Harry Maguire has sent a one-word message to John Stones after England defeated Serbia 1-0 at the Arena AufSchalke.
Maguire was expected to line up alongside Stones but his calf injury meant he was ruled out of partaking in Euro 2024 — with Marc Guehi taking his place as the Manchester City centre-back’s partner on Sunday.
After the Three Lions’ latest victory, Jude Bellingham was full of praise for the 30-year-old, claiming he is one of the best defenders in the world. Stones, who came into the tournament off the back of a stop-start campaign gave a solid account of himself against Serbia.
Harry Maguire drops John Stones verdict after England’s win against Serbia
The Serbians lined up with two top-quality strikers in Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Vlahovic, as he has showcased time and again for Juventus can bully backlines due to his physicality but is also a threat when driving with the ball while having a brilliant strike.
Similarly, Mitrovic is an expert target man, known for his excellent back-to-goal play, astute link-up play and clinical finishing.
But as Stones played a key role in keeping the striking pair as well as Serbia at bay for England, Maguire left a comment on his post-match Instagram post: “Top.”
Jude Bellingham also commented, “Top, top, top.”
John Stones will get better as the tournament progresses
As Maguire and Bellingham rightly stated, Stones put in a top performance at the back for England against Serbia.
Considering Manchester City’s number five struggled with his fitness throughout the 2023/2024 season, he might still not be fully match-fit. But with England set to face Denmark and Slovenia in under two weeks, Stones’ match fitness will only improve.
As that becomes the case, the decorated defender’s displays for his national team will progressively improve even further.
So far, Stones has passed his first test in an England shirt at the European Championship — emerging as one of his nation’s best performers against Serbia alongside Bellingham and Guehi.