• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Rio Ferdinand Expertly Breaks Down Why 'Devastating' Fernando Torres Tormented Nemanja Vidic In Heated Battles

Home> Football

Updated 11:41 28 Jan 2022 GMTPublished 11:29 28 Jan 2022 GMT

Rio Ferdinand Expertly Breaks Down Why 'Devastating' Fernando Torres Tormented Nemanja Vidic In Heated Battles

Man United legend Rio Ferdinand claimed Fernando Torres "didn't cause me any problems" -- but the same can't be said for Nemanja Vidic.

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz

Rio Ferdinand believes that Fernando Torres deployed a style of play that was built to “hurt” former Manchester United teammate Nemanja Vidic.

Vidic and Ferdinand forged a monster partnership at United and both former defenders enjoyed incredible success under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.

However, Vidic was repeatedly on the receiving end of a hard time from Liverpool hero Torres, who was in lethal goalscoring form during his Anfield days.

The 40-year-old Serbian was sent off three times when he came up against Torres and Liverpool, with the former Reds striker tormenting him on the pitch.

Ferdinand revealed that he and Vidic never discussed the idea of swapping who marked Torres, despite claiming that he “didn’t cause me any problems.”

However, the United legend claimed that a “devastating striker” like El Nino was that one player who might have proved too much for Vidic’s style of play.

PA

When asked about Vidic’s battles with Torres, Ferdinand told The Beautiful Game Podcast: “First of all, it’s the best partnership ever in Premier League history.

“Trust me. Listen, strikers were playing out on the wings sometimes because they didn’t want to come up against us, it was mad!

“There’s always going to be that one player in your career who’s difficult. He might not be the best player on the planet, but his style is made to hurt your style. And Torres might have just been that for Nemanja.

“He’s someone he found difficult to play against. And he’s probably the only player I’ve seen consistently give Vida a hard time, and he got sent off in a couple of the games didn’t he, early on in the games.

“But listen, Torres was a great player and when he was in his pomp when he was at Liverpool, he was one of the best strikers about. He was a devastating striker. But with me one-v-one, he didn’t cause me any problems if I’m honest.

PA

“That’s just the way it is. One of my hardest strikers to play against when people ask me -- other than the ones that are obvious, like [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi -- was Kevin Davies. You would never expect that.

“But he was always tough to play against for me, always caused me the most problems. He always was physical, just obstructing you all the time. The ball might be over there [away from you] but he’s grabbing you and all this stuff.

“So you would never expect that, but Torres would have been that for Nemanja probably. But we never really spoke about it.

PA

“It’s mad, our relationship, we spent a lot of time with each other after training, in and around the training ground just chatting about loads of stuff, but it wasn’t about our relationship on the pitch.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Vida you know when you go tight with [Luis] Suarez, I’m going to be behind covering.’ It was nothing like that. We never spoke like that at all.

“But our relationship was like there was something in the air that I knew he was going to go there, and if he went there, I would go here. If I went here, he was there.

“Partnerships in the game are not necessarily built just on the training pitch, sometimes you’re just blessed that someone comes into your life at that time and it’s come together just like that. And that’s what we had.”

Vidic, who ended his remarkable playing career in 2016, called former rival Torres a “top player” and explained why he believes El Nino had his number on the pitch.

Featured Image Credit: PA/Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE

Topics: Nemanja Vidic, Fernando Torres, Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United, Liverpool, Premier League, England, Football

Adnan Riaz
Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

X

@AdnanRiaz9

Choose your content:

4 hours ago
5 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 4 hours ago

    Ex-Chelsea wonderkid tipped to be 'football's next big thing' announces shock retirement from football

    The player made seven appearances for Chelsea and was once compared to Eden Hazard.

    Football
  • 5 hours ago

    Alexander Isak 'cut price tag' revealed as Liverpool deal with Newcastle 'in play'

    The Newcastle United forward has attracted interest from several top clubs this summer.

    Football
  • 7 hours ago

    Xabi Alonso has found the new Luka Modric for Real Madrid and it could be the signing of the summer

    The Real Madrid boss could be set to replace the veteran midfielder, who will leave the club later this summer.

    Football
  • 7 hours ago

    Odds slashed on Lionel Messi's next club as clear favourite emerges after huge news drops on Inter Miami star's future

    Lionel Messi has been linked with a move away from Inter Miami.

    Football