Fully Fit Nemanja Vidic Could Be Manchester United's Biggest Boost of the Summer

From November 2008 through March 2009, Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar did not concede a single goal.

After being beaten by Samir Nasri just after the restart in a 2-1 defeat away to Arsenal, the Dutchman strung together 14 consecutive clean sheets, setting a Premier League record of 1,311 faultless minutes (more than 21 hours) before Newcastle attacker Peter Lovenkrands slipped one by him in the ninth minute of an encounter at St. James’ Park.

But while Van der Sar, himself, holds the record, it was hardly a series of individual performances that kept some of the English top flight goalscorers at bay for so long a period. The whole team did their bit—and they needed to, as during the historic stretch they tallied only 26 times and won eight matches by a 1-0 scoreline.

Perhaps the key figure in all of it was defender Nemanja Vidic.

The Serbia international started all 14 matches, operated only eight times alongside Rio Ferdinand and even chipped in with three goals—two of them match-winners.

Never before had he elevated his game to such a level, but just as he was becoming the consensus best centre-back in the Premier League he was struck down by an injury bug that would inflict calf, knee and back injuries on his body and limit him to only one full campaign over the next four seasons.

Limited to just six Premier League matches in 2011-12 after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture in a Champions League match against Basel, he made a full-time comeback to the United squad just last December and took until January to regain match-fitness.

But after starting United’s January 13 showdown with Liverpool at Old Trafford (a 2-1 win in which he scored the winner) he went on to begin 12 of the Red Devils’ remaining 16 Premier League matches—10 of them wins, only one a loss and half of them clean sheets.

In his 19 appearances over the course of the campaign he averaged 10.5 clearances per match, intercepted nearly two passes each time out and won an impressive nine offsides overall. (All statistics courtesy WhoScored.com.)

Most incredibly, only twice in his entire season was he dribbled past by an opponent, and he also managed to complete 87.4 per cent of his passes.

It was surely with all this in mind that new United manager David Moyes singled-out his club captain following Tuesday’s 1-1 friendly draw with AIK in Stockholm.

“[Vidic] was probably the big thing for us—to get him through the whole game,” the Scot told the club’s official website.

And in his own post-match remarks Vidic revealed that he’d be fully fit to start the 2013-14 Premier League season, having overcome a nerve problem in his back that prevented his participation in the club’s preseason tour of the Far East.

“I am pleased that I have 90 minutes under my belt,” he told ManUtd.com, adding, “It’s a long time since I’ve played a full game. I am pleased with that and hope that after this game I can pick up my fitness and be ready for the beginning of the season.”

United could have hardly received better news, especially in light of their failures to land either Thiago Alcantara or Cesc Fabregas during the summer transfer period.

That the club could use an imaginative, playmaking midfielder to help unlock defenses is hardly news, but in the absence of a signing—and with Wayne Rooney’s future up in the air—it could well be Vidic’s comeback that proves to be United’s most significant summer boost.

After all, he has shown before how serious, hardnosed defending can win matches, even when things are far less reliable up the park.