Manchester United legend Gordon McQueen believes the form of Jonny Evans and Wes Brown in the last few weeks has given Sir Alex Ferguson, and in particular Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic plenty to think about. The Englishman and Northern Ireland international have been instrumental in their recent Premier League wins against Arsenal and Portsmouth and have stepped into the breach when required throughout the season to great effect.
McQueen suggests Vidic and Ferdinand are likely to be restored to Manchester United’s first team when fit, but he intimated neither can be guaranteed their place in the Premier League champions’ starting eleven because of the form of two of Sir Alex Ferguson’s home-grown talents.
Both players have emerged through Manchester United’s famed youth academy and McQueen suggests Evans is now rightly regarded as one of the finest defensive prospects in the whole of Europe. The former Old Trafford stalwart suggests Evans and Brown have made Ferdinand and Vidic’s place within Manchester United’s starting eleven far from assured.
The Manchester United legend told the Manchester Evening News: “For the last couple of seasons we have been asking whether Rio and Nemanja was a better partnership than the hugely successful Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister pairing,”
“We've been debating its merits as the best in Europe and even the world. I still think that when they are fit and available Sir Alex Ferguson would match them up again.”
“I think they will be back and forming a solid on-field relationship again. But United and, significantly, the two players know that there are players who will push them all the way and are a proven pairing in their own right.”
“Wes is an England international and Jonny is one of the most highly-rated centre-backs in British football and probably Europe.”
“The pecking order might not be so cut and dried anymore. It is no longer set in stone.”
“There is no doubt that Ferdinand and Vidic are facing that same uncertainty now. They cannot consider themselves definite starters when fit anymore.”