Just turned on the game, had completely forgotten that Salomon Kalou existed 
3
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Clean sheets
- 19
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 9
- Red cards
- 2
- Status
1-1 now
Reminder that if Ivory Coast lose Bailly doesn't go to AFCON
Reminder that if Ivory Coast lose Bailly doesn't go to AFCON
FFS he goes to AFCON
Smalling it is. Hopefully he wont be braindead like at the end of last season otherwise we will be in for a shock.
Smalling it is. Hopefully he wont be braindead like at the end of last season otherwise we will be in for a shock.
Do some of you even realize how selfish you lots sound with wishing players that their countries fail so they don't represent them? There is a lot of confidence that also come from doing well with one's country and the opposite can have negative impact with some players, case in point Martial whom people were hoping to not be played and benched by Deshamp which happened to have destroyed his confidence since then.
I normally see fans quite supportive of players during their respective times with their countries but here I've seeing some people acting opposite and rather think selfishly.
Seen this with Martial(people hoping for him to get benched), now I'm seeing this with Bailly(people wanting him and his country to fail). Very selfish it must be said.
I normally see fans quite supportive of players during their respective times with their countries but here I've seeing some people acting opposite and rather think selfishly.
Seen this with Martial(people hoping for him to get benched), now I'm seeing this with Bailly(people wanting him and his country to fail). Very selfish it must be said.
Its not selfish because you would rather want a player to play for your club than to go off playing for a different country as they won't be contributing to the cause. I couldn't care any less what Bailly does outside of the club, I just hope that he will be avaliable as he is a very high quality player. That's not selfish, that's just logic.
Also Martial was incredibly tired from last season so it would've been better if he was resting. Even Deschamp said that Martial was too tired which is why he was poor at the euros. Coman looked good coming on and he had the same chances as Martial.
The big problem is Bailly is playing in a tournament that is right in the middle of the busiest part of our season and thus fecks our back 4 up at a crucial point in the season.
Bit harsh
Did you forget the crystal palace game? Nearly cost us the cup. I like him and he was brilliant at the start of the season but near the end he was really poor and it showed at the euros.
However that could be because he played a massive part of our season, just like Martial. And he needs to rest. I just hope he doesn't become the old Smalling that we used to know.
Guys stop with the "He played many games last season and needs rest" narrative going around to explain every poor performances our players have. United aren't the only team who play in many competitions thus having players accumulating an incredibly high amount of game time. As professionals what the likes of Smalling, Martial and co play are fairly normal amounts of games and some of their poorest performances lately isn't due to fatigue and all those sort of excuses but just your standard loss of form(which players normally go through).
I've heard this excuse about fatigue thrown a lot lately which is quite odd given professional players usually play a very high amount of game and it's pretty much routine for them.
I've heard this excuse about fatigue thrown a lot lately which is quite odd given professional players usually play a very high amount of game and it's pretty much routine for them.
Palace was one game. And Smalling wasn't poor at the end of the season either; he had lots of good games. He was solid at the Euro's, too.
I'm not sure what you mean by the "old Smalling." He's always been good at defending. It's never been his issue. And it'll get even better under Mourinho going forward.
Smalling and Blind is absolutely fine as a central pairing. We can survive a few games without Bailly.
When is the AFCON? I wonder what fixtures we have. Anyway, Smalling should be sufficient as back-up and who knows, maybe the cup will prove good for Bailly in terms of leadership, etc.
Smalling is our best CB, of course we'll be fine. You'd think we were talking about a one legged blind folded Marcos Rojo the way people harp on about his flaws recently.
The problem here is that Rooney is not top class but he still gets to play every single minute.
So Ivory Coast have qualified after a nervy draw.
So the AFCON is from 14th January to 5th February. that means he ends up missing
Man Utd v Liverpool Sat 14 Jan 15:00
Stoke v Man Utd Sat 21 Jan 15:00
Man Utd v Hull Wed 1 Feb 20:00
Leicester v Man Utd Sat 4 Feb 15:00
Add to that any FA cup or League Cup games if we are in the running. I say that is not much. Smalling and Jones, if fit, are good enough back up for those games. Also all depends on how far do Ivory Coast go in the tournament.
