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Eric Bailly chose United over City for a ‘Mouronhic’ reason

By Ben Kupiszewski

SHANGHAI, CHINA - JULY 21: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Manager Jose Mourinho and Eric Bailly of Manchester United in action during a first team training session as part of their pre-season tour of China at Century Park on July 21, 2016 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - JULY 21: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Manager Jose Mourinho and Eric Bailly of Manchester United in action during a first team training session as part of their pre-season tour of China at Century Park on July 21, 2016 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) /
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Eric Bailly’s career decision to pick the Reds over the Blues, especially the Ivorian’s reasoning behind it, leaves a lot to be desired.

Amidst all the Manchester club transfer drama about Paul Pogba, Leroy Sané, Gabriel Jesus and John Stones, Eric Bailly’s June signing with Manchester United might seem long gone and low key compared to the present fanfare. Bailly, whose played well for Villareal the previous season, decided to move to Old Trafford instead of the Etihad. That’s frustrating enough, but it happens; it’s his justification for it that infuriatingly doesn’t pass muster.

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He recently blathered to The Sun:

"I signed for United because I like Mourinho, as simple as that. I wanted to play for someone who works very hard. I didn’t speak to Pep Guardiola but the “second” manager called me and Mourinho called me as well.He said come and play for me. I prefer Mourinho, in part because of Didier Drogba, who Mourinho worked with.I have played with Didier in the Ivory Coast, he is a friend and he told me, “Jose did this for me, Jose did that for me.”Yaya also called me and said come to City. But once Jose spoke to me and Didier gave me advice, I knew straight away I wanted to play for him."

So, let me contort my head around Bailly’s reasoning: He largely picked the Red Devils for the Devil himself, Jose Mourinho? It’s true Bailly is far from the first to fall prey to Mephistopheles’–I mean Mourinho’s buffoonish charm and thereby forfeit his soul for 30 pieces of silver £30 million that didn’t even end up lining his pocketbook but Villareal’s. Be it as it may, giving one’s self to Mourinho, regardless if Didier Drogba is whispering sweet nothings into your ear, is foolish when one considers the long run and the self-destructive tendencies of the self-appointed “special one.”

Next: Leroy Sané in Manchester to finalize move to City

Sure, success does follow the Portuguese manager at first: Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea again. But doesn’t it also go horribly wrong in the third year almost like clockwork? Just look at the mangled wreckage he left last year at Chelsea. He accumulated only 11 points in 12 games, suffered an early October exit in the League Cup and clearly lost the respect of his players. Moreover, he once dismissed Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger as “a specialist in failure” — Wenger’s tenure at the Emirates is not without its blemishes, but it’s nowhere near dismal — not to mention his “voyeur” jab a little more than a decade earlier. If all that isn’t enough to indict Mourinho as classless, let’s not forget he was at the center of that ugly ordeal with former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro which, last I heard, was being settled in court.

All of it boggles the mind. Why would you want to play for this man? The glory and riches in the first couple years of a Mourinho regime always seem long forgotten when year three comes around. Go ask Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois, Willian, Nemanja Matić, etc. Bailly, though, goes on to to mention he wants to live up to United legend Eric Cantona, presumably with Mourinho’s guiding hand.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Manager Jose Mourinho of Manchester United in action during a first team training session as part of their preseason tour of China on July 23, 2016, at Century Park in Shanghai. (Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images)
Manager Jose Mourinho of Manchester United in action during a first team training session as part of their preseason tour of China on July 23, 2016, at Century Park in Shanghai. (Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) /

Now, I’m not so much incredulous about Bailly’s potential in achieving such greatness — I’ll give him a fair shot and see how he does in the Premier League — but more so Mourinho’s treatment of the greats. Just yesterday, Mourinho reportedly has Bastian Schweinsteiger train with United’s reserves. In fairness, Schweinsteiger is far from what he used to be, but does his boss’ handling of a probable departure really inspire loyalty?

As for the question of which Manchester club is better place for a player to land right now, it’s clearly City. There’s no guarantee that this hasty rebuild of United, centered on the volatile Mourinho, will work. Winning the signature of the aging and self-absorbed Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a risky move. How will the personalities of Mourinho and Zlatan mesh together? Plus, the 34-year-old Swede is due for a regress because Father Time should catch up to him any year now. Henrikh Mkhitaryan underwhelmed for most of his time at Borussia Dortmund, so it’s uncertain if he’ll replicate last year’s sterling form. Who can also neglect that United, not content with the sink, is throwing the entire kitchen to get Pogba, who, despite his considerable abilities, is far from worth that £100 million-plus price he’s fetching to just return to the club he spurned.

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    • After missing out on the Champions League two out of the last three seasons, everything United’s front office has done is to vault the Reds into the sort of stature Alex Ferguson obtained and maintained but that now seems to quickly be falling out of reach. Look around. In Jurgen Klopp’s second year, Liverpool is likely to be much more dangerous. Tottenham seems increasingly formidable with its young, capable core. Arsenal and Chelsea will probably perform like Arsenal and Chelsea. The Premier League’s middle class has earned the right not to be underestimated of late. Contrast all this with United, who’s radiating desperation just like a nuclear reactor leaks gamma rays before a meltdown.

    City, on the other hand, secured arguably the best mind in the sport in Guardiola. Ilkay Gundogan’s arrival impresses United icon Paul Scholes more than Pogba’s expected signing with United. Despite spending enormously, Guardiola is retooling City with promising youth instead of massive egos. I’m biased, but there’s no contest about which club’s future glimmers brighter than the other.

    Yet, Bailly chose United over City because of Mourinho. If it was done on the grounds the Reds recruited him more earnestly than the Blues, fine, I can respect that. What it seems, however, Bailly prefers the ungracious man-child to the maestro, even though the record shows, discounting six draws, Mourinho – 3, Guardiola – 7.

    Well, we’ll see how he’s feeling when the margin of difference becomes a factor of three after defeats in this year’s league derbies.