ERIC BAILLY SHINES ON UNITED LEAGUE DEBUT
Eric Bailly marked his Premier League debut for Manchester United with a superb Man-of-the-Match performance in the Reds' 3-1 win at Bournemouth in the opening game of the season.
Making his second consecutive appearance following his summer move from Villarreal, Bailly looked at home during a combative display alongside Daley Blind in the Reds' backline.
The Ivory Coast international was solid throughout and nullified the threat of Bournemouth’s star man Callum Wilson to be named United's star man for the second game running, following his top-drawer display in last week’s Community Shield victory against Leicester City.
Bailly won all five of his aerial duels at the Vitality Stadium and won back possession for the Reds nine times throughout the game, earning praise from his manager Jose Mourinho.
"When you buy someone like him, we always have a question mark, which is the way the personality adapts to a completely different situation than before," the boss said. "Playing in Spain is different to playing in England, playing for Villarreal is different to playing for United, playing to finish fourth, fifth or sixth in the table is different to playing to win it [the title], but he's showing big personality, which is incredible.
"He was injured against Leicester but never said anything and played 90 minutes. The next day he couldn't train and he trained yesterday [Saturday] with the team for the first time. He didn't train all week because of the [injury] problem. We were lucky, though, because he did amazing work with one physio and one of my fitness coaches and he was able to make another performance.
"To be surrounded by organisation makes life easier – the team was very solid and compact; he had Valencia on his right, Blind on his left and Marouane and Herrera in front of him to create a habitat of stability. But the reality is he's strong and showing great qualities."
Skipper Wayne Rooney also paid tribute to his team-mate’s fine league debut, saying: "In the last two games he has been fantastic. He’s still a young lad, so it’s important we don’t expect too much, too soon.
"But he’s certainly started the season well and hopefully that continues because if he carries on playing like that, he’ll be a great asset for us."
Bailly was voted Man of the Match by United fans on Twitter, picking up 77% of the votes to finish ahead of Antonio Valencia (14%) and Marouane Fellaini (9%).
@offsideLiam tweeted: "Eric Bailly’s easily been the most impressive summer signing so far. Brilliant composure, a brute force and has authority over the defence."
@Bruxinho33 added: "Really really like what I've seen from Eric Bailly so far. Loves a tackle, hard as nails but so composed and intelligent on the ball."
Code:
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2016/Aug/eric-bailly-wins-man-of-the-match-bournemouth-v-manchester-united.aspx