So the AFCON is from 14th January to 5th February. that means he ends up missing
Man Utd v Liverpool Sat 14 Jan 15:00
Stoke v Man Utd Sat 21 Jan 15:00
Man Utd v Hull Wed 1 Feb 20:00
Leicester v Man Utd Sat 4 Feb 15:00
Add to that any FA cup or League Cup games if we are in the running. I say that is not much. Smalling and Jones, if fit, are good enough back up for those games. Also all depends on how far do Ivory Coast go in the tournament.
We'll be fine.
So last seasons joint best defensive partnership in the league is no longer good enough? Give it a rest...
I really like Bailly and impressed by his start to his United career, being new to the team, country, league and whatnot. He has so far formed a good partnership with Blind. Smalling did as well, and had one of the best defensive record in the league if not the best. Not sure why comments downplaying Smalling's contributions got downplayed.
Yes he made mistakes, so what? Tell me which previous United CB that didn't make big mistakes before? Rio? Remember the City game where he had a nightmare, where one of the mistakes was a casual lazy loop pass which was easily intercepted and then proceed to score? Vida? Remember vs Liverpool where Torres tore him a new one?
Every player has its ups and downs, and I am sure Bailly will have it. Just hope it wont be anytime soon. Not to mention, he hasn't been tested by the so called big teams.
Yes he made mistakes, so what? Tell me which previous United CB that didn't make big mistakes before? Rio? Remember the City game where he had a nightmare, where one of the mistakes was a casual lazy loop pass which was easily intercepted and then proceed to score? Vida? Remember vs Liverpool where Torres tore him a new one?
Every player has its ups and downs, and I am sure Bailly will have it. Just hope it wont be anytime soon. Not to mention, he hasn't been tested by the so called big teams.
Any chance we can give them Rooney instead?
He'll end up missing more than that. Given the tournament starts on the 14th, he'll have to join the team a week or 2 earlier before the tournament and be ready to play with us again probably a week after the tournament ends, Which means we might miss him the whole of January and a week in February. Plenty of games in between.
If you sign a african player then no one should complain about that.
Agreed. It's frustrating as I'd rather see him here with us, but we'd have known this was par for the course when we signed him.
Exactly.
Plus Liverpool will be missing Mane.
I expect Jose to get someone in if Jones or Rojo fail to impress in Europa.
We'll only be in trouble if Smalling or Jones start getting injured.
I'm happy for Bailly.
At least Smalling will be fresh, we were unable to rest him or Blind and I think that affected Smalling much more as he had to combat attackers in a much more physical manner than Blind.
If it goes bad we'll have the January window.
Glad he's going to the ACON, he clearly loves playing for his country, as he should.
Titles aren't decided in Jan & Feb, and we have a large squad to be able to cope.
Titles aren't decided in Jan & Feb, and we have a large squad to be able to cope.
Yep. Plus I remember SAF saying he was reluctant to sign African players because of the AFCON and losing them during an important period in the league during that January.
It's a fair point to make, but at the same time he gave many, many chances to players with awful fitness records. Players that you could guarantee would spend at least a couple of months injured every season. It's not that different imo, with almost all players you have to accept that they won't be available for the whole season. Better to have a player who is going to play in a cup than a player who just gets injured for a few months every season.
I agree.
Eric Bailly is Jose Mourinho's star... how defender went from minder of a phone box and never playing 11-a-side to Manchester United's £30m heir to Rio Ferdinand
It is the beginning of June and in the south-east of Spain, Eric Bailly has received a phone call. The Ivorian defender, then of Spanish club Villarreal, knows that he has significant interest from Manchester United, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.
But when he picks up the call, the rasping voice at the other end still comes as a major surprise.
‘It was Jose Mourinho,’ explains Bailly’s best friend and former Espanyol team-mate Joan Jordan. ‘It was out of the blue. It meant a huge amount. Eric called me up all excited.
‘He was saying, “How can I say no when Mourinho calls me?” Mourinho spoke in French, Eric’s mother tongue, and explained exactly what his role would be and what his plan was for United. Mourinho’s phone call was a big intervention.’
