
By Dave Marshall
Manchester United suffered the first defeat of the new season with a 3-2 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion at the AMEX stadium on Sunday evening, a game that put more spotlight on the manager and players alike.
United were extremely awful, played without grit, fight and commitment. Many of our players were very poor but fans reserved the most scathing criticism for Ivorian centreback, Eric Bailly, who looked awful in the game.
He was reckless, mistimed his tackles, didn’t hold the offside line well and was below par alongside Victor Lindelof, who was also atrocious in central defence. Here are some of the best tweets by United fans about his display.
LEAKED: Mourinho talking to Eric Bailly at half-time #mufc #afc #cfc #lfc #mcfc #thfc pic.twitter.com/LqW6drhfXb
— Urban Arsenal (@ArsenalUrban) August 19, 2018
Makes you wonder if Lindelof or Bailly were actually Mourinho signings? Or was it Woodward looking for value?
— LITTLE LEGS (@Ryan90MUFC) August 20, 2018
I still can't believe how BAD Bailly was yesterday. LOL #MUFC
— Robel Birhane (@robelbtareke) August 20, 2018
United fans slagged Smalling off last season even when our defence is second best in the league. Most preferred Bailly but the truth is that he is a disaster. He is too rash. #mufc
— Basil Ezimorah (@Basilezimorah) August 20, 2018
#Mufc played poor yesterday, not much to say about it. But two disastrous decisions by Lindelof and Bailly stood out and brought us down. We would’ve made it if it wasn’t for those…
— Ktorum ?⚪️ (@KjellCaramell) August 20, 2018
I’m very disappointed with Bailly & Lindelof as a partnership, today. We are Manchester United and those two didnt offer any class or stability. I know they need time but we’re two games in and already chasing city. It’ll be interesting who starts next match against Kane ? #MUFC
— Man Utd Fanatic (@MUFCLeader) August 19, 2018
Bailly was dreadfull! Hope he gets dropped for the next few games. #MUFC
— LAMAR® (@URbAN_LEGENd213) August 19, 2018
I questioned #MUFC signing Bailly after watching him twice for Villarreal in 2016 and was shouted down. Well… honeymoon period appears to be over
— Kev Pogorzelski (@RabbitRabbitOn) August 19, 2018
Bailly, who many United fans say is the best defender at the club lacked positional awareness on many occasions in the game. He was dragged out for the first goal while he couldn’t recover sufficiently for the second.
Brighton’s third came as a result of another error by the former Villareal centreback, who launched and mistimed his tackle that ensured Brighton reopen their two-goal advantage. Bailly, alongside his other colleagues at the back offered nothing to show that they deserved to play for United.
It offered yet another proof that Jose Mourinho was right to prioritize the signing of a central defender this summer, though moves for Toby Alderweireld and Harry Maguire failed to materialize. With just two matches into the season, this campaign is starting to look more like last season where we ultimately failed to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title.
Bailly is a centreback that was the very first signing of the Jose Mourinho era back in 2016, but has struggled to play regularly due to a series of injuries.