Rio Ferdinand admits that he was not inspired by Nemanja Vidic after arriving at Manchester United and predicted with Wayne Rooney that the defender would not last long at Old Trafford.
Vidic and Ferdinand, however, formed a very good central defence partnership in eight seasons and a half, which helped United win five Premier League crowns and Champions League glory in 2008.
But Rooney and his compatriot England had doubts when Alex Ferguson signed Vidic from Spartak Moscow in January 2006.
Ferdinand told United’s website: “I never heard of him. I’ll be honest, that was my reaction when I heard we were going to sign Nemanja Vidic.”
“At the time, we had Mikael Silvestre and Wes Brown as other midfielders. The manager sought to compete for the places, Wes had some injuries and Life kicked to bring this additional competition.
“Liverpool also took an interest, Aston Villa and some others then signed for us.
“I didn’t know what to expect from him, nor preconceived ideas. When he joins the club, he makes them known temporarily and forms opinions.”
“From what I saw in his first education sessions, Life struggling, especially physically. It not only has strength, but also breathing. The speed of training replaces what it had been. It’s not simple for him.
“I had a verbal exchange with Wayne Rooney – sometimes, in – about Vidic and Patrice Evra, who had joined at the same time.
“Or we were essentially saying, “Wow, how do we point out those two? “Wayne opposed Life in Education and was quite transparent about Life’s problems: he’s not strong enough, he’s not competitive enough, he just doesn’t look like a Man United player.
“I thought, ‘I probably wouldn’t be here long. There’s no way he’s going to stay long. Speaking to him ever since, I now know that when he first signed, he was nervous. He asked me, ‘Do you make the right decision?
“It was very complicated for him. He played each and every day against Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha. The criteria expected of him exploded overnight. We judged him harshly, but he also judged himself harshly.”
“It’s Carrick, you know…” It’s hard for Carras16 to have signed for United #MUFC #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/kGiX8DIzgB
Vidic stepped forward in the facets of his game and temporarily developed a close bond with Ferdinand on the United education court while settling into the club’s life.
“He left and very assiduously in many things, ” continued Ferdinand.
“He spent much more time in the gym, preparing physically, getting ready, preparing for the right point to compete.
“Then came a moment, I can’t think of an express day or date, when he was just competing. He just got used to it for an era of time.”
“The most productive word for describing the player who has Life is great. You may see the attackers thinking, “Oh my God, it’s going to break me.” You may see the concern in the attackers.
“It’s someone it’s terrible to play against. He’s going to direct the ball and direct you. Life had the bloodiest nose I’ve ever seen.
“Even in his last game with United, he came off the court with a bloody nose and that personified him! Just brave. He saw the ball, that’s all.
“After a season or two playing with Vida, I knew that when I left United, I was looking to leave Old Trafford knowing that we were the most productive society the club had ever had. That’s all that drives me.”