Bailly just the start of Manchester United's much-needed defensive rebuild

The Cote d'Ivoire international became Jose Mourinho's first signing as the club's manager on Wednesday, and the need to make changes in defence is clear for all to see

Manchester United scored just 49 Premier League goals in the 2015-16 season, their worst return in 26 years. They also racked up an average of 58 per cent possession only to record the sixth-lowest number of shots at goal in the division. The shortcomings in both the attacking and midfield thirds were there for all to see.


But when the first signing of the Jose Mourinho era was made on Wednesday, it was Villarreal centre-back Eric Bailly who was added to the ranks. And while the statistics might point to issues lying elsewhere within the squad, the decision to address United’s defensive woes first could not have been better judged.

Much has been made of the potential transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which could cost the club up to £34 million in wages, but the layout of £30m paid for the 22-year-old Bailly will prove to be money equally well spent if United can start to trust in their defenders again.

From the moment Jonny Evans was sold to West Brom, the heart of United’s defence looked weak in both quality and quantity. Evans himself may not have been a massive loss, but the willingness to dispose of valuable asset in central defence and replace him with nothing showed an ambivalence on Van Gaal’s part when it came to adding serious quality defensively.

The Dutchman insisted that he would not sign any player who didn’t have the fundamental quality the club were after, but despite his own admission that they were on the lookout for a left-sided centre-back, his belligerent attitude to transfers left him with Daley Blind starting the season in what was his third-choice position at best.








Taking statistics alone into account, it would appear that the experiment of using Blind alongside Chris Smalling worked, particularly in the campaign’s infancy when the Red Devils boasted 12 clean sheets in their first 20 matches. However, the truth is that whenever United’s midfield were stretched and their defence exposed, trouble generally followed.

A record of 35 goals conceded in the league was a reasonable return, but when taking into account the brilliance of David de Gea and the lack of possession enjoyed by opponents that figure becomes all the less impressive.

The 3-0 first-half battering by Arsenal and the second-half collapse at Tottenham were the most glaring examples of United’s woes at the back. In both matches they lost the midfield battle and were duly overrun in their defensive third. The slightest of angled run from an opposition forward began to cause all sorts of mayhem as the back four were pulled out of position with ease.

The decision by Van Gaal to take a cautious approach to attacking, with midfielders rarely straying into the final third, helped to largely disguise their issues defensively. However, it did United no good in the long run as their inability to attack at any great length without exposing gaps elsewhere was always likely to undermine the Dutchman’s philosophy.