Bailly was not on United’s radar under Louis van Gaal but Mourinho acted decisively to make the defender his first signing — in a £30million deal from Villarreal — within two weeks of taking over.
Just 22, Bailly has rapidly adapted at United, being named the club’s man of the match in three of his opening four games, ousting Chris Smalling from the starting XI and winning United’s player-of-the-month award for August.
Talking to Sportsmail over the past week, United goalkeeper David de Gea described Bailly as a powerhouse and gave the impression that the African has made an instant impact on the dressing room.
‘Oof, a great signing,’ said De Gea. ‘Eric’s come in and surprised us all very quickly. I remember when I first came to England and, trust me, it can be hard early on but he’s flying.
‘He is physical, strong, technically confident and super-fast. He only speaks a little English but we have lots of Spaniards in the dressing room and Paul Pogba speaks French of course.
‘He’s a big presence and when I stand in the tunnel and look behind me, he is one of the new big, powerful players along with Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic that gives us real presence and stature this season.’
Bailly’s most significant test yet will arrive this weekend against Manchester City. His rise, however, becomes all the more extraordinary when we learn that only four years ago, he hadn’t even played a real competitive game of 11-a-side football.
Bailly was born in the south of Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, in April 1994. As a child, he would play football after school on the streets of Koumassi-Sicogi, the industrial heartland of the region.
According to French publication Le Monde, Bailly ended his studies at 14 and is said to have become the manager of a telephone box. He earned a pittance, emptying out the change each day before travelling to trials as he pursued his dream of becoming a footballer.
His father worked as a teacher and his mother in a clothes shop. ‘Eric wasn’t going hungry,’ a source close to the family says. ‘His dad had an OK job but you don’t eat much as a kid in sub-Saharan Africa. He had the minimum conditions to get by but he and his siblings are a humble family.’
Bailly was taken on by a youth centre, Abia Stars. It was there that Bailly was discovered by a Spanish talent agency, Promoesport, who were scouring Africa for young prospects. David Comamala, the head of the project, explains: ‘We sensed an opportunity in central Africa, scouting talent in eight countries.
‘We first saw Eric in 2009 in Abidjan. He was playing in this small club with barely any infrastructure. The fields were pitches only by name and conditions were really poor. It was barely a team. The coach was just a guy from the area who had a few training tops and a ball. No proper goals, just a square or a muddy ground.
‘Physically, Eric was stick-thin but from the first moment, he stood out for his height, his pace, his courage and his talent. He was doing rare things for a kid in Africa.
‘The second time I saw Eric, I started talking with the club to buy his economic rights. We were sure we wanted him. After six or seven months scouting in the region, we set up a training camp. We had 40 or 50 kids in Burkina Faso. The idea is we invite sporting directors and scouts along from major European clubs for a week.
- Eric Bailly received interest from a number of Europe's elite clubs
- He settled on Manchester United after a phone call from Jose Mourinho
- At 22, the defender has adapted to life in Manchester very quickly
- David de Gea has spoken of how easily Bailly has embraced life in England
- When he was 14 and studying he became the manager of a phone box
It is the beginning of June and in the south-east of Spain, Eric Bailly has received a phone call. The Ivorian defender, then of Spanish club Villarreal, knows that he has significant interest from Manchester United, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.
But when he picks up the call, the rasping voice at the other end still comes as a major surprise.
‘It was Jose Mourinho,’ explains Bailly’s best friend and former Espanyol team-mate Joan Jordan. ‘It was out of the blue. It meant a huge amount. Eric called me up all excited.
‘He was saying, “How can I say no when Mourinho calls me?” Mourinho spoke in French, Eric’s mother tongue, and explained exactly what his role would be and what his plan was for United. Mourinho’s phone call was a big intervention.’
Bailly was not on United’s radar under Louis van Gaal but Mourinho acted decisively to make the defender his first signing — in a £30million deal from Villarreal — within two weeks of taking over.
Just 22, Bailly has rapidly adapted at United, being named the club’s man of the match in three of his opening four games, ousting Chris Smalling from the starting XI and winning United’s player-of-the-month award for August.
Talking to Sportsmail over the past week, United goalkeeper David de Gea described Bailly as a powerhouse and gave the impression that the African has made an instant impact on the dressing room.
