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Eric Bailly Ivory Coast flag

2020-21 Performances


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6.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
21
Clean sheets
9
Goals
0
Assists
1
Yellow cards
4
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Good game, but he will absolutely see Victor take his place next week because he is the manager's darling.
I’m not sure how this can be considered such a good game. Had Victor done all those mistakes and poor efforts, he’d been slaughtered. That’s the usual double standard, which makes talking about “darling” in this context a bit ironic.
 
Love the if you ignore his first 10 minutes excuses. Going to use that for Lindelof next time and pick a specific 10 minutes to excuse him from any seriously poor play.

Harry Maguire had to sprint back to cover him and stop Isak. But yeah tell me more about his outstanding performance.
 
Awful first circa 20 minutes, much more assured after that.

Love Bailly but there’s no way he should be a regular starter. You expect and need consistency from a CB maybe more than in any other position on the pitch, which is problematic seeing as he’s prone to a 8/9 out of 10 one week and then a 2/3 out of 10 the next.
Tbh I think this “he’s either a 2/10 or a 9/10” is a little exaggerated even though there is a bit of that tendency. He had a 3/10 vs Spurs and also a lot of mistakes today, and he had an 8/10 vs Aston Villa. But most games have really been 5-7/10, just like most players.
 
I’m not sure how this can be considered such a good game. Had Victor done all those mistakes and poor efforts, he’d been slaughtered. That’s the usual double standard, which makes talking about “darling” in this context a bit ironic.
He has the pace to recover/ Lindeioff doesn't. that is why Victor and Maguire can never work. they are both miles better alongside a Bailly type
 
I prefer him making an error and actually impacting on game positivity on the front foot than watching Lindelöf was makes less glaring but as many errors through being weak and passive.
Why are you mentioning Lindelof in my Bailly post :confused:
 
I’m not sure how this can be considered such a good game. Had Victor done all those mistakes and poor efforts, he’d been slaughtered. That’s the usual double standard, which makes talking about “darling” in this context a bit ironic.
You know short of Bailly putting the ball into his own net and getting sent off, he was going to be praised regardless of what he did. You can criticize Lindelof for we can telling AWB where he needs to stand, but you breeze past Bailly gifting them opportunities from poor pieces of defending. It was inevitable.
 
Tbh I think this “he’s either a 2/10 or a 9/10” is a little exaggerated even though there is a bit of that tendency. He had a 3/10 vs Spurs and also a lot of mistakes today, and he had an 8/10 vs Aston Villa. But most games have really been 5-7/10, just like most players.

Yeah, that was a bit hyperbolic to be fair. Overall point is that he’s simply too inconsistent to be a regular. At his best I’d put him at least on par with McGuire, but at his worst he’s down there with Phil Jones as our weakest CB.
 
You know short of Bailly putting the ball into his own net and getting sent off, he was going to be praised regardless of what he did. You can criticize Lindelof for we can telling AWB where he needs to stand, but you breeze past Bailly gifting them opportunities from poor pieces of defending. It was inevitable.
Even then people would call it a good finish or praise his passion and aggression for defending on the front foot
 
Well played :) although they do at least play for the same side like ;)
One can and often does, replace the other.
I know, I was just being facetious. :D

Back to your actual post, I've no problem with anyone holding that position. There's merit and there's logic in it. The issue I have is that the weaknesses of one player is amplified, while the other is brushed over. We both know if Lindelof put in an identical performance, where he made the same high profile mistakes, they wouldn't be brushed aside.
 
Every CB makes mistakes at some point, the difference is their overall positives should outweigh the negatives.

It is no coincidence that our form and the solidity of our defence improves when Baily is playing.

As a partnership, he is just a better option for Maguire.
 
Yeah, that was a bit hyperbolic to be fair. Overall point is that he’s simply too inconsistent to be a regular. At his best I’d put him at least on par with McGuire, but at his worst he’s down there with Phil Jones as our weakest CB.
As others have pointed out, all our cb options are flawed

I would give bailly a run of games if he can stay git because his pace allows us to play firther up the pitch and gives us more of a balanced pairing in defence. Feels like teams have really been going after lindelof and maguire in recent games, exposing their lack of pace and lindelofs weakness
 
Even then people would call it a good finish or praise his passion and aggression for defending on the front foot
Yup. The thing is, I don't really have a problem with Bailly. I just always end up taking a contrarian position because the standards held for the compared players are never fair.
 
