page_title: Nemanja Vidić
section_title: 2008–09 season
hierarchical_section_title: Nemanja Vidić / Club career / Manchester United / 2008–09 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Referee Alan Wiley shows Nemanja Vidic of ManUtd the Red Card during the Premier League match at Old Trafford (Manchester) between Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC on 14 March 2009. Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4
context_page_description: Nemanja Vidić is a Serbian retired professional footballer. He most notably played for Manchester United from 2006 to 2014, and was part of the Serbia national team from 2002 to 2011. He was considered to be one of the world's best centre-backs in his prime due to his defensive consistency and awareness, as well as his strength, leadership, and ability in the air.
  After establishing himself at Red Star Belgrade during the early 2000s, Vidić moved to Spartak Moscow in the summer of 2004. He further garnered breakout attention when he was part of the "Famous Four" Serbian national team defence that conceded just one goal during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, prompting a £7 million transfer to Manchester United in January 2006. Vidić then established a prominent defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand the following season, earning a reputation as one of the world's best centre-backs during his prime, due to his defensive consistency and awareness, as well as his strength, leadership, and ability in the air. Vidić was eventually selected as the new team captain of Manchester United at the start of the 2010–11 season.
context_section_description: During the 2008–09 season, Vidić was a pivotal part of the United defence in the absence of a number of other defenders during various parts of the season. He started every match in the domestic league, with United going on a record run of 14 consecutive clean sheets in Premier League matches. Towards the end of the 2008–09 season, Vidić was shortlisted for the PFA Player of the Year award, along with four other United players; he was considered the favourite to receive the accolade, although it was later awarded to his team-mate Ryan Giggs. Vidić was later named as the Manchester United Fans' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year, succeeding Cristiano Ronaldo, who won both awards in 2007–08. During the League Cup final, Vidić was deployed at right-back when he replaced John O'Shea.
caption: Vidic being sent off during the Premier League match against Liverpool FC on 14th March 2009 in Old Trafford
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D70s", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2009:03:14 15:20:46", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "28876", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8488", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:03:14 15:20:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:03:14 15:20:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3008", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "28736", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "300", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}