The central defender combination of these two people is definitely the strongest central defender combination in the world, no doubt about it.

Rio Ferdinand is the older brother of Everton's Anton Ferdinand, but his fame and strength are much greater than Anton Ferdinand.

Rio Ferdinand is 29 years old, 189cm tall and weighs 89kg.

As a central defender, his physical fitness is simply invincible.

And it's not just physical fitness, Rio Ferdinand's skills are also very comprehensive, with a wide defensive range, high confrontation, excellent sense of position, great handling of high balls, and a good pass.

Generally speaking, a central defender who has two of these advantages is already considered an excellent central defender, and Rio Ferdinand has almost everything. He is also very tough and ruthless on the field, and is almost a template for a perfect central defender.

The only shortcoming is that I was impulsive when I was young, which occasionally caused my brain to short-circuit, resulting in lack of stability.

But as he gets older and gains more experience in the game, brain short circuits have become less common.

Rio Ferdinand is also called the "new Bobby Moore" by the Red Devils fans. This is because Rio Ferdinand's playing style and experience are similar to Bobby Moore. They both came from West Ham United, have excellent physical conditions, first-class heading and defensive skills, and the ability of central defenders to dribble the ball forward.

In addition, Rio Ferdinand likes to post on Twitter before everything, so he has a more well-known nickname: Twitter Emperor.

During Rio Ferdinand's peak period playing for Manchester United, he was definitely recognized as the Premier League's top central defender.

But Manchester United's arch-rivals Leeds United never think so.

Rio Ferdinand and his younger brother Anton Ferdinand were both born into civilian families in London. When they were young, their father sent them to an art class to learn ballet for a period of time, but later they had to give up because they grew too fast.

Otherwise, the Rio Ferdinand brothers would be ballerinas in tights by now.

Rio Ferdinand eventually chose football, but his football journey was not smooth at the beginning. He failed the assessments of several youth training camps. Finally, he passed the trial of West Ham United and became a member of West Ham United's youth training team.

When he first came to West Ham United's youth team, Rio Ferdinand played as a striker, but was soon transformed into a defender by the coach.

It turned out to be a very timely choice and Rio Ferdinand did not take many detours.

In 1995, Rio Ferdinand, who was only 17 years old, was promoted to West Ham United's first team because of his outstanding performance in the youth team, and quickly became the main central defender.

In 2000, Rio Ferdinand moved from West Ham United to Leeds United for a record transfer fee of £18 million.

You know, generally speaking, forwards and midfielders have the highest transfer fees, but Rio Ferdinand was able to break the highest transfer record as a central defender, which is enough to illustrate Rio Ferdinand's strength and prospects at the time.

As it turned out, Leeds United was not wrong and the £18 million was well spent.

On February 13, 2001, Leeds United defeated Anderlecht Football Club 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Ferdinand started in the game and made his Champions League debut.

On April 4, Leeds United defeated Deportivo La Coruna 3-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Ferdinand scored his first goal since joining Leeds United in the 66th minute of the game.

Immediately afterwards, on April 13, Leeds United defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the 33rd round of the Premier League. Ferdinand helped Leeds United score the first goal in the 4th minute of the game.

In the 2000-01 season, Ferdinand made 23 appearances for Leeds United in the Premier League, scoring 2 goals; he made 7 appearances in the UEFA Champions League, scoring 1 goal, helping Leeds United reach the semi-finals.

In 2001, Rio Ferdinand's second year at the White Rose Club, the White Rose's top management couldn't wait to make Rio Ferdinand the captain of Leeds United.

However, in 2002, Leeds United had to sell Rio Ferdinand due to its own financial reasons.

What's even worse is that Rio Ferdinand chose to join Leeds United's arch-rivals - the Red Roses and Red Devils Manchester United.

Leeds United fans are heartbroken.

In July 2002, Rio Ferdinand once again broke the English transfer record he had set himself, moving from Leeds United to their arch-rivals Manchester United for £30 million.

This transfer also made Rio Ferdinand the most expensive defender in world football at that time.

At that time, it was unimaginable to buy a defender for 30 million pounds.

Most people think that Manchester United’s top management is angry with Leeds United and that they have money to burn so they are deliberately using it to humiliate their arch-rivals.

But in fact it is not the case.

The addition of Rio Ferdinand has given Manchester United even more power, greatly improved its defensive strength, and helped Manchester United create one brilliant result after another.

In general, Rio Ferdinand is definitely the ceiling for central defenders. It's a pity that his peak period was a bit short and he suffered frequent injuries in his later years, which greatly affected Rio Ferdinand's strength and development.

Vidic, the central defender who partnered with Rio Ferdinand at Manchester United, is nicknamed Vida and the Balkan Contra.

Just from this nickname, you can feel Vidic's mental strength and ferocity.

Nemanja Vidic is 29 years old, 188cm tall and weighs 82kg.

In terms of physical condition alone, Vidic is slightly weaker than Rio Ferdinand. However, compared with RIO, Vidic's most outstanding feature is not his fierce defense, but his tough spirit as a Serbian.

Rio Ferdinand was the vice-captain of the England national team in 2008. Later, after Terry's affair with his friend's wife was exposed, he was stripped of the captain's armband. Rio Ferdinand was promoted to captain of the England team in 2010. However, at Manchester United, the captain of Manchester United is the Serbian Vidic.

Because Vidic's mental attributes are invincible, his influence on the field is number one.

Moreover, compared to Rio Ferdinand, although Vidic has obvious shortcomings, his strengths are still very long.

Rio Ferdinand is the kind of central defender who is good at predicting and positioning, and Van Dijk later had a lot in common with Rio Ferdinand in this respect. Vidic, on the other hand, likes to rush forward to intercept, confront, and compete for the ball. With Vidic's physique, he would generally succeed. But if he faces a small and agile player like Messi, or a stronger player like Drogba, and Vidic's turning speed is slow, this rash rush will cause huge loopholes in Manchester United's defense.

But then again, how many Messis and Didier Drogbas are there in this world?

So, Vidic basically walks sideways in the Premier League.

Ferguson wrote in his autobiography: The first thing we recorded about Vidic was his courage and determination. He was good at tackling and had a strong ability to clear the ball with his header. He was exactly the typical English central defender we were looking for.

What is a typical English center back? It is a savage, rough, fierce center back who crushes his opponents with his body.

Although Vidic is slightly inferior to Rio Ferdinand in terms of turning speed and footwork, Vidic is far superior to Rio Ferdinand in terms of physical confrontation and even in his pressure-type expression before confrontation. (End of this chapter)