Manchester Unitedai??i??s Trusted Old Guard Waves A Quiet Good Bye

Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic & Patrice Evra brought down the curtains on their glittering Manchester United careers and their departure brings to an end the greatest defensive axis in Premier League history.

Patrice Evraai??i??s decision to sign for Juventus last week brought to a closure a defensive partnership that was the very soul of Manchester United over the last decade. Nemanja Vidic was the first to leave when he confirmed his intention of joining Internazionale in the middle of last seasonai??i??s horrific spell under David Moyes. Rio Ferdinand was the next to go as his contract was not extended and he moved back to London to play out possibly the remainder of his career under the manger who gave him his Premier League debut – Harry Redknapp. Evraai??i??s departure was possibly based on his belief that with the arrival of Luke Shaw, his game time this coming season would be restricted especially with no European football on the radar.

The trioai??i??s departures without a grandstand farewell though should not hide what they achieved together during their stay at Manchester United. A combined total of 48 honours, most of which were won from the summer of 2006 to the one in 2013, points to the fact that these three were not only part of the best defensive line in Premiership history but also in Manchester Unitedai??i??s history.

Vidic_Ferdinand(c)dadikaplayer(dot)blogspot(dot)com — Vidic & Ferdinand complemented each other quite beautifully

There have been great attacking talents during the last decade at Old Trafford starting from the goal machine that was Ruud Van Nistelrooy to the ever reliable & magnificent Wayne Rooney to the brilliant Robin Van Persie and to the greatest of them all – Cristiano Ronaldo. But ask Sir Alex Ferguson for the reason of his last few years of success with the club and he would probably just move past the aforementioned geniuses and go stand next to Evra, Rio & Vidic.

Initially Evra & Vidic found life to be very tough in England with the fast and brutal nature of the league along with the unforgiving weather that was so common in the north west of England. Both of them have admitted several times over the course of these last few years that they had serious doubts whether they could actually adapt to life in Manchester. There was a lot of competition as well amongst the defensive line at Old Trafford in those days. While Ferdinand was very much central to Sir Alexai??i??s plans, Evra had to pay second fiddle to then fan favourite Gabriel Heinze & Vidic was vying for the centre back position with the likes of Mikael Silvestre and Wes Brown.

It was probably only in the 2006-07 season that this new defensive partnership really established themselves. And once they did, the first few years were quite brilliant and similar to what Arsenal had during the George Graham days with Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn. Ferdinand, Vidic & Evra along with either Brown or Gary Neville with the ever dependable Edwin Van Der Saar behind them created such a strong repelling force that Manchester United conceded only 101 goals in four seasons from the summer of 2006 to the one in 2010.

In between this defensive consistency came the peak of the 2008-09 season when Manchester United went 1311 minutes without conceding a goal which is the third longest streak of such a kind in football history. While Van Der Saar gets all the plaudits for this achievement it can be safe to say that this solidity was down to the defensive fulcrum of Ferdinand, Evra & Vidic which formed a concrete wall 40 yards from Unitedai??i??s goal.

In the Champions League, the Red Devils were even more miserly and during their 3 finals appearances in the competition in 2008, 2009 & 2011 they conceded only 21 goals. This becomes even more impressive considering that 5 of these goals game in two matches against possibly the best Barcelona side in history in the finals of 2009 & 2011.

Evra(c)freegreatimagesot)com — Evra was known as much for his mazy forward runs as for his defensive contributions

During this period, it was inevitable that Ronaldo or Rooney would get the odd goal and then United would shut the opposition out such was the consistency in the defensive third. While George Best, Denis Law & Sir Bobby Charlton formed the original holy trinity of the Sir Matt Busby era, it was not Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs & Paul Scholes nor was it Rooney, Ronaldo & Carlos Tevez but it was Ferdinand, Vidic & Evra who took over the mantle during the Fergie era; for these were the three who were the architects of the greatest golden period in Manchester Unitedai??i??s history.

The great thing from Sir Alexai??i??s perspective when it concerned this trio was that they were very different kinds of players. Vidic was the rock, the kind of soldier you would want standing next to you when facing enemy fire during a war. Ferdinand was the cultured ball player and in some ways the modern day Franz Beckenbauer striding forward confidently with the ball at his feet. And Evra was the quintessential wing back who in his peak could motor up and down the left flank it seemed like a million times and still have energy for more.

It is perhaps fitting that Vidic & Evra will play the next few years in the more tactical Italian League where the pace of the game is more suited to their weary bodies. They deserve it after the 8 and a bit years playing in the action packed English game. Ferdinand meanwhile will hope to pass on his experience to the next generation of English defenders coming through from London.

But it is not these last few years in front of them which will define their respective careers but the decade which just went by. For this was the period when these three Old Trafford legends gave life to the oft repeated adage that offence wins games but defence wins championships.

Manchester Unitedai??i??s Trusted Old Guard Waves A Quiet Good Bye

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