John Stones expects more maverick moves and tactical innovations from Pep Guardiola as Manchester City seek to make it five Premier League titles in a row.
England international Stones enjoyed arguably his best season at City when he operated as a hybrid centre-back/midfielder during their run to treble glory in 2022/23.
The 30-year-old’s mastery with the ball at his feet means he has often been integral to Guardiola’s changing schemes since joining City back in 2016.
Speaking ahead of City’s first home game of their title defence against Ipswich Town, Stones explained how he and his teammates have come to expect the unexpected.
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“We need to expect different systems and tactics,” he said. “Pep is a genius at what he does and how he sets up differently for every team.
“There are always little aspects that we will work on for the strengths of the opponent and how we can exploit their weaknesses.
“Pep said that over the summer he has been thinking about how we can improve and what he ideas he can bring to us as a team.”
One of those ideas has already been rolled out over the past couple of weeks, with Guardiola dragging his No. 10 — James McAtee against Manchester United in the Community Shield and Kevin De Brunye during last weekend’s win at Chelsea — into a left-sided position in an attempt to remedy City’s struggles against teams pressing them in a 4-2-4 shape towards the end of last season.
City used McAtee in an interesting position in the build-up on Saturday. Something we’ve not seen much of previously 1/ pic.twitter.com/BsscRzB4Hn
— City Tactics (@city_tactics) August 13, 2024
It’s all part of the process to stay a beat ahead of the opposition. With treble-winning captain Ilkay Gundogan back in tow, Stones says City are targeting a clean sweep of trophies.
“The aim is to win everything,” he added. “The first one was the Community Shield. We’ve always got to look to better ourselves.
“We set the bar so high and to be there fighting right until the end every year is something so special. I think we have to keep pushing and trying to achieve more and do one better than we have in previous seasons.”
