Nemanja Vidic was voted the best defender by fans despite a show of rage that has been on about who is the greatest of all time in the Premier League.
The Premier League is commemorating 30 years since the invention of league this year.
That obviously means that everyone—including Michael Owen—is participating in the effort to name a memorable player from the league’s previous three decades.
Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney were notably absent from the father of Love Island star Gemma’s best XI of the time—sorry, I couldn’t resist.
It’s interesting that the former Liverpool player omitted Virgil van Dijk after previously declaring the Dutchman to be the best center back of all time.
Many supporters would have put Van Dijk ahead of Vidic if he had broken that duck, especially because the outcome wasn’t too devastating, to begin with.
At least according to the results of a recent lie detector test, Ferdinand appears to feel that Van Dijk is a better defender than he was.
The former captain of England, though, passed that test before this week, when Van Dijk shown that he is just as prone to poor defending as anyone else.
The Dutchman received harsh criticism for his role in the opening goal that helped United upset their fiercest rivals 2-1 and earn their first points of the year.
However, Vidic would be well-represented on the list if we were to judge defenders just on how they performed in United vs. Liverpool games, given his infamous struggles against Fernando Torres.
Nemanja Vidic
Nemanja Vidic, a former center-back for the Serbian national team, was born on October 21, 1981.
He is regarded as one of the best defenders of his period and is most remembered for his time at Manchester United. He also played for Serbia’s national team.
Along with Thierry Henry, Kevin De Bruyne, and Cristiano Ronaldo, he is one of only four players to have won the Premier League Player of the Season honor twice.
In his time with United, Vidic won a plethora of awards, including three consecutive Premier League championships (a total of five titles), the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, three League Cup medals, and selection to three consecutive (a total of four) PFA Team of the Year teams from 2007 to 2009.
Best Centre-Backs In Premier League History
Here are the best 10 center backs in Premier League history who are also footballers, not just defenders.
To quantify our rankings, we looked at a variety of season-specific statistics as well as a player’s overall impact on the game throughout its history. Who then ranks in our top 10?
John Terry
- 492 appearances
- 41 goals
- 214 clean sheets
There is no denying John Terry’s talent as a footballer, despite his dubious behavior, and there are many factors to take into account both on and off the field. Only eight individuals have captained England more often than Chelsea great and one-club player Terry.
Terry won the Premiership trophy five times. He was selected for the UEFA Team of the Year four times and is respected by his international peers.
Rio Ferdinand
- 504 appearances
- 11 goals
- 189 clean sheets
Erdinand flourished under Alex Ferguson, helping United win six Premier League championships.
Ferdinand, who led his country seven times and was chosen for four straight World Cup squads, had the second-highest number of games played among defenders behind only Jamie Carragher (albeit not playing in France 98 and missing South Africa 2010 through injury).
Virgil Van Dijk
- Still playing
- 14 goals
- 65 assists
The saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” certainly applies to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool fans. After Virgil Van Dijk, a towering figure, led the Reds to their first top-flight title in 30 years, his injury in 2020 ended any hopes of a repeat performance.
Vincent Kompany
- 265 appearances
- 18 goals
- 94 clean sheets
After being acquired by Mark Hughes from Hamburg and originally playing as a defensive midfielder, Kompany spent 12 seasons at Manchester City. It didn’t take him long to relocate to his natural home, where he won four Premier League championships as the heart and soul of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Nemanja Vidic
- 211 appearances
- 15 goals
- 95 clean sheets
Nemanja Vidic, a scrawny Serb, didn’t impress his teammates when he joined at Manchester United from Spartak Moscow in 2005 for £7 million.
However, the 25-year-old rapidly adjusted to the Premier League and the gym, becoming one of the best defensive combinations in history with Rio Ferdinand, and winning five Premier League championships.
