The defence was absolutely vital this season, providing us with the perfect platform to do well, despite the fact the personnel changed numerous times.
Even during the record-breaking clean sheet run we were forced to swap things around, but the lads that came in never let us down. That proves the fantastic capabilities of all the players, both young and old. They really had to dig deep at times, none more so than in the victories at Stoke, Bolton and Sunderland – those are three that stick out for me in terms of the effort and strength of character shown by the defence.
Everyone played their part, but the one we have to mention is Nemanja Vidic. He was absolutely outstanding and played more games than anyone. Not only did he maintain high standard of performance level throughout the season, he contributed goals as well. He had that one blip which everyone remembers, but one blip in 50-odd games isn’t bad.
We all know about the superb partnership between Vida and Rio Ferdinand, but this season we saw the development of some other great pairings, namely Rio and Jonny Evans and Vida and Jonny. They all blended very well together.
Jonny is just one of a number of young players, including Rafael, Fabio and Richard Eckersley, who we brought into the defence at times and each one acquitted themselves very well. The crowd really got behind them and the players reacted positively to that support which was great to see.
The youngsters also made a valuable contribution to the clean sheet record which really was a terrific achievement. To go so long - 1,334 minutes - without conceding was phenomenal and you have to give great credit to Edwin van der Sar for the huge part he played. He brings stability, experience, composure and confidence to the defence and his level of fitness is fantastic. The same can be said about Patrice Evra and John O’Shea who were both as solid as ever in the back four.
We’re very fortunate to have such a fantastic group of top defenders who all played an important role in our achievements this season.
The views expressed in this blog are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Manchester United FC.
Rio Ferdinand
Nemanja Vidić
Jonny Evans
Rafael and Fabio
1 komentar:
Rafael e Fabio craques de S.brasileira pena que o burro do mano meneses não acha
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