Ferdinand and Vidic: The twilight of defensive era at Old Trafford

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic

“Maybe not everything is supposed to last forever. Certain things are like… like… skywriting. Like, like, like a really beautiful thing that lasts for a couple moments and then… You know?” – Little Manhattan

And this will be the feeling of every Manchester United fan who is currently witnessing the twilight of another era at Old Trafford after the defensive castle set up by Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the team has started to show its vulnerability.

Like old married couples, Vidic and Ferdinand has already acquired the instinctive feel for each other’s style (a luxury that the other teams in the league dreams of) but their recent performances has put a lot of questions up for debate. With a wealth of 11 titles and 700 games between them, the duo is considered as one of the most experienced and feared central defensive pairings in the footballing world. And that fear is slowly fading after the players have once again proven that unlike wine the defender doesn’t get better with age (unless you are Paolo Maldini).

Though David Moyes thought he had the “Alex Ferguson defense” at his disposal at the start of the season, his plans were crushed after the aging duo was literally destroyed by string of team with bitter rivals Manchester City being the most notable. The humiliating 4-1 loss in the Manchester Derby saw Ferdinand and Vidic scrambling to find the rhythm with which they used to dance around the pitch. And the English Premier League has evolved in such a way that pace and skills are surpassing the experience factor of the players, which hints at curtains for this vintage defensive pairing in the league.

With a combined age of 65 years and a plethora of injuries at the horizon every now and then, it’s not a surprise that Moyes has started to look for a replacement for the old guards. And united has a rich potential of youngsters like Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, who can step into the limelight and utilize the current dilemma. It might be a bit unfair to term Evans as a youngster as he is among the a few numbers of players in the team who has had more than 100 games for the club, but comparing with Vidic and Ferdinand, Evans is still a student who is exploring the possibilities of his position. Meanwhile Smalling is someone who plays with his intelligence, which is similar to that of Ferdinand’s style and Jones has the versatility to fit into any position he is asked to play, thus giving a bright future for the fans even if the legends decide to retire.

But one cannot simply write them off that quickly, they might not be able to play every week for the team and won’t be able to win a dash with Daniel Sturridge or Theo Walcott but what these two can do is impart their experience and teach the secret of building a defensive castle to the next generation. Occasional main event games here and there will be an added asset for the manager. The pair still has a lot left in them but like said in the beginning every beautiful thing must come to an end and the end is almost near for this legendary partnership, whose videos will be seen by budding defenders around the world for reference in the future.