Liverpool wanted me but messed me about and United pounced
ALEX FERGUSON wasn’t a great loser and it was even worse when Liverpool were involved. ‘That time when we lost badly (Liverpool won 4-1 at Old Trafford in March 2009) he was still red when he came in the next day,’ former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic told Sportsmail.
‘He saw that everybody was sad so he started making jokes and building us up again. That was what he used to do on those days.
‘But he was only able to do it for about four or five minutes. Then he had to walk out. That was as much as he could manage.’
One day Vidic will understand that feeling, the pressure of responsibility. The great Serbian central defender is readying himself for management. Talking to him this week, however, it was hard to dance far from the topic at hand — Liverpool.
Vidic’s own history with United’s great enemy is chequered. He was, incredibly, sent off four times against them.
‘It is still the biggest game in the Premier League,’ he said ahead of today’s lunchtime meeting. ‘The amount of titles both Liverpool and United have won — you can never lose respect for that.’
Asked what first comes to mind when Liverpool are mentioned, Vidic laughed and said: ‘Red cards.’ One in 2008, one in that 2009 game, another the following October and the last in 2014.
But what is less known is that he could have signed for Liverpool. Vidic eventually joined United from Spartak Moscow in January 2006 but only after taking a phone call from Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez as he drove through the Russian capital one day.
‘Yes, Liverpool came to me first,’ he said. ‘We spoke in the car. My wife did the translating. I didn’t say no to them. It was always “going to happen, going to happen”. I don’t know what the problem was but it didn’t happen.
‘But then United came and after two days, everything was done. Liverpool (finally) said they wanted to do the deal but everything was arranged with United.
‘But I remember all of my matches against Liverpool. To be fair, I remember more my failures than when things went better.
‘And I do remember the tough Liverpool games. Maybe by remembering that stuff, it pushes me to make sure it never happens again. I don’t know . . . ’
Self-improvement was always part of the Vidic creed. His route led him to Old Trafford at the age of 24. Another defender, Patrice Evra, arrived at the same time and the Frenchman described his debut as like ‘being thrown into a tumble dryer’.
Vidic too had his problems and didn’t really establish his successful defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand until the next season. So he looks at the problems being experienced by another 24-year-old at United, Paul Pogba, with interest.
‘It is not the player’s fault that a club are paying so much money for him,’ reasoned Vidic (below). ‘But I think the environment is important. Who is around you at the club to make you better?
‘For any young player to get so much money and publicity, he must feel like he is the most powerful person in the world. But you need to have someone in the dressing room who can help you through these difficult situations. It is not the manager, it is your team-mates. You need the right senior players, with the credibility to help you go through. ‘When I came to United I was 24 and the dressing room was strong. Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, these guys. You always look to them for what you should be doing. They have already established the path.’ Vidic played 300 times for United in his eight-anda-half years at the club. He is the last captain to lift a Premier League trophy for them, in Ferguson’s final season of 2012-13.
He struggled more than most to adapt under David Moyes. Midway through that campaign, Vidic announced that it would be his last. By the time Moyes was sacked in April 2014 Vidic had already agreed to join Inter.
So was he too hasty? And what of those suggestions that he decided to leave when Moyes asked him and Ferdinand to learn from a video of Everton defender Phil Jagielka?
‘I don’t want to comment about what happened in the training ground,’ said Vidic. ‘I would just like to say that I tried to give 100 per cent for David. I wanted him to succeed. I am sad he didn’t.
‘But if you are going to judge the manager you can always find difficulty in what he said. Any manager. If I have something to say to someone I will say it to their face. I am not saying I am hiding something but I will defend someone who is in the chair of Alex Ferguson. That’s why I understand (Jose) Mourinho.
‘I was brought up to always give 100 per cent and it got harder to do that. The English league is demanding and I had a knee injury, a back injury. Then more of the same. And obviously they changed the situation at the club. I could see how everything was changing and I am not just speaking about Moyes. It was everything. I just had this sense that it was time.’
Vidic’s home now is Milan. He plays golf and tennis and is taking his UEFA Pro Licence with the intention of one day managing at the highest level.
We met this week at St George’s Park where, along with 25 other wannabe managers, he was having a media training day as part of his qualifications.
Surprisingly, he revealed that playing left him ‘stressed’.
But if playing really was stressful then surely management will only be worse. ‘I am enjoying my life,’ Vidic smiled. ‘No stress. Football was stressful. I don’t miss that.’
‘Today Vidic is expected at Old Trafford. He is a United ambassador. City will win the Premier League but he feels United may surprise people in Europe. ‘Mourinho is a tactical coach, he knows Europe very well,’ he said. ‘He knows how to get through scrappy games. What is the Man United way now? I don’t know but Mourinho should play the way he wants to play.’
The Stretford End still sing about Vidic, just as they do about other former players. The current group, maybe not so much and that seems strange for a team second in the league.
‘When we started winning, that’s why they started singing songs about us,’ Vidic said. ‘If you want to have them sing songs about you, you need to win. The Man United fans do not sing about just anyone, you have to deserve it.
‘That’s how I felt as a United player.’