Here at Stretford End it’s time to review how each Manchester United player fared during the 2018-19 season. Over the course of the season, some players performed better than others. But undoubtedly, a few were more consistent than others. And it’s time to take a look at an individual analysis for each and every single player that saw regular (or semi-regular) action within the first team during the current term.
We began the series taking a look at David De Gea and we also checked on Victor Lindelof. Now it’s time to analyse another member of our defence in Eric Bailly.
What do the numbers say?
Eric Bailly’s second season with Manchester United was… underwhelming, to say the least. The Ivory Coast international began the year as a regular starter at the back, and even scored a goal against Swansea in one of the first matches of the Premier League campaign. But a nagging injury forced him to miss several games and when he returned, he was not the same player. Or put it in another words – he never looked like the player that appeared to be a future cornerstone on defence roughly a few months ago.
To make things even more complicated, he barely played down the stretch since Jose Mourinho said he wanted to “boost” the chances of his players that were going to play in the 2018 World Cup… and Ivory Coast did not qualify for the tournament. As such, Bailly and Mourinho stopped seeing eye to eye and there were rumours of him wanting to leave the club this summer.
Overall, Bailly played only 18 times for the club this season, with 13 of those coming in the Premier League (11 starts). He accounted for one goal and three yellow cards across all competitions.
Was he an important player for the club?
As sad as it sounds, no. Bailly looked like his old self during the first half of the season, but he wasn’t able to repeat that after returning from injury. Although he had some decent displays – like the one in the comeback 3-2 win over Manchester City – he looked a bit out of place at times. But those problems could have been due to United’s struggles as well.
His overall production this season was not up to the standards required. And his role for the 2018-19 season remains to be seen, especially considering the depth at the position and the possible new arrivals during the transfer market.
Projection for the 2018-19 season
Most fans would believe that Bailly will remain with the club during the upcoming season. However, there has been talk of a potential exit for the Ivorian defender. At the very least, he made it clear that he would look for a new team elsewhere if he didn’t have enough playing time in the upcoming season.
We will see if Manchester United opt to cash in on the former Villarreal defender. The upcoming transfer period will be decisive to determine his future at Old Trafford.
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