#2 Nemanja Vidic
Trending
Nemanja Vidic announced his retirement in late January after his contract with Inter Milan was terminated. The Serb had an unhappy spell in Italy but it does not take away from what was a stunning career
Vidic won five Premier League titles with Manchester United, in addition to winning the Champions League in 2007. Vidic also helped United make two other Champions League finals, that they eventually lost to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona side.
It was a wonderful partnership that Vidic had built with Rio Ferdinand that gave Sir Alex Ferguson stability in the back four. It also helped that Vidic and Ferdinand communicated clearly with whoever the goalkeeper was – even ensuring that the young goalkeepers came into the squad and fit into the team without a hiccup – the likes of Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak despite their own uncertain form did keep a fair few clean sheets.
If there is one regret that Vidic will have, it will be his performances against United’s arch-rivals Liverpool. He got sent off four times in fixtures between the two clubs, including three consecutive times in 2008 and 2009.
But he will hold his head up high and be proud of the fact that he was part of the United squad that went past Liverpool’s number of league titles. Eventually, that is all that matters in football – the number of trophies you help your team win, irrespective of the blips that happen through the course of trying to achieve it.
