Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic 'complained that Man Utd player wasn't good enough' to Sir Alex Ferguson
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic vented to Sir Alex Ferguson about a teammate they thought wasn't at it, according to Patrice Evra.
The former Manchester United captain was incredibly revealing on the latest episode of The Overlap, brought to you Sky Bet.
Alongside Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane and Ian Wright, Evra provided plenty insight into his time at United and did not sugarcoat anything whatsoever.
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And at one point in the podcast, Evra peeled back the curtain on David de Gea's early days at the club.
The Spaniard arrived from Atletico Madrid in an £18.9 million move in 2011 when he was just 20.
Ferguson had missed a League Cup to watch him in action and personally selected him as the replacement for Edwin van der Sar.
But he struggled to adapt to English football in his first season and was targeted by the opposition on a regular basis.
And according to Evra, United's centre-backs Ferdinand and Vidic expressed their concerns to Ferguson about De Gea's lack of communication compared to Anders Lindegaard.
"For me, the captain of the defence was Edwin van der Sar," Evra said.
"The problem came when David de Gea came. I remember he didn't talk and Vidic and Rio, they were like: 'Okay, Anders [Lindegaard] is louder. So he needs to play.'
"We'd play one game with Anders, then one game with De Gea. And we said to the boss: 'You need to pick one, because this is making the defence fragile.'"
De Gea made mistakes but Ferguson ultimately stuck with him in a decision that was justified in the end.
He won the club's Player of the Year award on four occasions and holds the record for the most clean sheets in United's history with 190.
Evra added: "I remember there was one game, De Gea was playing really bad. And he [Sir Alex] said to him: 'You know what, you are really s***'. But actually now you are going to play every game, you are going to be the number one. Because I believe in you. I trust you.'
"And that's when David de Gea started play. But Anders told me he was supposed to be the number one. And one training session before that game, he got injured. So that's why the boss had no choice but to go with De Gea."
De Gea left United last summer and spent a year without a club before returning to football with Serie A side Fiorentina.
He showed his class as they sealed their place in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night.
Topics: Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Man Utd
Josh Lawless