23 September 2023 , 12:31
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Rio Ferdinand has revealed that he and Wayne Rooney were not impressed with Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra when they first joined Manchester United, with the pair left questioning Sir Alex Ferguson's judgement.
Both Vidic and Evra joined United in the 2006 January transfer window and went on to form part of a legendary back four alongside Ferdinand and Gary Neville which helped United win four Premier League titles, three League Cups and a Champions League. Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra also won a fifth Premier League together following Neville's retirement in 2011.
However, Ferdinand and Rooney's initial opinion of Vidic and Evra was far from positive. Speaking on the Filthy @ Five podcast, Ferdinand reflected on the pair's first training session with the squad and a subsequent conversation he had with Rooney.
He said: "I remember after one session, me and Wazza were walking around. He said 'Who the f*** is this guy?'. He was terrible. Vidic and (Patrice) Evra signed in the same window and he (Rooney) was going: 'The manager has f***** it, he's messed up, I don't know what's going on with the recruitment'."
Ferdinand spoke with Vidic earlier this year on his FIVE YouTube channel and the Serbian admitted his first training session at United was a "nightmare". He said: "I had come from Russia and in December you have the month off, no training, it is too cold.
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"I said to the gaffer and Carlos Queiroz that I needed a pre-season, I was not fit and I couldn't play. I remember the first training session playing against Giggsy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Saha, Rooney… wow, seriously. That was a nightmare.
"I was kicking them all training not because I wanted to but because I couldn't catch them. They were too fast. I was arguing with Giggsy after three trainings – he was starting to be angry. 'Pass the ball, you have to play faster!' I was like (laughing), 'man, come on! I can't move!'.
"I joined with Patrice. The first six months was really tough. I played a game for the reserves, Rene Meulensteen was coach and he took us off at half-time! But Patrice had been playing for Monaco and in a Champions League semi-final. I came from Spartak Moscow and nobody knew who I was."
Ferdinand responded: "I remember me and Wazza were talking about you and Patrice and we thought 'wow, these guys have a long way to go. They are struggling, they are off the pace'. But what I didn't consider is what he just said.
"No pre-season for one but he was playing against Louis Saha, probably the hardest player in training, Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggsy who at that time was flying. They were struggling and you could see it. You thought 'these guys better get up to speed'."