Stones must play at Euros despite nagging doubt – England team is now settled

John Stones will give Gareth Southgate nightmares – but he should stick with the Manchester City defender.

What Stones did against Poland will haunt Gareth because if he makes a mistake like that in a big game at the Euros, we’ve had it.

Let’s be honest, as good as he’s been all season – and he’s been very, very good – Stones still has a mistake like that in him.

I think it was too easy for him against Poland and he lost concentration. They hardly ever closed him down, and the one time they did, he got caught.

But we all make mistakes and if you’re talking about this being his first big mistake of the whole season, it’s not bad going.

I would stick with him for the Euros, and I think Gareth will. But he will have that nagging doubt that it could happen again.

The thing is, having Stones in your team gives you the option of playing a back four and getting more attacking players on the pitch.

He’s still more of a plus for England than not, and he’s usually so comfortable on the ball that it lets you play out from the back.

Harry Maguire also has a good understanding with him, and fair play to Stones, he set up Maguire’s winner at the end of the game.

Southgate showed he trusts his players to get the job done against Poland. He didn’t panic and start throwing subs on when we were struggling.

That shows me the team he played is pretty much the one he’s going to start with at the Euros.

I know Poland didn’t have Robert Lewandowski but they are still the hardest team we are going to face in our group.

And it was quite comfortable for England really. Poland didn’t look like scoring in a month of Sundays until Stones made his mistake.

Gareth had Mason Mount, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane on the pitch. Our players who are going to break teams down.

So he left them on the pitch to see if they could do it. I think that’s why he didn’t make a lot of attacking substitutions.

He could have sent Jesse Lingard on and we could have ended up chasing the game and opening up too much. Instead he trusted his players.

Lingard did well when he first came back into the team but maybe it’s too late for him now, if he can’t get on when we needed to break someone down.

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Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford are still to come back into the squad, but I don’t think Grealish will start now.

I’d be shocked if the team against Poland isn’t the one that starts the Euros.

We’re going to have a chance of winning it in my opinion. But I think patience is going to be our problem.

Do we have the patience to break down teams that just defend against us? If Wembley was full the fans might get restless when it's not going well.

So the fact it won’t full be might actually help England because we are our own worst enemies when we get frustrated and start chasing games.

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Aidy Boothroyd gets loads of stick but I think he was right when he said he has the impossible job.

I understand what he’s saying. It’s hard to win tournaments when all your best players are playing for the seniors.

I’m not sure how good his players were this year to be honest. How many of them will end up going to Qatar with the England team?

Ben Godfrey of Everton might be in the mix but I’m not sure anyone else from the U21s looks good enough.

The only criticism I have of Aidy Boothroyd is it all looked very mechanical and not free-flowing. There was no swagger. His players looked a bit lost at times.

But I think those kids got some unbelievable experience and sometimes setbacks like this help make you stronger.

I feel a bit sorry for Aidy because his best players all play for the seniors. People might say it’s their club managers and not him who have brought them through.

But it would be hard for anyone to win a tournament without five or six of your best players being available.

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Sergio Aguero would fit like a glove at Chelsea or Arsenal – but I think he’s going to Spain.

His next move is a big deal for him because he needs to be in a team that sees a lot of the ball and creates chances for him.

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The days of him creating his own chances are gone now. He’s good enough still to get in the best teams in the world, but he needs a team that plays a certain way.

Most Premier League teams would love to have him but his wages would be a problem and at his age how many games would he play?

I think the way Arsenal play would suit him. Chelsea have loads of creative players and he wouldn’t be short of chances there either.

Chelsea need a forward. Thomas Tuchel might try and take a chance on him. You know he’s going to hit the ground running.

Tuchel only has a short-term contract. If they sign somebody else and he takes time to settle, that’s no good for Tuchel.

But I think Aguero will go back to Spain. He has friends there and knows the league and it’s an easier league to play in.

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