You know short of Bailly putting the ball into his own net and getting sent off, he was going to be praised regardless of what he did. You can criticize Lindelof for we can telling AWB where he needs to stand, but you breeze past Bailly gifting them opportunities from poor pieces of defending. It was inevitable.

He didn't gift them any goals from poor or weak defending though.
 
It’s personal preference though I guess, both are far from perfect but I just feel we’re a better balanced and more aggressive side with the nutter in there.
Its the balance of the center pairing. It allows us to play higher and allows them to play to their strengths, the likes of Maguire and Lindeloff excel at mopping up and intercepting. they don't excel at being agressive and front foot defending
 
Yup. The thing is, I don't really have a problem with Bailly. I just always end up taking a contrarian position because the standards held for the compared players are never fair.
Same here.

I like Bailly and I like Lindelof but I cannot stand how Bailly is allowed to make serious defensive errors and it’s brushed aside as “just Bailly things” or he always makes one mistake but it’s ok.

He made two horrible errors within the first 10 minutes of today’s game but nobody wants to acknowledge and analyse that within minute details such as still frame or wide angles showing how he was at fault.

Harry Maguire had to use his recovery space to track Isak who was Bailly’s man. Harry Maguire outsprinted and made the last ditch tackle but tell us all how Bailly’s pace gets Maguire off the hook.

His outstanding bit of play was his pass at the end which was really good the rest was either worrying or stuff you’d expect him to deal with. Really not an outstanding performance.
 
Bit of a surprise when him and Maguire had a foot race with the Swedish lad and it was Harry that made the tackle.

Definitely! I think it speaks to Bailly not being 100% match fit/ready. Give it a game or two and he'll be back at full speed.
 
Same here.

I like Bailly and I like Lindelof but I cannot stand how Bailly is allowed to make serious defensive errors and it’s brushed aside as “just Bailly things” or he always makes one mistake but it’s ok.

He made two horrible errors within the first 10 minutes of today’s game but nobody wants to acknowledge and analyse that within minute details such as still frame or wide angles showing how he was at fault.

Harry Maguire had to use his recovery space to track Isak who was Bailly’s man. Harry Maguire outsprinted and made the last ditch tackle but tell us all how Bailly’s pace gets Maguire off the hook.

His outstanding bit of play was his pass at the end which was really good the rest was either worrying or stuff you’d expect him to deal with. Really not an outstanding performance.
Genuinely, I have had another poster just quote me in the 'Our defence - Has it actually been fixed' thread to use this as an example of good defending from Bailly.
 
Same here.

I like Bailly and I like Lindelof but I cannot stand how Bailly is allowed to make serious defensive errors and it’s brushed aside as “just Bailly things” or he always makes one mistake but it’s ok.

He made two horrible errors within the first 10 minutes of today’s game but nobody wants to acknowledge and analyse that within minute details such as still frame or wide angles showing how he was at fault.

Harry Maguire had to use his recovery space to track Isak who was Bailly’s man. Harry Maguire outsprinted and made the last ditch tackle but tell us all how Bailly’s pace gets Maguire off the hook.

His outstanding bit of play was his pass at the end which was really good the rest was either worrying or stuff you’d expect him to deal with. Really not an outstanding performance.

Good post. Agree with the points you make and it definitely wasn’t an outstanding performance. He was decent though. I just wish he’d cut out the brain farts. It’s not a lack of ability. Just lack of concentration.
 
He has the pace to recover/ Lindeioff doesn't. that is why Victor and Maguire can never work. they are both miles better alongside a Bailly type

He has pace but reacts a bit slowly to danger / makes wrong decisions, which is why he struggled so much with the pacey forwards in first half. Maguire had to make a sprint and save him, not the opposite.

We have hardly conceded any goals this season because Maguire was slow and Lindelof was too slow to cover.


