Nemanja Vidic has identified Arsenal’s William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as two of the top five central defenders currently playing in the Premier League.
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Vidic, considered one of the greatest center-backs in Premier League history with five league titles and a Champions League triumph from his time at Manchester United, included Saliba and Gabriel in his list…Continue Reading
In an interview with CGTN Sports Scene, he also mentioned Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, and Manchester City’s Ruben Dias as the other three in his top five.
Van de Ven set the record for the fastest speed in Premier League history in January, reaching 37.38 km/h during a game against Brentford.
Van Dijk, who joined Liverpool for £75 million in 2017, has been integral to the team’s success, winning six major trophies including the Premier League and Champions League.
Dias has been crucial to Manchester City’s recent dominance, with the club winning nine trophies, including four consecutive Premier League titles, over the past four seasons.
Vidic also shared his experience of adapting to the challenges posed by various Premier League strikers after his £7 million transfer from Spartak Moscow to Manchester United in 2006.
‘You have to adapt and change, if you go to Italy it’s not the same football,’ Vidic said in an interview with his former Man United teammate Rio Ferdinand.
‘If you expect always that players will adapt just to your game, like Berba [Dimitar Berbatov], because Berba believes people should adapt to his game because he understands the way he’s playing is the best way to play.
‘That was the issue for him, the players didn’t like that he always wanted the ball to feet and he would pass for people to run behind, but sometimes players would tell him to run. Sometimes you have to do both, to be accepted to the group you have to do both things.
‘When I came obviously I had an issue with not playing in Europe on a big stage, I played in Russia so people didn’t know about my game.
‘I didn’t start well, so I had to adapt, to train hard, to find my way, to pick up my confidence, first pass, header, slowly you win.
‘I was watching the games of the teams I would play in the next match to prepare because I didn’t know many players I was playing against. One game I would have Berba, who I know who would never run behind, then you have Peter Crouch, then you have fast players like Craig Bellamy, it was every game I would have a different player.
‘If you play in Italy more or less you have similar players, you have a No.9 who is going to come to the ball or run in behind, more tricky players, so I had to learn all players and try to understand the way they’re playing.’
