Bailly earns praise as he gets to used to Manchester United life

"It's a huge club with some of the best players, so training is always going to be tough," says Manchester United defender Eric Bailly when it's put to him that he trains with the same commitment as he plays. "It's important for younger players like myself to show the coach what I can do every day. He's experienced, I'm not. He knows what to look for so I must show him that I'm ready to play for him."

Ivory Coast international Bailly has other reasons for training in a way similar to Patrice Evra when the Frenchman arrived at the club a decade ago; Evra's tackles raised teammates' eyebrows - and their legs to avoid them.


"It's important for the other players to have confidence in you," Bailly explains. "It was my dream since being a child to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world and now I'm here, I'm going to take that chance. From when I heard United were interested in me, I've been very happy. Manchester as a city is tranquil, very different to Barcelona, but it's a good place to be a footballer. The people have been very friendly with me, the players too. There are players who speak Spanish and French and they help me integrate. I've just started having English classes, too. Little by little!"

Bailly has most impressed on the pitch during games and has been one of United's best players so far this season, which is his first outside Spanish football after he was at Villarreal and, before that, Espanyol.

"Spanish football is more tactical and technical; English is more direct and physical," he says. "I'm working hard to adapt because it's not easy, but I'm satisfied with my progress."

Though barely known to most United fans in June when he arrived for £30 million, the 22-year-old has played every minute of every game so far, with the exception of the EFL Cup match at third-tier Northampton Town.

His competitive debut came in the Community Shield victory against Leicester City at Wembley, where he won the man-of-the-match award and announced his presence in English football.
"That debut was my highlight of my time in England so far," says Bailly. "To beat the champions at Wembley in my first game and play well, that felt special. We won a trophy that day and my aim is to help the team win the league title this season. It's difficult, but possible."
United are currently sixth in the Premier League and, if doubts have been raised about some individual players, Bailly is not one of them.

"The thing that stands out is the commitment he has," says former United defender Gary Pallister. "He doesn't shirk a challenge; he's a bit old fashioned in the way that he loves a tackle. He hits opponents in a tackle and wants to let them know that he's there. He doesn't want to hurt them, but let them know that he's up for the battle early on in the game. He's dominant in the air, he's physical, he's quick, he's aggressive. He has all the things that I'd look for in a centre half to play alongside, a player with similar qualities to my old partner Steve Bruce or, in later years, Nemanja Vidic.

"My only concerns are that he's a little bit rash at times," continues Pallister. "He goes into challenges where you think 'maybe he should just hold off a little bit and shadow the player away' but he's so committed that he just sees the ball and wants to win it all of the time, which isn't a bad trait. The problem is that when you tackle like that you're sometimes in danger of being sent off."

Bailly's all-action style has not been to his detriment yet -- after being booked at Wembley, he has picked up just two more yellow cards in nine games -- but defending has changed in recent years.
"Barcelona are the best example; midfielders play as centre-backs," ex-United captain Nemanja Vidic recently told this writer. "Even at United, Daley Blind and Michael Carrick play as defenders. Left-backs can play as central defenders. That wouldn't happen before. Is the game changing or are there not enough defenders? I'm not sure. Do we want defenders anymore? Some managers don't know what they want. I know what I like: defenders to defend. Defenders bring balance to a team and too many non-defenders can lose that."
Pallister agrees.

"We talk about goalkeepers being sweepers now which I find crazy, but then Pep Guardiola has had unbelievable success. For me, I wanted to play alongside a centre-back, who was foremost a defender and who wanted to stop goals going in. I wanted my full-back alongside me to be a defender. If you got anything after that it was a bonus. I played alongside Denis Irwin, who was terrific at both defending and attacking."

Blind and Chris Smalling have partnered Bailly in central defence so far this season. Blind reads the game better than anyone at the club, but United manager Jose Mourinho usually likes his central defenders to be strong and aggressive. He still wants to bring in another player for that position.
"I understand that's it's more of a squad-based game than when I played and there will be changes," says Pallister. "But you should know what your best central defensive partnership is and that, in your big games, they're going to play. You don't want to be conceding goals; you want to be hard to beat. So for the big European games or Premier League games against the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City, you want your strongest partnership there."

Next up for United in the league are trips to Liverpool and Chelsea in a six-day period. They will be two more severe tests for Bailly, who has passed every one he has faced so far.

-ESPN