Vidic’s Partner In Defence Next Season

Thankfully, we shall be seeing the colossal, domineering man united centre half Nemanja Vidic back in action after his horrible injury back in October.

But that would mean that one of Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans will have to play second fiddle to the other two. Who should it be? I think it should be Evans and here’s why:

Rio is 33, Jonny is 24. Jonny’s age gives him a distinct advantage over Rio. He can handle the rigors of the game better and can play wed-sun-wed-sun far more easily than Rio. Rio needs to be used sparingly next season onwards. He is still a class act and can do the job for us. Instead of playing 40 odd games a year, we could have him play maybe 20 or 25 at the max. That way his game will not be affected by regular play and he can do the job when needed.

Jonny is the future. Rio came in 2002 aged 23 and was the bedrock of our defense thence. Now, his role needs to be that of a mentor to Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Evans. He has a wealth of knowledge at his disposal and the youngsters can benefit immensely by having a guy like him monitoring their development. They can benefit from his know how of what positions to take, when and when not to tackle, etc.

Rio has had his problems with injuries. If he is to prolong his career for another two seasons before he calls it quits, he needs to stop playing the amount of games he has been playing. In all fairness, he had to play this much because of the injuries suffered by Vidic, Jones, and Smalling at some point of time during the season.

Vidic`s presence rubs off on Evans. He seems much more assured and confident in his play. He knows he can go forward a bit because Vidic is there to back him up. Vidic will be 31 this season so him and  Evans can work together for around two seasons before one of Smalling and Jones becomes fully ready to take over from Vidic.

Rio is not finished. Not one bit. He, however, is not as good as he was before and so needs to play lesser games for the club. His presence at United for the next three years is vital to the club’s quest for silverware.

By Yashasvee Prasad