‘Oof, a great signing,’ said De Gea. ‘Eric’s come in and surprised us all very quickly. I remember when I first came to England and, trust me, it can be hard early on but he’s flying.
‘He is physical, strong, technically confident and super-fast. He only speaks a little English but we have lots of Spaniards in the dressing room and Paul Pogba speaks French of course.
‘He’s a big presence and when I stand in the tunnel and look behind me, he is one of the new big, powerful players along with Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic that gives us real presence and stature this season.’
Bailly’s most significant test yet will arrive this weekend against Manchester City. His rise, however, becomes all the more extraordinary when we learn that only four years ago, he hadn’t even played a real competitive game of 11-a-side football.
Bailly was born in the south of Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, in April 1994. As a child, he would play football after school on the streets of Koumassi-Sicogi, the industrial heartland of the region.
According to French publication Le Monde, Bailly ended his studies at 14 and is said to have become the manager of a telephone box. He earned a pittance, emptying out the change each day before travelling to trials as he pursued his dream of becoming a footballer.
His father worked as a teacher and his mother in a clothes shop. ‘Eric wasn’t going hungry,’ a source close to the family says. ‘His dad had an OK job but you don’t eat much as a kid in sub-Saharan Africa. He had the minimum conditions to get by but he and his siblings are a humble family.’
Bailly was taken on by a youth centre, Abia Stars. It was there that Bailly was discovered by a Spanish talent agency, Promoesport, who were scouring Africa for young prospects. David Comamala, the head of the project, explains: ‘We sensed an opportunity in central Africa, scouting talent in eight countries.
‘We first saw Eric in 2009 in Abidjan. He was playing in this small club with barely any infrastructure. The fields were pitches only by name and conditions were really poor. It was barely a team. The coach was just a guy from the area who had a few training tops and a ball. No proper goals, just a square or a muddy ground.
‘Physically, Eric was stick-thin but from the first moment, he stood out for his height, his pace, his courage and his talent. He was doing rare things for a kid in Africa.
‘The second time I saw Eric, I started talking with the club to buy his economic rights. We were sure we wanted him. After six or seven months scouting in the region, we set up a training camp. We had 40 or 50 kids in Burkina Faso. The idea is we invite sporting directors and scouts along from major European clubs for a week.
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‘In November 2009, Sevilla, Espanyol, Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach and Juventus were all there. Eric demonstrated his quality. Juventus were first in and wanted to take him to Italy. However, they had limited places for non-EU nationals and it became too difficult. Espanyol then came in and we sorted it.’
The trials themselves became fiercely competitive, a once-in-a-lifetime, X Factor-style audition with the promise of changing lives for ever.
‘It’s huge for them,’ Comamala admits. ‘Of those 40 kids, just eight or 10 will have the potential to make it. For 20 or so, it’s almost impossible for them to get a deal but they serve to provide a platform for the big prospects. But it’s healthy — we organise and pay for everything — hotels, food, equipment, flights.’
For the agency, it then became a struggle to prise Bailly away from his youth club. ‘The coaches there have their little centres, with good intentions but little means. But then they see Westerners coming and sense the money and big contracts.
‘They have a vision of European football that is Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, Manchester United and lots of money. But it’s hard to persuade clubs to take African teenagers with little tactical background, who sometimes can’t play for a while once they arrive due to regulations.’
After three months of negotiations between the club and the agency, a deal was struck worth £14,500, in addition to bonuses when Bailly played in La Liga and a tiny percentage of his next transfer.
For Bailly a world of opportunity awaited.
Young Eric’s adventure was only just beginning but upon arriving in Spain, it was fraught with challenges. Aged 16, he would not play competitive games for two years due to issues with paperwork and regulations surrounding non-EU nationals in Spain.
‘Straight away, you could see someone unique,’ says Joan Jordan, his room-mate in the Espanyol academy. ‘But, damn, things were hard for him.
He came alone, no family, no money, no Spanish. I consider him like a brother. He spent loads of time round at my house with my parents. They really helped him and took care of him. We made sure he didn’t go without anything.’
