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Nemanja Vidic was voted as the best Premier League centre back ever

Home> Football

Published 00:06 25 Aug 2022 GMT+1

Nemanja Vidic was voted as the best Premier League centre back ever

The former Manchester United defender beat the likes of Virgil van Dijk, John Terry and even his former teammate to the title.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

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Featured Image Credit: Twitter

Topics: Premier League, Nemanja Vidic, Virgil Van Dijk, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28

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The war will always rage on about who is the greatest of all time in the Premier League, but Nemanja Vidic was voted the best defender by fans.

This year the Premier League is celebrating 30 years since the birth of football, or so Sky Sports and the internet would occasionally have you believe.

Obviously that means that everyone is getting involved in naming something great from the past three decades of the league, with even Michael Owen getting involved.

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The father of Love Island star Gemma, sorry I couldn't resist, picked out his greatest XI of the era, and it controversially left out Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.

Interestingly, the former Liverpool star left out Virgil van Dijk, having previously named the Dutchman the greatest centre back of all time, that's not even a joke, he said that!

And it seems that fans agree with Owen, this time rather than his previous comments, as they voted Vidic as the best defender in the past 30 years, with the Manchester United great beating John Terry, Van Dijk and his own partner Rio Ferdinand to the title.


The vote took place three years ago, when Van Dijk had just helped Liverpool win the Champions League, beating Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

At that point the Dutchman was not yet a Premier League winner, although the Reds had already looked transformed with him at the back.

That league win, the club's first in 30 years, would come less than a year after the vote, with the former Southampton defender at the heart of the victory.

Breaking that duck certainly could have taken Van Dijk ahead of Vidic in many fans' eyes, especially as the result wasn't too crushing in the first place.

Van Dijk celebrates Liverpool's title win. Image: Alamy
Van Dijk celebrates Liverpool's title win. Image: Alamy

Certainly Ferdinand seems to believe that Van Dijk is a better defender than he was, at least that's what a lie detector test recently proved.

However, the former England captain took that test before this week, when Van Dijk proved that he's just as susceptible to bad defending as anyone else.

The Dutchman was heavily criticised for his part in United's opening goal as they defeated their fiercest rivals 2-1, to register their first points of the season.

Then again, if we're judging defenders only on their performances in United vs Liverpool matches than Vidic would be well don the list, after his famous troubles against Fernando Torres.

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