{"id":617663,"date":"2022-09-07T12:55:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T16:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=617663"},"modified":"2022-09-07T12:55:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T16:55:20","slug":"eric-bailly-manchester-united-racism-player-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/07\/eric-bailly-manchester-united-racism-player-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Defender Accuses Manchester United of Racism and English Player Bias in Team Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/07\/erik-ten-hag-manchester-united-perform\/\" target=\"_self\">Manchester United<\/a> Ivorian centre-back <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/08\/22\/eric-bailly-manchester-united-marseille\/\" target=\"_self\">Eric Bailly<\/a> has accused the club of English player bias and racism in team selection, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/football\/2022\/09\/06\/eric-bailly-accuses-manchester-united-english-player-bias\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Eric Bailly Accuses Manchester United of English Player Bias<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Eric Bailly \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f \u201cManchester United should avoid favouring English players and give everyone a chance. That doesn\u2019t happen at Chelsea or other big Premier League clubs. Some people take it for granted that they are going to start, and that weakens the team\u201d  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1G0l65FEmY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/1G0l65FEmY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Times Sport (@TimesSport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TimesSport\/status\/1567132265414631431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 6, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Ivorian Defender Speaks Out on Parent Club<\/h3>\n<p>The Ivory Coast defender has made\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.transfermarkt.com\/eric-bailly\/leistungsdaten\/spieler\/286384\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">113 appearances<\/a> for Manchester United but is currently on loan at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/08\/09\/alexis-sanchez-to-olympique-marseille\/\" target=\"_self\">Olympique Marseille<\/a> after failing to pin down a place in the team over the years at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n<p>Bailly made just\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.transfermarkt.com\/eric-bailly\/leistungsdaten\/spieler\/286384\/plus\/0?saison=2021\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seven appearances<\/a> for United in all competitions last season and has been allowed to join Marseille on loan for the remainder of this campaign after he informed the club in the summer that he wanted to leave the team.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/07\/erik-ten-hag-manchester-united-perform\/\" target=\"_self\">No One Is Safe: Erik ten Hag Lays Down New Law at Manchester United This Season<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Harry Maguire, meanwhile, struggled to find his form last term and following an abysmal start to the new season, United\u2019s \u00a380 million signing has been benched by Erik ten Hag for their last four Premier League games, including the 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The Ivorian was forced to make a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2022\/04\/22\/eric-bailly-begs-ralf-rangnick-to-start-him-instead-of-harry-maguire-16517360\/?_gl=1*1imf03r*_ga*d2NQWm00ZHZES2RIZEJ2NDNKMEhMX2NUeHVhdUpyem5jYlR1V1FlZEc1RmlfODBHN2wyNlFMTlJiRzlqbm1ZRQ..\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">desperate plea<\/a> to the then United manager, Ralf Ragnick, to start a Premier League game against Arsenal after captain Maguire was on a poor run of form but still managed to keep his place in the team. The United defence was in total shambles in a calamitous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/60724991\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">4-0 loss<\/a> to Liverpool in April last season, with Maguire being a major culprit.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-617711\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/gettyimages-1410449434-594x594-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/gettyimages-1410449434-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/09\/gettyimages-1410449434-594x594-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>English Player Bias at Manchester United<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\">The defender has now taken a public swipe at Manchester United for alleged favouritism and English player bias in team selection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/eric-bailly-accuses-manchester-united-of-favouring-english-players-6hxtpd2dc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told reporters<\/a> in a news conference ahead of Marseille&#8217;s Champions League opening fixture against <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/02\/tottenham-transfer-window-graded-antonio-conte\/\" target=\"_self\">Tottenham Hotspur<\/a>: &#8220;The club should avoid favouring English players and give everyone in the team a chance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The club should encourage competition in the dressing room, not just look out for some. I&#8217;ve always had the feeling that the national player was prioritised.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That doesn&#8217;t happen at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/04\/chelsea-transfer-window-graded-2022\/\" target=\"_self\">Chelsea<\/a> or other big Premier League clubs. Some people take it for granted that they are going to start, and that weakens the team. Luckily Erik ten Hag has a lot of character and I hope he can change that dynamic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/08\/14\/erik-ten-hag-manchester-united-training\/\" target=\"_self\">Erik ten Hag&#8217;s Strict Response to the Brentford Embarrassment<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Bailly&#8217;s Time at Manchester United<\/h3>\n<p>Eric Bailly was one of the first signing of Jose Mourinho during the Portuguese manager&#8217;s time in the United dugout. The 28-year-old moved to Old Trafford from Villarreal in 2016 and had a decent debut season for the club.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, recurrent injuries marred his career at United in the later seasons. The Ivorian defender has now moved to France in a desperate bid to rejuvenate his career and put his injury woes behind him.<\/p>\n<p>Following the signing of the Argentine defender, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/08\/24\/lisandro-martinez-the-butcher\/\" target=\"_self\">Lisandro Martinez<\/a>, along with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/10\/12\/raphael-varane-injury\/\" target=\"_self\">Raphael Varane&#8217;s<\/a> return to full fitness, the Ivorian fell further down the team&#8217;s pecking order and after an uneventful six-year spell at the club. He ultimately decided to leave during the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/news-photo\/eric-bailly-of-manchester-united-gestures-during-the-pre-news-photo\/1410449434\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><strong>Main Photo<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Manchester United Ivorian centre-back Eric Bailly has accused the club of English player bias and racism in team selection, as reported by The Telegraph. Eric Bailly Accuses Manchester United of English Player Bias Eric Bailly \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f \u201cManchester United should avoid favouring English players and give everyone a chance. That doesn\u2019t happen at Chelsea or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4302,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"1662482160","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"Manchester United news","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"532","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,2,30,3],"tags":[719],"class_list":["post-617663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-featured","category-news","category-premier-league","tag-eric-bailly"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}