5 Reasons We Love Bailly

Stealing attention from Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an unenviable task, particularly when the Swede begins his Manchester United career with two goals in as many games, yet Eric Bailly has emerged as an equal attraction for fans following two powerhouse performances in red.

Here, ManUtd.com’s Mark Froggatt lists five reasons why fans can be excited about the Ivorian…

BAILLY IS A BEAST
Standing over six feet tall and weighing a muscular 12 stones, Eric is a force to be reckoned with and his imposing style has already bruised the opposition – namely Josh King, following a thumping collision at Bournemouth on Sunday. The 22-year-old is no slow coach, either, as Leicester’s Jamie Vardy will vouch for following his entertaining duel with our new no.3 in the FA Community Shield at Wembley. The pertinent example arrived on 23 minutes when the Foxes striker tried to round him inside the box, but was matched for pace and dispossessed via a perfectly-timed sliding tackle. Bailly has since been compared to both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, which is slightly premature – although he does wield an obvious blend of silk and steel that underpinned that iconic partnership.

PRESSURE, WHAT PRESSURE?
Many fans had not heard of Bailly when his transfer from Villarreal was announced on 6 June and it was reported that United had paid around £30million for his services. That figure placed a weight of expectation on his young shoulders and he was under pressure to impress, but you wouldn’t know judging by his early performances. Eric has confidently shown his quality since the first pre-season outing at Wigan Athletic (when he extinguished Will Grigg’s fire) while comfortably settling into his new surroundings. He’s even formed a burgeoning bromance with Zlatan, judging by the number of times they’ve been pictured laughing together in training. More importantly, however, Jose Mourinho is impressed: “When you buy someone like him there is always a question mark on the way he adapts,” the manager said. “Playing in Spain is very different to playing in England, playing to finish fourth or fifth is different to trying to win, but he is showing a big personality and it’s incredible.”

PLAYS THROUGH INJURY
Bailly has twice been voted United’s Man of the Match following the wins over Leicester and Bournemouth, yet he almost didn’t feature at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday. Mourinho revealed afterwards that his Africa Cup of Nations winner had only trained once ahead of kick-off. “He was injured against Leicester but never said anything and played 90 minutes,” the boss told reporters. “The next day he couldn’t train and he trained on Saturday with the team for the first time. He didn’t train all week because of the problem… but the reality is he’s strong and showing great qualities.”

HE’S CALLED ERIC!
Okay, this is a tenuous link to Mr Cantona, but any player called Eric with oodles of confidence and a big personality is bound to enjoy the support of the fans.

STILL A ROUGH DIAMOND
Getting back to the serious stuff, the most exciting thing about Bailly is arguably his age. At 22 he has his best years ahead - perhaps as many as 10 or more at United - and Mourinho is exactly the type of manager who can develop his raw, unlimited potential. Look what he did for Ricardo Carvalho at Porto, John Terry at Chelsea and Raphael Varane at Real Madrid. Our rough diamond could become a similarly dominant force in the Premier League, and he’s certainly made a bright start to his Reds career. 
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be considered as representative of Manchester United Football Club.

Credit: Manutd.com