John Stones still the real deal ahead of Wembley spotlight

Destroying him publicly is not productive. He has the POTENTIAL to be one of the best in Europe, he still has a long way to go but he needs the fans' backing not derision.

Just seen online the we are looking at Demichelis!!! Surely not. I think we've witnessed enough inept static defending without signing a geriatric useless has-been.

I'm not blaming Stones for selecting himself but as Kevin Ratcliffe states in his Echo column "when will John Stones learn".

You can't keep making the same mistakes and expect to be excused because of your age, make a mistake or two and learn from it but with Stones it seems it's one after the other followed by more.

He's got two years Premier League experience plus a year in the lower league with Barnsley, he's not an 18 year old that's just come on the scene last autumn.

Also helps that Jags was there to show him how to put your body on the line. Amazing performance from him and brilliant that he managed the full game.

Stones though was something else.

Talk about needing a big performance on a big stage, Stones was the only one of our big young guns who stepped up to the plate.

Brilliant is a word I like to reserve for things which are brilliant. The lad did better in the second half is about all I can say.

Stones played square across the box without looking, as Peter said. Only, Martinez doesn't pull players up on that shit. Moyes would have rollocked him... but dropped him till he was 25. So not sure what's best.

4-0 winners today fairly answers Harry Kane's "We are coming to get you" statement from last week – without Vardy.

I think Stones was outstanding and lead by example, I'd like anyone to point out a central defender as young as Stones, who's been as commanding as he was during a FA Cup Semi-Final.

He played next to Besic who looked lost and Jags who was also excellent, but no were near fit. He had Gibson in front of him, who's never fit, and was bang average at best (poor if I'm brutally honest) and McCarthy who done his usual huffing and puffing, without really ever getting to grips with Rooney and the rest of Man Utd's midfield.

During the game he kept the ball well when others hit it away, only for it to come back at us straight away. As well as this, Stones began a lot of our best attacks, especially in the second half, when we were at our best. He was the closest thing to a leader, and was the only one who had the balls to take the game by the scruff of its neck.

All this while many Blues screamed at him during every touch. Stones has made mistakes, but tell me one defender who doesn't.

Unfortunately this is a top class player who will go onto great things, probably at a different club, as many of our players aren't anywhere near his level, and many of our so called fans love to jump on his every mistake. We were pretty much dominated at Wembley with a makeshift team, and some people choose to point out one dodgy pass across the goal over his brilliant performance.

Besic – Everyone was saying how shit he was, which is true, but cut the lad some slack. He's not a right-back, never has been, never will be. He's not even a regular midfield player, he's a centre-back by trade but has been pushed into midfield. This kid, given the right guidance, could go to the very top.

Gibson – I'm not a big fan of his but what were you expecting? He's hardly played for 18 months and you expect him to do what exactly? Run around like a spring chicken? He was shattered after an hour and it was a miracle he finished the game.

McCarthy – With Gibson struggling next to him, he had to cover even more ground than usual and was ineffective during large parts of the game. Not his fault he was playing next to an unfit, unprepared player.

Baines – Well he's totally shot isn't he. He looks totally pissed off with everything. Bainsey needs some time off to get his head back together as he's a disaster waiting to happen. Whatever happened to him playing the Phillip Lahm role?

I trust a lot of these players to regain their focus and form under different leadership.