Firstly, England defender Gary Cahill has lavished praise on his international centre-back partner John Stones.
As reported by Goal, the Chelsea man said: “The potential is there for him to do whatever he wants to do. There is no reason he cannot go on and have the career he wants to have. He is a different type of player but I think everyone is aware of his ability,” Cahill told reporters.
“He is a great lad off the pitch, personality wise you have to look at that as well. Is he a boy who is going to take on advice from people? He certainly is.
“Again, another bit of your character - I feel he is a guy who can deal with criticism, who can be fine with that. He will learn from his mistakes and from the things he is doing very well, which is more than the mistakes.”
Interim England manager Gareth Southgate also had some complimentary words on City’s 22-year-old, comparing him with some of the biggest names in the game at the moment.
As reported by ESPN he said on Stones: “If we want to have a [Mats] Hummels, a [Jerome] Boateng, a [Gerard] Pique...
“I can remember managing a team against Pique at 22 when he played for Manchester United and he wasn’t the all-round real deal.
“I think he’s got the perfect manager to work with and to hone and for all of our defenders, that’s what we want to encourage.
“I wanted us [on Friday night] to be an England team that played with confidence and were prepared to use the ball even though it was a very intense and difficult atmosphere.’’
City’s other England star, Raheem Sterling, is being discussed in this morning’s papers.
The winger played a key role in the Three Lions’ victory over Scotland on Friday night and BBC pundit Danny Murphy is impressed.
He commented in the Evening Standard: “He is strong and powerful and goes past players, which is easy for him because his balance is so good.
“Now — and this is the key — he is making the right decisions with his final ball. Instead of trying to score at the near post, he is knocking it square to give a team-mate a tap-in.
“He isn’t trying to overcomplicate things, so it seems the penny is dropping.
“He can play in a number of positions — up front, right, left, No10 — but I’d like to see him nail down a role and I prefer him on the right.
“His body language is better on that side, where he seems to go past people more easily and threaten the goal more often.”
That’s all for this morning’s round-up! There will be more throughout the day with a comprehensive look again tomorrow morning on mancity.com!
