Romelu Lukaku's first-half header was enough to give Man United a scrappy 1-0 win over Bournemouth at Old Trafford. Following the fracas at Old Trafford, the FC panel turn their sights on Jose Mourinho, his motives behind what he allegedly did and whether or not he has lost his touch.
MANCHESTER -- Jose Mourinho has admitted the injury that has already ruled Eric Bailly out of Manchester United's last eight games is "serious" and the club has also confirmed that the Ivory Coast international may require surgery.
Bailly, 23, has not played since the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on Nov. 5 after returning from the October international break with a groin injury.
Bailly missed four games before recovering to start three consecutive games against Tottenham, Benfica and Chelsea before meeting up with Ivory Coast again in November.
He did not play in the 2-0 defeat to Morocco because of suspension and returned to the club with an ankle injury and has not played for United since.
Mourinho said the club's medical staff are considering surgery to correct the problem but will wait to see how the centre-back responds to "conservative treatment."
Mourinho said: "I think it's serious. It's an injury that comes from the last time he went with the national team.
"We are trying a conservative treatment but if the conservative treatment is not working, probably he will have a surgery procedure but let's wait.
Probably the doctor can inform, is not a problem for me, it is nothing to hide, I just don't want to speak about it."
Eric Bailly has been unable to play for Manchester United regularly this season.
Mourinho was also without Marcos Rojo for the 1-0 win over Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, choosing to pair Phil Jones and Chris Smalling at centre-back.
The United manager was asked directly whether Bailly's season could be over, but he insisted he did not want to be "pessimistic."
He added: "I want to leave it with the doctor. But today, we play with Smalling and Jones, Lindelof on the bench, Marcos Rojo is injured but nothing really big so during all season we have problems with central defenders. Chris Smalling is playing amazingly well, so we are fine."
Mourinho also chose to omit Henrikh Mkhitaryan from his squad for the seventh time in eight games.
However, he insisted Mkhitaryan's only problem was being part of a big squad.
He added: "I can only have six [outfield] players on the bench and I try to have some balance on the bench.
"I had two defenders that can play in different areas, I have Ashley Young to cover the wing and wing-back positions, Herrera is a midfield player, Zlatan is a striker, Rashford is a second striker and a winger.
"To have Mkhi means I don't have one of them and I believe the others deserve."
Rob is ESPN FC's Manchester United correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @RobDawsonESPN.
Comments
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms. Learn more.
Source: espn.co.uk