John Stones Injury a Blow for Player and England, but Everton Will Suffer Most
England and Everton suffered bad news on Thursday ahead of the European Championships qualifying match against San Marino, after the revelation defender John Stones needs surgery and could miss the rest of the year with his injured ankle.
Stones would have been a likely inclusion in the England squad for the San Marino and Estonia matches, but was taken injured at the weekend against Manchester United. BBC Sport now report that the Everton player could be out for as long as 14 weeks, with corrective surgery required.
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It's a blow for England with a lack of defensive options, and Stones himself is only in his second season as a Premier League regular—but Everton, struggling for form and consistency in 2014-15, will be the big losers with this news.
Central Stones
Capable of playing at right-back, where he has for both club and country this year, Stones looks a little out of place and at times exactly what he is—promising, but raw, inexperienced and bested by good players.
Put him centrally in defence, though, and a fundamental change seems to occur; Stones is composed on the ball, is agile enough to repeatedly make clearances and adjust his positioning, and is strong both on the ground and in the air.
He is fast-maturing into one of the more impressive young English defenders around, which is important for both club and country given the paucity of options for both at present and plans to include and encourage more growth of talented youngsters.
"John Stones out for four months!? That's a huge blow for Everton. He's their best central defender. Ouch.
— The Football Front (@ReviewFootball) October 9, 2014"
"3 months out for John Stones is a shame. He's probably the best young English prospect in his position (when he's actually played there).
— Ed (@MrEdsFM) October 9, 2014"
"Of the players under 26 in the Premier League this season, John Stones has the highest pass accuracy (92%). pic.twitter.com/0nIHaZFnaW
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 9, 2014"
Martinez's Options
Everton team-mate Phil Jagielka has seemingly lost his form and international place as a result, and neither England nor Everton are blessed with a plentiful supply of centre-backs to accommodate Stones' enforced absence.
Sylvain Distin has only played one of the last four league games for Everton, leaving Antolin Alcaraz as Everton's only centre-back cover. The Paraguayan has not seen a single minute of game-time this season outside of the League Cup.
England, meanwhile, have the option of using Jagielka or one-cap 19-year-old Calum Chambers at centre-back, alongside experienced vice-captain Gary Cahill in their upcoming fixtures.
Season of Survival?
Everton impressed with their fluid football and offensive mentality last term, chasing a Champions League place until the final weeks of the season and eventually finishing fifth.
Although Europa League football is an added responsibility for 2014-15, Everton were still expected to feature in the upper reaches of the table again—but their season has barely kicked off yet. Just one win in seven games—no home wins at all—sees them sit in 17th so far. Worryingly, they have the worst defensive record in the league too, something which isn't likely to be helped by the absence of another key starter in the back line.
At the other end, Everton have been good in attack—only Chelsea and Manchester City have scored more in the Premier League—but costly errors and a lack of direction and consistency at the back means that points have been hard to come by.
The Toffees need to turn things around quickly if they are not to endure, rather than enjoy, Roberto Martinez's second season in charge, but this latest disruption to the defence isn't going to make things any easier for the Spaniard to rectify the problems plaguing the team at present.
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