Vidic on Live at Old Trafford

Vidic on Live at Old Trafford

Nemanja Vidic waved goodbye to Old Trafford on
Tuesday night as Manchester United take on Hull
City in their last home match of the season.
Vidic has spent the last eight and a half years at
United, having joined from Spartak Moscow in a
£7million deal on Christmas Day, 2005.
He will leave in the summer for Inter Milan having
won five Premier League titles and the Champions
League in 2008.
“I have no regrets,” he said. “I’ve given this club
100 per cent and my time at this club will always
rank as the best part of my career.
“It has been a great eight years – or a great seven
years because at the moment we are not doing so
well!
“I never considered staying in England as the only
club I ever wanted to play for in this country is
United and I have been lucky enough to be part of
this club for so many years. I’ve got so many great
memories. I never could have imagined winning 15
trophies, including five Premier League titles and the
Champions League.
“I’ve played for the greatest manager [Sir Alex
Ferguson] and I have learned a lot, not just on the
pitch but off the pitch as well.
“Manchester United make you feel part of the family.
It has been a great experience for me.
“I have developed as a man at this club.
“Manchester United make you feel part of the family.
It has been a great experience for me and my
family.”
Vidic will make his 299th appearance in all
competitions as United face Hull and, injury
permitting, he will round it off by making his 300th
in their final game of the season at Southampton on
Sunday.
It would have been many more but Vidic missed the
second half of the 2011-12 season after rupturing
knee ligaments in a Champions League game in
Basel and three months of the following season with
another knee problem.
He has no hesitation abut naming his favourite
memory.
“The Champions League final in 2008 [when United
beat Chelsea on penalties],|” said Vidic. “You don’t
win the Champions League every year. The club has
only won it three times and I was lucky to be part
of one of those teams.
“And we won it Moscow, where I played for Spartak
for 18 months. I came back to the stadium to lift the
trophy and that’s the greatest memory I have. I will
certainly never forget that fantastic night, memories
that will live with me and the fans forever.”
The Serbian has arguably not been the same player
since rupturing cruciate ligaments during United’s
Champions League defeat by Basel in December
2011, but he remains a firm favourite with the fans
and coaching staff at Old Trafford.
Left-back Patrice Evra joined United in the same
transfer window as Vidic and the duo played for
many years together in an experienced back-four,
the foundation of Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering
team.
Evra said: “When you see a player like Nemanja
Vidic is leaving this club you feel really sad.
“I call him the rock. I am lucky to have played
alongside him, for me he was a great centre-back.”
Evra, who could potentially join Vidic at Inter this
summer, still regards the 32-year-old as one of the
best centre-backs in the game.
But it has not all been plain sailing for Vidic,
according to Evra.
“I remember our first game when we were in the
reserves,” the Frenchman said.
“It was so hard and we were so poor. (Reserve
team coach) Rene (Meulensteen) was the manager
and he substituted us both.
“We were talking together in the dressing room after
and saying: ‘Oh my God, why have we come to
Manchester United?! We should go quickly back to
our clubs!’. It was a difficult moment, but we stuck
together.
“We’ve trained together and we’ve won the same
trophies so losing Vida is painful.”