Gareth Southgate has revealed that he has been forced to do something with John Stones that he is not a fan of.
Reporter Kelly Somers claimed that while walking out of the tunnel, the 29-year-old was not hobbling and as a result, his adductor injury might not be as serious as one would assume.
Even so, one remains unaware about the extent of Stones’ latest knock, who would be far from delighted that he has been injured for the fourth time this season.
Gareth Southgate says he does not like what he has had to do with John Stones after England drew to Belgium
After England’s 2-2 draw against Belgium, while Gareth Southgate defended his decision to start John Stones, he was unhappy that the centre-back extraordinaire was returning to the Manchester City camp with a knock.
“Well, no. We measure everything and the first game for him wasn’t a high-level, in terms of the intensity. We’ve done exactly what Holland did with Virgil van Dijk tonight. What Norway did with Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, starting them again”, he said [via HaytersTV].
Southgate continued, “Holland also started [Nathan] Ake again so it only ever seems to fall on us when there’s a question around that.”
“John [Stones] also came off the back of not playing for two weeks. So, it’s not that it’s an overload situation. But I hate sending players back to their clubs if they’re not fully fit, of course.”
Bizarre explanation from the England boss about starting John Stones
Much like Gareth Southgate, no international manager would like to see one of their key players such as John Stones pick up an injury and potentially miss games for their clubs.
But in our view, the examples of the players Southgate mentioned do not apply to Stones, who is far more injury-prone than them.
As a result, the decision to have started the treble-winner in a friendly when Jarrad Branthwaite was available was a bizarre one.
Some may argue that a similarly injury-prone Nathan Ake started for the Netherlands in both of his country’s fixtures against Scotland and Germany.
But Ake has been far more durable than Stones this season, having started 19 Premier League games in comparison to the latter’s measly 11 starts.
With that in mind, even Southgate’s post-match explanation does not justify his decision.