Chris Smalling has lavished praise on the legendary Manchester United centre-back pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand and has named the pair in his dream eleven.

Vidic and Ferdinand were Manchester United’s first choice centre-back pairing for close to a decade and won multiple league titles and the Champions League with the club.




The two were still going strong when Smalling joined Manchester United in 2010 and the defender admits Vidic played a key role in helping him to settle down and mentor him through his initial years at Old Trafford.

He also slotted Ferdinand into his dream eleven and admits that watching the legendary defensive pair go about their work on and off the pitch was a privilege for a young centre-back.
 


Smalling told MUTV: “He [Vidic] is the one who really helped me when I signed.  

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“To watch him in his prime and play with him as well was an honour.

"I couldn’t have had a better mentor.

“To go alongside him will have to be Rio as when I signed those two were at their prime and I got a chance to play with both.

“I watched them both, trained with them and saw what they did outside of the pitch.”

Vidic and Ferdinand together won five Premier League titles, the Club World Cup, three League Cups and the Champions League during their tenure at Manchester United.