The agency also made substantial investments. ‘He was a youth player so there was no salary,’ Comamala adds. ‘We gave him pocket money and looked after him.’
At Espanyol, his big break came in the summer of 2014. The reserve-team coach Sergio Gonzalez, the former Spain midfielder, was promoted to the first team.
‘We needed a fourth defender and I said, “I know Eric and he will be fine”,’ says Gonzalez.
‘He has amazing qualities. He started training with the first team and became hard to ignore. No strikers wanted to be against him. They’d ask me to go against someone else. He’s on top of you, intense, breathing down your neck, nicking in.
‘He played at Barcelona in his third start. We were 1-0 up at half-time and he had played Messi out of the game. We lost but that was when I knew he was seriously special.
‘Remember, he’d had no tactical training in Africa — he was incredibly raw. He needed to learn when to step out, how to manage a defensive line, play offside, all those things.
‘We worked hard on videos, sitting with him and his defensive team-mates for hours. Sometimes I used other defenders to emphasise a point: Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, but mostly his own performances.
‘He did everything to improve. I see similarities with Rio Ferdinand. Eric can really play. You get most players who turn up, train, go home. He’d be knocking on my door, asking for more videos, asking the fitness coaches for more tips.’
Bailly bought a home for his parents in Ivory Coast after earning enough money and his country quickly came calling. In his fourth senior game, at Rayo Vallecano, scouts turned up and he impressed sufficiently to make the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.
After impressive performances at the tournament — including a penalty scored in the shootout victory over Ghana in the final — he was signed by Villarreal. Not everyone has always been convinced by Bailly’s talents but former Villarreal boss Marcelino had no doubts.
‘We played Real Madrid last season and had injury problems,’ said Marcelino. ‘I put him at right back against Cristiano Ronaldo and we won 1-0. My thinking was he’s fast over short distances, brave, mature and without any knowledge of the position, he marked Ronaldo out of the game. Amazing.
‘He has everything. Speed, agility, co-ordination, technical talent, decision-making, he can scrap, he can fight, he heads, he passes, he whacks it when he needs to. He will be one of the best five defenders in the world. No doubt.’
At United, that certainly appears to be the consensus. Bailly is living in the Lowry Hotel but searching for a house with his partner Vanessa, whom he married this summer. Local reports claim they met when she came to use his phone box all those years ago.
‘It’s amazing to see him now,’ coach Gonzalez grins. ‘As a person, he was always an introvert. He could be a bit scared to ask questions. Four years ago, he couldn’t even play in Spain. Now he’s doing cool handshakes with Pogba after games, hugging Zlatan and playing for one of the world’s best managers!’
Article here.
The trials themselves became fiercely competitive, a once-in-a-lifetime, X Factor-style audition with the promise of changing lives for ever.
‘It’s huge for them,’ Comamala admits. ‘Of those 40 kids, just eight or 10 will have the potential to make it. For 20 or so, it’s almost impossible for them to get a deal but they serve to provide a platform for the big prospects. But it’s healthy — we organise and pay for everything — hotels, food, equipment, flights.’
For the agency, it then became a struggle to prise Bailly away from his youth club. ‘The coaches there have their little centres, with good intentions but little means. But then they see Westerners coming and sense the money and big contracts.
‘They have a vision of European football that is Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, Manchester United and lots of money. But it’s hard to persuade clubs to take African teenagers with little tactical background, who sometimes can’t play for a while once they arrive due to regulations.’
After three months of negotiations between the club and the agency, a deal was struck worth £14,500, in addition to bonuses when Bailly played in La Liga and a tiny percentage of his next transfer.
For Bailly a world of opportunity awaited.
Young Eric’s adventure was only just beginning but upon arriving in Spain, it was fraught with challenges. Aged 16, he would not play competitive games for two years due to issues with paperwork and regulations surrounding non-EU nationals in Spain.
‘Straight away, you could see someone unique,’ says Joan Jordan, his room-mate in the Espanyol academy. ‘But, damn, things were hard for him.
He came alone, no family, no money, no Spanish. I consider him like a brother. He spent loads of time round at my house with my parents. They really helped him and took care of him. We made sure he didn’t go without anything.’
