Eric Bailly made his first Premier League start since February at the weekend against Tottenham.
It was his first league start at Old Trafford since April 2019.
With the result ending in a shocking 6-1 home loss, it might be a while before Bailly gets another.
But it would be unfair to pin the blame on Bailly for the performance.
Wrong time to bring him in?
Bailly should have started the season against Palace in place of Victor Lindelof, who ended last season poorly.
Putting Bailly in for his first start in months against the team bossed by the manager who signed him for United, was not putting him in the best position to succeed.
United’s defensive problems were not unique to this game. Even a week earlier with Lindelof in defence, United were fortunate not to ship six away at Brighton, with the Seagulls scoring twice and hitting the woodwork five times.
Defence in disarray
United threw Bailly into a dysfunctional defence and cannot blame him for it not working. The problems lie deeper.
Bailly was arguably at fault for the third goal, giving the ball away when trying to play it out of defence.
This one is on the coaching staff as much as it is Bailly. If this is not one of his strengths, he should not be being instructed to do so, against a team determined to press high up the pitch.
By time the third goal went in, United were already in disarray due to defensive errors.
Harry Maguire was at fault for Tottenham’s first goal, after wiping out Luke Shaw when he was positioned to clear his errant header.
Maguire then failed to stop Spurs taking a free-kick quickly, leaving Bailly isolated in central defence for the second.
Woeful positioning from the full-backs, particularly Luke Shaw, contributed to Tottenham’s fourth and fifth goals, with the sixth coming from the penalty spot.
Bailly did not cover himself in glory with his performance, but it would be wrong to single him out as the cause for United’s defeat.
There is still a decision to be made
United are still looking to find the best defensive partnership. For most of last season, this was Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire.
As good a player as Bailly is, there does not appear to be an understanding yet between himself and Maguire. This defeat won’t help.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may deduce from this that having a partnership who know and trust each other, Lindelof and Maguire, is of the utmost importance right now.
At times on Sunday, Maguire and Bailly looked like strangers who had not played together before.
It could be that dropping Maguire is the answer. Lindelof and Bailly have partnered each other before and kept clean sheets, doing so days earlier against Brighton in the cup – with the Ivorian one of the best players on the pitch.
Solskjaer though is likely to stick with his captain, and Bailly made a defensive scapegoat, dropped to the bench, with Lindelof coming back in.
This may be the right decision to get United back on track, to go back to a partnership which largely succeeded last season.
But Bailly should not be discarded altogether and made to wait another six months before his next league start.
Axel Tuanzebe’s return to fitness certainly complicates matters for Bailly, but United should be open minded enough to consider that together, the pair could form a strong partnership themselves – one even capable of displacing Maguire and Lindelof.
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