Vidic: Drogba > Torres, but Suarez, Aguero the best

Matt Stead

Nemanja Vidic has claimed that he struggled to deal with Didier Drogba far more often than he did Fernando Torres.

Vidic was an imperious centre-half for Manchester United from his signing in 2006 until his departure in 2014.

The Serb won 15 trophies during an eight-year stay at Old Trafford, but also engaged in some memorable battles with forwards in the Premier League.

The defender, who retired earlier this year, is often perceived to have struggled when faced with Fernando Torres, who capitalised on a mistake to score for Liverpool in a 4-1 win over United in March 2009.

But Vidic insists that was his only error in any of his games against the Spaniard, and that Chelsea’s Drogba was a more worthy foe.

“Drogba was tougher,” he told FourFourTwo. Torres always created a chance to score, but Drogba was on you for the full game. People say: ‘You had a difficult game against Torres’, but it was just the one game. I went to head the ball but changed my mind and tried to pass to Edwin [van der Sar]. I misjudged the distance and Torres scored.”

“Drogba was physically the hardest; [Luis] Suarez and [Sergio] Aguero were the best,” the 34-year-old added. “Drogba would be even better if he didn’t get so many injuries. They were the top three I played against.

“How would I deal with Diego Costa today? I’d deal with him like I did the others. You are what you are and I played my own game against everyone.”