Hull City. Often the scapegoat for City fans, Mangala appears uninspiring and to lack a lot of confidence. With Shkrodan Mustafi appearing to be on the way to Arsenal, Valencia boss, Pako Ayesteran has earmarked the French international as a possible replacement. 

Martin Demichelis was another purchase for £4.2m, but was never a long term signing. Regardless of a rocky start to his City career - conceding a penalty and getting sent off in 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League - Pellegrini persisted with his fellow Latin American and he helped City lift the title with terrific form in the closing months of 2013/2014 season. Demichelis' contract was not renewed at the end of the last season and is now at Espanyol.

Pep Guardiola shelled out £47.5m for Everton's John Stones to make the 22 year old the second most expensive defender in history. Guardiola is looking to build his side around players who are very comfortable on the ball having done so at Barcelona and Bayern Munich previously. Favouring to play the ball out of defence instead of launching it up field, John Stones fits the bill perfectly. His ball playing style will thrive under Guardiola, but how will his defending?

While Stones shows all the traits of an accomplished ball playing defender, he is still earning his trade, and regularly makes naive mistakes. In the closing stages against Stoke over the Christmas period, Stoke converted a penalty to defeat Everton 4-3 after a desperate challenge from Stones grounded Marko Arnautovic. Similarly, a week later against Spurs, the young centre half opted to perform several Cruyff-turns in his own six yard box with Son Heung-min breathing down his neck despite the animosity from the Park End faithful. To have the audacity to attempt this extravagant move a week after making a mistake shows the composed and nonchalant traits that will have attracted Guardiola to the defender. 

While Stones could be infuriating to watch at times, he did deliver some exceptional performances displaying the essence of a seasoned international defender. In the Capital One Cup first leg against Manchester City in January of this year, Stones kept the one-time Premier League Golden Boot winner and four-time player of the month, Sergio Aguero on a tight leash as Everton won the game 2-1, however succumbed to a 3-1 defeat in the second leg. Against Chelsea in September last year, amid succession of bids from the club, Stones delivered a cool performance that thwarted Diego Costa on many occasions as Everton recorded a 3-1 victory.

Comfortable on the ball, Pep Guardiola will hone is skills with the ball at his new club. His decision-making deficiencies may not improve, particularly if Guardiola's possession based game is executed appropriately but it is likely that Stones will find that he is under less pressure when in the blue of Manchester City. When City face quality opposition in the Champions League and the higher ranked sides in the Premier League, Stones' defensive capabilities will be carefully scrutinised. Stones will be an asset in the league, but is likely to encounter difficulties in the Champions League at first.

At City he will likely play a rotational role at first with Mangala and Otamendi, however he will quickly cement the spot beside Vincent Kompany when the Belgian returns from injury. He will definitely justify the price-tag, probably not with an immediate impact but as he progresses under the guidance of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss. 

A Tale of Two Halves

It was definitely a tale of two halves at The Hawthorns tonight as Everton scored 3 unanswered goals to come back from two goals and secure the three points.

Berahino netted at the tail end of a grim first half before doubling their lead through a header from Craig Dawson. A Romelu Lukaku brace and Arouna Kone sent the Toffees away happy.

James Morrison had the first opportunity of the match with a sweetly struck shot that stung the hands of Tim Howard in the Everton goal. It was a tentative start to the match as both sides were happy to exchange possession. There weren't many goal scoring opportunities in the opening and both sides seemed more worried about not letting the other concede.

Everton did look good on the counter and created a lovely move just before the half hour mark. A Ross Barkley dummy made the momentum before finding Deulofeu. The low delivery was textbook, but Barkley couldn't nudge it towards the goal.

The crowd were finally given something to shout about on the cusp of half time. Want-away striker, Saido Berahino broke the deadlock with a shot that squeezed passed Tim Howard in nets after a stray pass from Gareth Barry. A special mention must go to James Morrison for the assist, whose pass was on a six pence. Roberto Martinez will be very disappointed to concede in that manner. The supporters can be forgiven if they fell asleep watching this match, as the quality was equal to a Sunday League game.

The goal sparked Everton into life, as they had managed a few half chances, one of which was a dangerous ball zipped across the six yard box. I speak for a lot of people when I say that I've never wanted a half time whistle to come as quick. Deulofeu and Barkley looked the only players in the first half that were capable of creating something, so both need to be utilised more after the interval.

We had more clear cut opportunities in  the opening 5 minutes than in the whole of the first half. James Morrison's deflected shot fell very kindly to James McClean but he ballooned the shot over the bar. Craig Dawson doubled the Baggies' lead from a header of a Chris Brunt corner, but the marking was absoutely horrendous. Martinez will be keen to thresh out any set piece calamities in preparation for the Merseyside derby on Sunday. Just 27 seconds later, Romelu Lukaku headed Everton back into the game and gave the travelling support some hope.

Berahino had the chance to bury Everton, but superb defending from Brendan Galloway denied the England U21 international. Not long after the chance, the game was levelled. Arouna Kone was played onside by Chris Brunt and he had all the time in the world to slot the ball past Boaz Myhill in goal. Kone's equaliser injected all sorts of confidence into Everton and they looked the more likely to go and find the winner.

A winner was what they got. That man Deulofeu, provided the spark and his ball was latched onto by Lukaku and at the second attempt bundled the ball into he net. It was coming, and it was the former Baggie who came back to haunt his old team. Rickie Lambert was introduced and West Brom resorted to the more familiar tactics of Tony Pulis by lumping the ball up to the big man.

Everton were victorious, but Martinez will still have concerns in the manner the goals were conceding. Going forward, Everton were very good when they got the ball to Deulofeu. The former Barca man assisted twice and delivered a performance that helped change the game on it's head. For Tony Pulis, it will be worrying how his side crumbled despite a two goal lead. Pulis won't be happy, particulary with Everton's first goal and will make his feelings clear to his players.

At half time I didn't think I would be reflecting on a goal fest, but football can be surprising at the best of times. For Everton they face Liverpool on Sunday and West Brom will be looking to make amends against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.