32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 6
27. Nemanja Vidic
Nemanja Vidic is a Serbian football player who is currently playing for the English Premier League side Manchester United, and is also a captain for the English club. He is also a first choice defender for the national team of Serbia.
Vidic started his career from Red Star Belgrade in the early 2000s and after establishing himself there, made a move to the Russian club Spartak Moscow in the summer of 2004. He won the 2001-2002 Yugoslav Cup with his team and quickly managed to become the
captain of his side. He was considered a striker back then and he managed to score 12 goals in 67 matches while he was the captain of the team. In 2004, he won the Serbian League with his former club Red Star Belgrade and after joining Spartak Moscow, Vidic
became the most expensive defender in the history of the Russian Premier League.
He was then transferred to the English side, Manchester United when a deal of 7 million pounds was struck and he became a part of the “Red Devils” in January 2006. He later became a prominent defender in the defensive line-up of the English club as he formed
a fine partnership with the English Captain Rio Ferdinand. He made his Manchester United debut in the dying minutes of a 2-1 win in the Carling Cup semi final that was against Black Burn Rovers. The number 15 player came on to replace the Manchester United
legend, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Vidic managed to win the first trophy for Manchester United on 16th February 2006 as he came on during the 83rd minute for West Brown and Manchester United won the 2006 Carling Cup Final against Wigan Athletic.
The very next season, he had a vital role in the defensive line-up of Manchester United as he formed an alliance with Rio Ferdinand as both of them were in the heart of the defense and were positioned as central defenders. Since then, Vidic is considered
one of the best central defenders in the English Premier League. In his first full season, he managed to grab a Premier League title for himself as Manchester United were crowned champions. He appeared for the club 25 times and later in that season, was wearing
gold around his neck as Manchester United won the English Premier League.
In 2006, Vidic managed to score his first goal for Manchester United. The goal came against Wigan Athletic as Manchester United won the match 3-1 and Vidic scored the first goal of the game to open the scoring with his head. His second goal came against
Portsmouth on the 4th of November 2006 as Manchester United won 3-0 and it was Vidic’s vital heading abilities once again that helped the team score the second goal of the match. He also managed to score in the UEFA Champions League and his first
goal came off against the Portuguese side Benfica on 6th December 2006. Manchester United won the match 3-1 and it was Vidic again who scored the winning goal as the Red Devils emerged victorious.
Vidic signed a new contract for Manchester United in 2007 and later that year, Manchester United won another Premier League title. He was also the part of the squad that managed to win the UEFA Champions League in 2008 as the final match was against Chelsea.
That was his first European medal and during that season he made 32 league appearences and scored a goal as well.
Throughout the 2008-2009 season, Vidic has proven himself as a defensive wall and whenever he was not in the team, his absence was felt in the defense. He started for all the games that helped Manchester United win the 14 consecutive clean sheets award and
he was the one who helped the team by not conceding a single goal. He was also short listed as the PFA Player of the year award in the same season but later it was Ryan Giggs who actually won it.
Vidic is now considered to be one of the best defenders in the world and he definitely earns that honour. He is a fabulous defender and he can easily change the cause of the game. Vidic was also a part of the “concrete wall” that was created by Serbia during
the FIFA World Cup 2010 and they managed to concede only a single goal throughout the campaign of the FIFA World Cup 2010.
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