Who was at blame for Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat to Brighton last weekend?

Jose Mourinho for his poor management?

The players for their poor performance?

Or Ed Woodward for failing to back Mourinho this summer?

It could well be a combination of all three, in fairness.

And all three parties have certainly got their fair share of the blame since that result on the south coast.

And one of the players that got plenty of criticism following the match was Eric Bailly.

Bailly and Victor Lindelof struggled in defence for United and it led to the likes of Graeme Souness and Gary Neville slamming the Ivorian.

On Sky Sports, Souness said, that Bailly didn’t know “if he’s in New York or New Year”, following the Brighton loss.

And now, in an interview with the Mirror, Bailly has responded.

“I always take criticism well when they are constructive, when they are there to help and I actually like criticism but in a positive way,” said Bailly.

“But what Graeme Souness said was a little bit disrespectful because it became so personal and it’s not the sort of criticism that can help a young player improve and become a better player.”

Neville added that Bailly and Lindelof aren’t good enough for a team competing for the Premier League title - a comment that Bailly feels isn’t very helpful.

“I think the criticism was a bit harsh, particularly from people who have played the game and have probably made mistakes themselves during their career,” said Bailly.

“As young players, we need support from these people. If we got more support from these people, that can help us. But negative comments all of the time doesn’t help the young players or the team.

“It was not just one individual performance on Sunday. It was the whole team that struggled. But it was just one battle lost, not the whole war.

“But it’s one game. We cannot forget that. We shouldn’t just focus on the negative, build on the positive and starting with Tottenham on Monday.”