Man Utd hero Nemanja Vidic has already made Virgil van Dijk feelings crystal clear
Manchester United hero Nemanja Vidic is in the spotlight after Jamie Carragher said Virgil van Dijk was a better centre-back than the Serbia international.
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On Monday, Jamie Carragher caused a Twitter storm by claiming Virgil van Dijk is a better centre-back than Nemanja Vidic was. His comments set the social media platform alight, with fans from Manchester United and Liverpool then engaging in debate. And the former Serbia centre-back has previously made his feelings on his rival crystal clear, praising Van Dijk back in 2019.
In a series of tweets, Carragher defended Van Dijk after the Liverpool star had struggled in his side’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday.
“VVD is far better than Vidic, who was a top CB, but have you forgot his performances against Torres?” he said. “Rio & JT had poor seasons in their career like all players, VVD is having one now. No CB in the PL era has ever had VVD’s impact on a team.”
In a second tweet, he added: “Never mind the best CB in the league, he’s been the best player in the league along with KDB for four years before this one.
“We have never spoken about about other CB’s being the best player before, that shows the level he was at.”
And, responding to a sceptic, he then responded by saying: “If you or anyone thinks Vidic is better than VVD you’re not watching the same game! He’s miles better!!”
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“Obviously this season as well, they [Liverpool] are competing for all the trophies, so what he has to do is maintain his form, keep his feet on the ground and deliver again.
“I admire what he does, he’s a top player.”
Rio Ferdinand played alongside Vidic at Old Trafford, with the pair winning five Premier League titles together.
And the Red Devils hero took aim at Carragher for his comments, insisting there was a ‘myth’ behind his thinking.
"I see Jamie Carragher tweeted something about Van Dijk being better than Vidic,” he said on his Five YouTube channel.
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Man Utd hero Nemanja Vidic was a rock for Sir Alex Ferguson (Image: GETTY)
"I think Torres scored three goals in 15 games against Vidic.
"I think it's a bit of a myth, he had a couple of dodgy moments in those games and he got sent off a couple of times but that's been amplified into saying he got tortured every time he played against Torres which wasn't the case.
“[Marcus] Rashford's got six goals in 13 games against Liverpool, does that mean he's tortured Van Dijk?"
As for Vidic, the United legend admitted in 2020 he would sometimes struggle against Fernando Torres - but insisted it was never a regular thing.
"Torres was a top player," he said. "At the time, he was probably the best striker in the league. He scored a few goals against United.
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Man Utd hero Nemanja Vidic was recently compared to Virgil van Dijk by Jamie Carragher (Image: GETTY)
"In the Premier League, I had some good games against [Didier] Drogba, sometimes bad.
"I played well against Torres one week, then one game bad, that's the Premier League. You're not going to be on top of your game every week.
"It's why I like the Premier League. In one game, you're going to be against a strong player like Drogba, the next it'll be a Torres or [Sergio] Aguero.
"If people see me live, they say, 'I thought you were much bigger!' I was never big, but I gave everything in challenges.
"It's why I never got bigger because I knew the next week I'd have Torres or Aguero, so I never spent as much time in the gym as you have to adapt to players."