You know short of Bailly putting the ball into his own net and getting sent off, he was going to be praised regardless of what he did. You can criticize Lindelof for we can telling AWB where he needs to stand, but you breeze past Bailly gifting them opportunities from poor pieces of defending. It was inevitable.
Yes that’s how it is. ,Lindelof has become some sort of hate object lately and they are obviously measured by different standards. If Victor had played like this tonight he’d been considered a 4/10.


Its the balance of the center pairing. It allows us to play higher and allows them to play to their strengths, the likes of Maguire and Lindeloff excel at mopping up and intercepting. they don't excel at being agressive and front foot defending
At the start we played a restively high line, but that was also when Bailly struggled with their pace and gave away the ball at slightest pressure. After our first goal we played a pretty low line and went for counters.
 
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I’m not sure how this can be considered such a good game. Had Victor done all those mistakes and poor efforts, he’d been slaughtered. That’s the usual double standard, which makes talking about “darling” in this context a bit ironic.
I'm struggling to remember any mistakes he made ( I missed first 5 minutes though), on the run when Maguire got in a toe to disposess the player, Bailly would have almost certainly got a tackle in if the ball was still on his side.
It was nice to see both CB's working together.
 
I’m not sure how this can be considered such a good game. Had Victor done all those mistakes and poor efforts, he’d been slaughtered. That’s the usual double standard, which makes talking about “darling” in this context a bit ironic.

Maybe I'm wrong but we tend to concede from Victor's mistakes as they usually take place very close to the goal. Bailly's most frequent mistake seems to be getting caught in posession 40 yards up the pitch.
 
Isn’t Isak supposed to be very fast? Bailly destroyed him for pace!
Bailly was awful for the first 10, but one might put that down to being rusty. After that he was very good!
 
Yes that’s how it is. ,Lindelof has become some sort of hate object lately and they are obviously measured by different standards. If Victor had played like this tonight he’d been considered a 4/10.
If that was Lindelof, then it would be used as an example of why Bailly should start ahead of him. It writes itself:

'Nice pass at the end there but another typical performance. Giving the ball away in dangerous areas and being weak in the challenge. At one point he gets turned by Isak and has to rely on the pace of Maguire, of all players, to save him.'

 
A bit erratic. Presented Januzaj with early opportunity that just missed. Better in the air than usual.
 
I'm struggling to remember any mistakes he made ( I missed first 5 minutes though), on the run when Maguire got in a toe to disposess the player, Bailly would have almost certainly got a tackle in if the ball was still on his side.
It was nice to see both CB's working together.
1st minute: They put a tiny bit of pressure on Bailly who gave away the ball as last defender. Almost conceded.
2nd minute: Missed and interception and could t keep up with Aidan who ran straight through.
23rd minute:fooled/dribbled by Isak and then struggled to keep up, saved by Maguire

Those were the biggest failures imo. Smaller ones:
33rd minute Missed a clearance in the box and the ball went passed him.
37 min pass/low cross in the box between his legs


Maybe I'm wrong but we tend to concede from Victor's mistakes as they usually take place very close to goal.
I don’t think we have conceded many goals from Victors mistakes. At least not more than from anybody else’s mistakes.
Edit: can add that I actually think Baillys weakness is in our box.
 
This thread is a bit mad. The Lindelof stans going at it against the Bailly bois
 
When Bailly messes up, half the time his pace allows him to make up for it. Not the case with Lindelof (or Maguire for that matter). I also don't feel as nervous on free kicks and corners into the box. Would be curious to see some stats on this last point. My opinion may not be grounded in fact.
 
Love the if you ignore his first 10 minutes excuses. Going to use that for Lindelof next time and pick a specific 10 minutes to excuse him from any seriously poor play.

Harry Maguire had to sprint back to cover him and stop Isak. But yeah tell me more about his outstanding performance.

Hes an aggressive defender instead of a reactive one like Lindelof (and Maguire). Hes more prone to mistakes, but hes also more likely to snuff out attacks well before the other two.

Bailly + Maguire/Lindelof is a better pairing than Maguire+Lindelof
 
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