Can we win the League without Vidic?

[TuckersLaw]

Once again at Chelsea, we suffered from an unstable back line and poor defending. I don't feel that Evans or Ferdinand are having a good season and when they play together, they seem to be an accident waiting to happen. The moment Vidic picked up the injury against Basel that ruled him out for the season, I felt that was damaging to our chances of retaining the title.

At a quick count of games/goals conceded in the League, CL, FA and CC games this season, the records are;

Vidic; played 9 - conceded 3 goals.
Ferdinand; played 20 - conceded 25 goals.
Evans; played 21 - conceded 22 goals.

As a CB pairing;

Vidic and Evans - played 1 - conceded 0 goals
Vidic and Ferdinand - played 6 - conceded 3 goals
Ferdinand and Evans - played 9 - conceded 12 goals

Ferdinand and Evans were the paired for the home defeat to City, the 2nd half KO to Basel and last nights showing at Chelsea.

Admirably, they have kept clean sheets together against Bolton x 2, Otelul Galati, QPR and Stoke.

Throw into the mix a young goalkeeper and an indifferent Evra and its hard to see how we can retain the league without Vidic. We have an outstanding squad and an array of options but even with key players starting to come back, it is hard to see how we can manage without him. It could be like '95 without Cantona or '98 without Keane.

[Swarbs]

Can we win the league without Vidic? Yes

Will we win it without him? Probably not

Ultimately we have the attacking players to beat just about anyone, regardless of defensive frailties. Problem is we haven't been as clinical in recent weeks so the defensive weaknesses are coming to the fore a bit. What we do need is a settled defensive partnership - if De Gea, Rio and Evans played every match for the rest of the season we'd be fine - no matter what their individual issues they would learn to work as a unit. But if we keep having to chop and change due to injuries it'll probably be rocky.

Would be interesting to see how we did with Smalling and Jones as CBs.

[Manobear]

Was Smalling injured? He should have played instead of rio or Evans, as he is the best header of the ball, besides Vidic, that we have IMO. Every time he plays CB he wins almost every ball pumped into the box.

I think the importance of Vidic is the difference between first and second place. Just ask Arsenal how big a difference that actually is.

[TuckersLaw]

A fit and regular back 4 might do the trick, but I would prefer to see Smalling partner Ferdinand in the middle, instead of Evans. Evans has performed reasonably well, but there are still one or two occasions in a game where his concentration drops.

Fergie seems to prefer using either Smalling or Jones at RB when one of Evans/ Ferdinand is fit. They don't seem to have been paired together as CB's this season - yet. Evans needs to pull his socks up fast, otherwise he could fall behind Smalling and Jones for the CB positions, especially if they play there together for England.

@ Manobear
Agreed. Definitely our 2nd best header of the ball.

[Manobear]

I'd actually rather see Evans Smalling as our CBs, at least in games where Rio's experience is needed. Rio has last his mobility and if he's caught out of position he can't recover

[shaxi]

I'd actually rather see Evans Smalling as our CBs, at least in games where Rio's experience is needed. Rio has last his mobility and if he's caught out of position he can't recover

so Vidic is important ,and it need fortune besides the hard hard for the champion !

[shwan]

Can we win the league without Vidic? Yes

Will we win it without him? Probably not

Ultimately we have the attacking players to beat just about anyone, regardless of defensive frailties. Problem is we haven't been as clinical in recent weeks so the defensive weaknesses are coming to the fore a bit. What we do need is a settled defensive partnership - if De Gea, Rio and Evans played every match for the rest of the season we'd be fine - no matter what their individual issues they would learn to work as a unit. But if we keep having to chop and change due to injuries it'll probably be rocky.

Would be interesting to see how we did with Smalling and Jones as CBs.

yepp

[shwan]

I'd actually rather see Evans Smalling as our CBs, at least in games where Rio's experience is needed. Rio has last his mobility and if he's caught out of position he can't recover

hmm .. is Evans who worry me, yes rio may had lost his pace .. but evans get red cards easily and make costly mistakes at times. but sure what you said make logic, he lost his pace .. imo it is a gamble for either option .. as you said SAF need to pick right players depending on the game

[Christiansmith]

Can we win the league without Vidic? Yes

Will we win it without him? Probably not

Ultimately we have the attacking players to beat just about anyone, regardless of defensive frailties. Problem is we haven't been as clinical in recent weeks so the defensive weaknesses are coming to the fore a bit. What we do need is a settled defensive partnership - if De Gea, Rio and Evans played every match for the rest of the season we'd be fine - no matter what their individual issues they would learn to work as a unit. But if we keep having to chop and change due to injuries it'll probably be rocky.

Would be interesting to see how we did with Smalling and Jones as CBs.

Can we win it wihtout any of the key players ? YES ...amazingly. This has been a very strange season with United mssing all their key players at one point, playing in fits and starts and yet gathering the points steadily. Anything is possible with United this season...

[Daveunited]

we won the league last season with a well out of form Wayne Rooney and had a few injuries to Valencia,Nani Rio etc.I know our injury list has been worse this season but we are getting them back at the right time of the season and we are in form.Carrick and Valencia have been class,Cleverley and Welbeck returning are giving us some more energy in key areas,the only downside is that De gea has had a lot of critism this season but has had hes moments and them saves on sunday would have done him the world of good for the reminder of the season.

Come on United

[Comas/99]

Typical united, we are "****" but can still win the league lol

[King Shergar]

The midfield and attack were brilliant away at Liverpool and Chelsea, but our defence was shocking in both games, and cost us.

I wouldn't swap Vidic for any defender in the world when fit, he is brilliant. Evans is terrible, and far to weak to play at centre half, whilst Ferdinand is far to complacent, and has only ever been any good with Vidic alongside him to keep him in check.

Jones and Smalling both have bright futures and great potential, but they are still very naive defensively, particularly Jones, who can switch off. He is a naturally very talented footballer, but it takes years of experience to fully learn the position. I don't have an issue with Jones being in the first team, but he needs Vidic alongside him. Having Rio alongside him is like the blind leading the blind, as even at 32 he is still very naive, and to make matters worse he doesnt have the pace he used to have, which used to bail him out of trouble.

I think we are going to realy struggle to win the league without Vidic, winning the league tends to be about grinding out 1-0 wins when your playing badly, and I just don't see us keeping clean sheets, with any combination of Rio, Evans, Smalling or Jones at the back

[shaxi]

I think we are going to realy struggle to win the league without Vidic, winning the league tends to be about grinding out 1-0 wins when your playing badly, and I just don't see us keeping clean sheets, with any combination of Rio, Evans, Smalling or Jones at the back

1-0 is enough !

[TheLawMan]

Aging defense and inexperienced goalkeeper = receipe for disaster

We have a cracking front line, good wingers, and an average midfield.

Not good enough to win it this year but fingers crossed that the lads prove me wrong!

[ufos]

The league is already won. I do believe we will it by seven points. ****ty citeh will lose at villa tomorrow.

[stanclave]

def as long as you have fergie and his team of refs

[TuckersLaw]

Is this you stanclave?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auZGMGeaOBs