The agency also made substantial investments. ‘He was a youth player so there was no salary,’ Comamala adds. ‘We gave him pocket money and looked after him.’
At Espanyol, his big break came in the summer of 2014. The reserve-team coach Sergio Gonzalez, the former Spain midfielder, was promoted to the first team.
‘We needed a fourth defender and I said, “I know Eric and he will be fine”,’ says Gonzalez.
‘He has amazing qualities. He started training with the first team and became hard to ignore. No strikers wanted to be against him. They’d ask me to go against someone else. He’s on top of you, intense, breathing down your neck, nicking in.
‘He played at Barcelona in his third start. We were 1-0 up at half-time and he had played Messi out of the game. We lost but that was when I knew he was seriously special.
‘Remember, he’d had no tactical training in Africa — he was incredibly raw. He needed to learn when to step out, how to manage a defensive line, play offside, all those things.
‘We worked hard on videos, sitting with him and his defensive team-mates for hours. Sometimes I used other defenders to emphasise a point: Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, but mostly his own performances.
‘He did everything to improve. I see similarities with Rio Ferdinand. Eric can really play. You get most players who turn up, train, go home. He’d be knocking on my door, asking for more videos, asking the fitness coaches for more tips.’
Bailly bought a home for his parents in Ivory Coast after earning enough money and his country quickly came calling. In his fourth senior game, at Rayo Vallecano, scouts turned up and he impressed sufficiently to make the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.
After impressive performances at the tournament — including a penalty scored in the shootout victory over Ghana in the final — he was signed by Villarreal. Not everyone has always been convinced by Bailly’s talents but former Villarreal boss Marcelino had no doubts.
‘We played Real Madrid last season and had injury problems,’ said Marcelino. ‘I put him at right back against Cristiano Ronaldo and we won 1-0. My thinking was he’s fast over short distances, brave, mature and without any knowledge of the position, he marked Ronaldo out of the game. Amazing.
‘He has everything. Speed, agility, co-ordination, technical talent, decision-making, he can scrap, he can fight, he heads, he passes, he whacks it when he needs to. He will be one of the best five defenders in the world. No doubt.’
At United, that certainly appears to be the consensus. Bailly is living in the Lowry Hotel but searching for a house with his partner Vanessa, whom he married this summer. Local reports claim they met when she came to use his phone box all those years ago.
‘It’s amazing to see him now,’ coach Gonzalez grins. ‘As a person, he was always an introvert. He could be a bit scared to ask questions. Four years ago, he couldn’t even play in Spain. Now he’s doing cool handshakes with Pogba after games, hugging Zlatan and playing for one of the world’s best managers!’
Article here.
Signing of the summer for us, an absolute beast. Is there anyone in the league that can outpace this guy, made Aubemyang's pace look average.
He was born to play. Early days still.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
What a life story. How on earth did he manage to become so skillful? A natural with a humble yet wacky personality. Everything combined he is quickly becoming my favorite player.
Absolutely love this guy. Combination of Rio's pace and ball-playing ability and Vidic's physicality and aerial prowess. Doesn't have a single weakness to his game.
Aye, all that at 22 years of age and with 5 years of 11-a-side football experience. Think how much he can still improve with Jose…
This guy really has no weakness
Pace - check
Height - check
Tackling - check
Positioning - check
Aerial ability - Check
Comfortable on the ball - check
Young age - check
I also like how he doesn't just look to clear thoughtlessly but dribbles past attackers and then passes it to a teammate keeping the move flowing. Love him.
Will be a top 5 CB in the world in a season or two. The only attribute he lacks is the one that everyone gets with time, experience.
His heading left something to be desired at Villareal, but he seems to have sorted that out as well. Immense prospect.
His heading left something to be desired at Villareal, but he seems to have sorted that out as well. Immense prospect.
I can't believe he's 22 to be honest. Add in the fact he hadn't even really been coached properly until he's 16 it's bonkers
He looks much more complete, like he's 27.
He looks much more complete, like he's 27.
I can't believe he's 22 to be honest. Add in the fact he hadn't even really been coached properly until he's 16 it's bonkers
He looks much more complete, like he's 27.
Cue the 'he's older than he is officially Coz he is African' jokes
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