Jeff Stelling has expressed his concern about one Manchester City player ahead of the next game he is due to play in.
Euro 2024 will officially get underway this week and it will be a chance to get a look at lots of players for their countries out in Germany.
City have plenty of players ging to the tournament, with three of those in the England squad.
Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden were all called up by Gareth Southgate. But there was no place in the end for Jack Grealish, which has been a big talking point on social media.
This morning on talkSPORT, focus turned to the first game with Serbia – and Jeff Stelling is slightly concerned about one of the Manchester City players heading into that opening game…
Jeff Stelling concerned about John Stones because he is ‘not physical’ and ‘not aggressive’
England take on Serbia in their opening game on Sunday, and everyone is currently predicting what the first starting XI will be.
There has been a particular interest in the centre-backs that have been selected by Southgate.
With Harry Maguire not being called up due to injury, there isn’t a great deal of experience among the options that have been selected.
Stones has plenty though, but Jeff Stelling has some concerns about the 29-year-old ahead of the Serbia game in particular.
He said on talkSPORT: “First of all, Serbia are the biggest team in the tournament, the tallest team in the tournament. They are going to be physical, they are going to be aggressive.
“John Stones has picked up a knock, he is not physical, he is not aggressive, he is wonderful on the ball.
“I worry about us aerially for set-plays, so I would put Lewis Dunk in there because he is 6ft 4in, he dominates in the air.”
After not playing against Bosnia, Stones featured in England’s last game against Iceland, but was taken off at half-time as a precaution. He is expected to be fit to face Serbia.
A test for Stones
£250,000-a-week star Stones is primarily known for being the classy ball-playing centre-back, so it is quite easy for people to suggest that he isn’t physical or aggressive.
But Stones is 6ft 2in and had a good aerial success rate of 73.7% in 2023/24, as per fbref.com. This could stand him in good stead against Serbia.
The only concerns over Stones should be fitness-related and that he went off against Iceland. If he is fine to play against Serbia then he should most definitely start.
It has now become a big tournament for Stones given the lack of experience in the other defenders, and hopefully he can really step up for the Three Lions.