John Stones has spoken of the ‘deep pain’ he tried to box away following defeat in the Euro 2024 final.
The Manchester City defender produced his best performance of the tournament during the 2-1 loss to Spain in Berlin.
However, Stones says a lingering sense of regret and hurt has been hard to shake.
‘It takes a while (to come to terms with),’ he said. ‘To get to another final is incredible and I really believed we could do it. Emotionally, I was upset straight away, and then angry. I had anger at myself, the outcome of it.
‘You always feel you can do more. “What if this happened? What if I did that?” That is just the pure emotion of being self-critical. Not getting there again, having that hurt again. It was hard for me. I kind of box it away and try not to think about the pain. It’s deep. It’s hard to witness and be a part of.’
John Stones says his ‘deep pain’ took a while to recover from after England’s Euros heartbreak
Lee Carsley is instilling the players with ‘patience and belief’ as they ‘build from the back’
Stones, though, is encouraged by the start under Carsley, and he highlighted a key difference.
‘I think that, building up from the back, trying to get the lads to show their qualities on the ball, and have that patience and belief they show at their clubs and bring it all together as a collective,’ he said.