62% Successful Duels Won – Should Manchester United Sign This Nemanja Vidic Replacement?

With the Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic departing at the end of the season, the obvious need to reinforce the defense is there for everybody to see. While it is expected that David Moyes, should he stay, will be given the money in the summer transfer window to spend on his players one of the top priority will be to replace Nemanja Vidic who is on his way to Inter Milan when the season ends. While Vidic’s performance this season left a lot to be desired it still does not take away the fact that he was a top class defender with bags of experience in him and now that he is leaving, Manchester United need an established defender of the same mould.

This is where Alex enters. An established figure in PSG’s title chasing side, the Brazilian has been nothing short of phenomenal this season. While the French League is not the best place to judge whether someone is really good or not we must remember that Alex has plenty of Premier League experiences as well. Having made 86 appearances for Chelsea, Alex will certainly not need any time to adopt to the Premier League should Manchester United decide to replace Nemanja Vidic with Alex.

A good ball winning defender Alex might just be the shot of fresh air Manchester United needs right now. However there are some things that Manchester United should consider if they really want to take the plunge on Alex. First off while Alex is decent defender he is not the player who can shoulder all the defensive responsibilities on his shoulder should the need arise. In short he is a good player but it would be foolish of Manchester United to expect anything spectacular from him. Also the signing of Alex will not exactly reassure the fans that Manchester United is trying to get their priorities straight for another title bid next season.

Let us delve deeper into the statistics on Alex for the current season. While the French League is not the best place to judge talent at-least it will give us an idea. Alex has a passing success rate of 94% and for a team like Manchester United which likes to build from the back this is a very decent place to start from. In-fact his passing success rate is much better than Nemanja Vidic’s whose passing success rate stands at 85%. Also Alex has a 62% of duels won against opponents, which is far better than Vidic’s at 57%.

Statistically Alex will be a nice replacement for Nemanja Vidic but again it is important to reiterate that it is the Ligue 1 where Alex has shown all his performances while his performance while playing for Chelsea, while solid was nothing to write home about. If Manchester United are serious about contending for titles again next season they would do well to find a defender who is actually world class since they are looking so exposed at the back at the moment. One thing is for sure though and that is Alex is not the answer to Manchester United’s defensive SOS.