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Rio Ferdinand has revealed that Wayne Rooney was not happy with the lack of quality in Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra when they joined Manchester United. He claims the forward wanted to send them back and questioned why the club signed them.
Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast, Ferdinand claimed that Vidic was an emotional person and would let a bad performance affect him for the entire week. He added that Vidic and Evra did not hit the ground running at Manchester United, and it was not well received by Rooney.
Ferdinand said:
"He [Nemanja Vidić] was an emotional man, wasn't he? Really emotional guy. It was never too high, but he could always go too low, like bottom of the sea. A bad pass or bad performance at the early stage of his career was like a hangover for the rest of that week. He wouldn't even talk to people."
"It took him a while to get through that. You've got to remember; he came from the Russian league. He had that time to adapt. I remember Wazza [ Wayne Rooney ] in training and saying, 'He is terrible. He can't play for us.' And the same about Patrice [Evra]. 'Send these two back! How have we signed them?'"
Vidic and Evra went on to become club legends at Manchester United, playing 300+ games each. The duo won the Premier League title five times and added a UEFA Champions League medal too.
Rio Ferdinand on his partnership with Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand went on to talk about his partnership with Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United and stated that they needed each other.
"I think we [Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic] both needed each other. Vida, I interviewed him a little while ago and he said, 'Nemanja Vidic isn't Nemanja Vidic without the relationship with Rio.' And, I would say the same. There are only some players, in attacking areas, where someone can go and do something on their own, but I needed him as much as he needed me. We had such different makeup as players as well. He was more aggressive, front foot, attack everything in the air, body on the line always."
Vidic and Ferdinand started 187 matches together for the Red Devils, helping keep 91 cleen sheets.
