Letting Vidic leave: United making a mistake?

Is allowing Vidic to leave a good move?

While the deficiencies in Manchester United’s midfield have been highlighted with alarming regularity this season, far less has been made of the problems at the back. The goalkeeper and full-backs have been reasonably reliable, the real issue proving to be the centre of defence.

In Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans, United have a quintet of players either approaching their best or just past it. For obvious reasons, this is a problematic state of affairs as it means not one of the five is at their absolute peak and the team has suffered accordingly.

It has often been said that great teams are built on solid partnerships in defence and it is certainly true in the case of Vidic and Ferdinand. At their zenith, around 2008 (a season in which United secured a league and Champions League double), the pair were practically impenetrable. The following season, Edwin Van der Sar received the plaudits when he set the world league clean sheet record by not conceding a single goal for 1,311 minutes. It was, however, as much to do with the players in front of him as the keeper’s own brilliance between the sticks.

Ferdinand and Vidic

The Englishman and the Serbian, the brains and the brawn, complimented each other perfectly and provided Sir Alex Ferguson with his finest centre-back pairing since Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister. Many saw Ferguson’s departure as the end of an era at Old Trafford and that feeling will only be reinforced if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League and there are wholesale changes in the summer.

Moyes has repeatedly insisted he would like to build his own team and there is every chance that neither veteran defender will be a United player by the start of next season.

Vidic is still just 32 and the manager would be wise to try and keep him at the club for a while longer. His contract expires in the summer and reports suggest the fan favourite is attempting to engineer a move away from Manchester, unsurprising given the new man’s woeful first campaign in charge.

It is undeniable, given his last two seasons have been plagued with injury, that Vidic is not integral to Moyes’ plans but he is the kind of player whose experience could prove vital in the coming months and years. There is a general sense that Ferdinand no longer has anything to offer but Moyes should not be so quick to reach the same conclusion about his erstwhile defensive partner.