Marcos Rojo and Eric Bailly Prove Manchester United’s Ideal Centre Back Pair
The Argentinian’s and the Ivorian’s centre back partnership blossomed in the latter part of the season. Over the past four months, their partnership has proven to be the most solid for Manchester United.
Following last week’s superlative performance in the victory against Chelsea, Jose Mourinho took the chance to highlight Rojo and Bailly’s effort post-match.
“Everybody fought really hard. Bailly and Rojo, I think they deserve a special mention because they have played in absolutely every game, non-stop, since the injuries of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones,” said Mourinho.
While the entire team put on the best team performance of the season against Chelsea, Rojo’s and Bailly’s work to limit Diego Costa to irrelevance -and Chelsea’s attack for that matter- is truly remarkable.
United’s defense rendered Chelsea to five shots, none of them on target. And of the five shots, Pedro took four and Diego Costa took as many shots as he had yellow cards: one.
However, last Sunday’s performance was not just a one-match wonder.
United have suffered yet again from a rash of injuries all season. The defense has not been exempt from this phenomenon.
Every single centre back to have started a match for the Red Devils has been injured and some point this season. That includes Rojo, Bailly, Daley Blind, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.
The one constant has been Bailly, the only undisputed starting centre back not just this season, but for many seasons to come. All of the names above have had their shot at nailing down the other spot, with mixed results at best.
Rojo started receiving his share of opportunities with both Bailly and Smalling, the presumptive starter along the Ivorian following last season’s remarkable performance, also on the shelf. The Argentinian held the fort very impressively side-by-side with Phil Jones until Bailly’s return.
Rojo managed to keep Mourinho’s trust along with Bailly, and the pair has been the feature tandem for the better part of 2017.
Rojo and Bailly have started in nine games together; five of them started in the Europa League and four in the Premier League. In those nine matches, United has only allowed a grand total of three goals. That is a whopping 0.33 goals allowed by defenses led by Rojo and Bailly.
In comparison, United as a team has allowed 41 goals in 57 games, 0.72 goals a match. Though each centre back may have a statistical claim for being the best, it is undeniable the Rojo-Bailly pair together is the most solid option for Jose Mourinho.
With Rojo being lost for the rest of the season, the centre back door continues to revolve. Who will step in and step up for this gauntlet of a season finale, like Marcos Rojo did recently?