Nemanja Vidic insists facing Fernando Torres at Stamford Bridge
on Tuesday night will hold no fears for him.
The Manchester United skipper is enjoying arguably his best
season since arriving at Old Trafford five years ago.
At Wigan on Saturday, Vidic was his usual obdurate self,
combining with veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to keep the
Latics at bay during their enterprising opening.
However, after guiding United to a 4-0 win that put them four
points ahead of nearest title challengers Arsenal, Vidic knows his
next test is arguably his hardest.
Torres may be yet to score for Chelsea since his record
£50million move from Liverpool but the Spain star has terrorised
Vidic often enough for the Serbian to be very wary about their next
meeting.
Yet, the theory that Vidic is actually traumatised by his
meetings with Torres is simply not true.
"Sometimes you read people saying that certain players have a
hard job to play against someone else," said Vidic.
"Obviously, this is the opinion some people have (about him and
Torres) because they always mention it.
"I don't have a problem with that. I can only change it on the
pitch, not by saying what I think in the media. It actually just
makes me more focused to do my job."
There is another common theory that has attached itself to this
week's clash, namely that Chelsea, who have now slipped 15 points
adrift of United, will be out of the running if they fail to
win.
John Terry said as much last week and Vidic is hardly going to
disagree.
"They are so many points behind, it would be very difficult for
them to come back," he said.
"But anything can happen. If you look at the league and how many
points we have lost and the games Chelsea lost in a row, you never
know."
Even though Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out, in Vidic and Chris
Smalling, United have a central defensive pairing at the top of
their game.
Smalling is benefiting from the gentle cajoling he receives from
his vastly experienced team-mate, who tends to be on hand when
mistakes have been made.
Such performances as yesterday's have raised the possibility
that the PFA may opt to elect a non-superstar as their player of
the year given the most obvious choices, aside from Arsenal duo
Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, have lacked the consistency Vidic
has shown all campaign.
"It is not for me to decide whether I have ever played better,"
he added.
"I just try to limit my mistakes.
"As long as I am thinking like that I will keep myself on a good
level.
"In all honesty, I am never happy with my game. I want to
improve all the time."
Vidic's defensive capabilities laid the platform for a 13th
successive United win over Wigan.
Javier Hernandez opened the scoring with a neat finish to Nani's
near-post cross but it was not until the second-half that the
visitors' cut loose.
Hernandez bagged his 13th goal of the season when he raced onto
Wayne Rooney's through-ball and beat Ali Al Habsi with the minimum
of fuss.
Rooney added a tap-in before Fabio rounded off the scoring with
his first United goal.
It leaves Ferguson with a major selection headache if Rooney
does manage to avoid sanctions for catching James McCarthy in the
face with his elbow.
Although the England star is now on seven goals for the season,
between them, Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov, who started
yesterday's game on the bench, have 33.
Not that Hernandez is going to be banging on Sir Alex Ferguson's
door demanding to start.
"I am enjoying myself here," he said. "I am working a lot and
feel I am really improving.
"The manager makes the decisions he has to make and I am ready
if he needs me.
"Whether it is for one minute or 90, I just want to do my
best."