Watching Manchester United concede four goals last night, two of which came deep into stoppage time, probably reminded many Red Devils fans of the Alex Ferguson era when such things were unthinkable for one of the best teams in the world. It was usually United who scored the goals in the finish. Today’s United is just a caricature of the powerful Ferguson team where defense was the foundation of stability.In the past, the center defender tandem of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić was a pillar of support for the incredible Manchester United side, and the question is when the giant from Old Trafford will again have such a defensive line that instills so much security. In the Stick To Football podcast with Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, and Gary Neville, Ferdinand recalled some interesting situations from that time and went down memory lane.”When Nemanja signed, the guys said: ‘This guy has to go.’ He was so bad in training. I remember that Rooney came up to me in training after playing against Vidic and said: ‘This guy is terrible, he can’t play for us. They should send him back’. He said the same about Evra: ‘How the hell did we sign these two?!’ And Vidic played against Rooney, Ronaldo, Saha in training sessions, and it seems to me that Tevez was there too. Imagine every training session against such attackers. It is more difficult than many official games in the Premier League,” said Ferdinand.##NAJAVA_MECA_8010924##The beginnings of the Serbian ace in Manchester United were not easy, as Jamie Carragher recalled.”I remember the match at Anfield. Vidic and Evra were on the same side, I think it was that game when O’Shea scored in the last minute. Bellamy was going at Vidić. We were attacking on the side where the Kop was and I remember Ferguson’s reactions on the bench, as I was playing at the back so I was not far from him. He didn’t scream, but he persistently gestured with his hands to Vidić to calm down, to focus and to collect himself,” revealed Carragher.Ferdinand reveals what the period of Vidić’s adaptation was like and how long it took the Serbian to get used to it.”Nemanja was an emotional guy, wasn’t he? He never flew high, but he knew how to sink to the very bottom. A bad pass or a poor match on his arrival in Manchester would throw him off the clock for the whole of next week. He didn’t even want to talk to people. It took him a while to learn to shrug it off. However, he came from the Russian league and it took time to adapt”.But strength of character made the steely Serbian one of the best players in Premier League history.”Vidic had the courage, determination and persistence to improve himself. He looked at his body and said ‘wow, look at my condition’. He constantly questioned his body and then went to the gym. Nemanja was not exactly the fastest stopper, but he was fast enough. And he was incredibly aggressive on the first ball. In the end, he built such a reputation that rivals avoided direct duels with him and attacked from the wings,” says Ferdinand.Added time madness at Stamford Bridge! Palmer’s hat-trick kills United in an epic seven-goal thrillerWho was more important than the two of you in that tandem?”He said that Nemanja Vidic is not Nemanja Vidic without Rio Ferdinand. There are only a few offensive players in the world who could play football alone. I needed Vidic as much as he needed me. We were very different types of players. He was much more aggressive, he caught every ball in the air, he attacked every ball… And I looked at the situation behind him and cleared what needed to be done, always ready to step in. There were maybe periods when one of us was more important, but overall we needed each other”.What Vidić’s style was, Ferdinand described best with the following words.”Well, just remember how many times he broke his nose?! He had the worst nose in the league. You can laugh, but I asked him a couple of times: ‘Man, why don’t you protect yourself with your elbow when you go for a jump!?’. He replied that he just sees the ball when it jumps. Like a madman, he went with his forehead directly into other people’s heads. A great player”.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Like all sweepers, Ferdinand and Vidić had moments when it was impossible to stop their rivals. First of all, it refers to the two lost Champions League finals against Barcelona in 2009 and 2011. The Catalans were absolutely dominant and made United powerless. Ferdinand also admits this, recalling the 2011 final at Wembley (1-3) and the situation with Busquets.”I have never felt so embarrassed in my career. I remember I stole the ball from him, they were in the lead and there was still a little time left. I took the ball and the referee called something. Busquets told me: ‘You and Vidic, boom, boom, boom’. He meant long balls. I almost started laughing. I was embarrassed. I have never been more uncomfortable on the pitch. In both finals, we tried to play high pressing and it didn’t work. After the match, while they were celebrating on the pitch, I spoke to Giggs, Rooney and Scholes and at one point we said: ‘Let’s get off the pitch, this is embarassing’. Later, all the losers in the finals started doing that”.Although he is best remembered for playing in tandem with Vidic, Ferdinand singles out another defender from the England national team with whom he enjoyed himself and who has been somewhat forgotten.”Vidic got the best out of me, but I also enjoyed playing with Sol Campbell in the national team. He was aggressive, always on the front foot, fast and covered empty space. Sol was a top player, and today we don’t talk about him that much when we talk about top defenders. He especially shone in that period from 1998 until his last days at Tottenham. I know a lot of people were trying to bring him to Manchester United, and I was saying to myself: ‘Oh, no! Don’t bring him, I should come there’. Some players simply suit you. John Terry was also good to play with, but not as good as Campbell”Jamie Carragher also believes Campbell’s legacy is underrated.”Campbell is one of those players that we don’t talk about as much as they deserve. I think he feels it and you can see it in his Instagram stories he posts and reminds us how fast he was”.Vidic ended his career as a Red Devil when new coach David Moyes arrived. He disbanded the Vidić-Ferdinand tandem and that is when the collapse of Manchester United began, which continues to this day. Moyes’ methods were surprising for the United team at the time…”When we would play against Liverpool or Chelsea, we were preparing for Coutinho or Hazard in training. Those are things we never did at Manchester United. We never specially prepared for any individual. Not even for Messi…. Well, maybe we did for him, ha-aha-ha. It was a big change in the mentality of the team. It was as if the coach was more concerned about the players than they were about themselves. It was as if we were getting a losing mentality. And that’s when doubts begin to arise in the players’ minds.”
