Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Lisandro Martinez is the best Premier League defender ‘on form right now’, after Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace.
Lisandro Martinez arrived in Manchester in the summer, joining from Eredivisie giants Ajax. The defender was reunited with former boss Erik ten Hag, who also made the move to Old Trafford from Amsterdam.
Since then, Martinez has cemented himself as a crucial element to the United defence, whilst picking up a World Cup winner’s medal along the way.
His performances have seen club captain dropped to the bench, as Martinez remains the preferred partner to Raphael Varane.
Martinez was particularly impressive in United’s win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, receiving plenty of plaudits.
One came from Match of the Day’s Ian Wright, who said:
“That defender man, Martinez. He is something.”
"That defender man, Martinez. He is something."@IanWright0 has a lot of respect for @LisandrMartinez 🤝
Watch live: https://t.co/ybNEcF4Vuk#MOTD pic.twitter.com/NyT7RyRpFS
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) February 4, 2023
Rio Ferdinand’s Comments
One man who knows better than anyone what it takes to be a Manchester United defender is Rio Ferdinand, who didn’t shy away from heaping praise on the Argentine on his FIVE podcast.
“On form right now, I don’t think there’s really much argument coming from anywhere else,” he stated.
“I think he’s dominant, he’s aggressive, he’s a leader, he communicates well, he shows character, he’s there in big moments.”
Ferdinand did confess however, that he was one of the many to question the 25-year-old’s height upon his arrival at Old Trafford in the summer.
“But I was one of the ones questioning, ‘Is he physically gonna be able to compete here if teams isolate him, if teams isolate him?” he continued.
“And that’s where Erik ten Hag has been confident in tactically being able to keep teams away from being able to dominate enough possession to isolate someone like Martinez.
“And, up till now, he hasn’t been exposed in that sense. On a regular basis, week after week, are we not sitting there going, “That’s a recurring problem, there. It continues to happen, someone’s pulling out on him and jumping over him or bullying him physically”.
“We haven’t seen that, that hasn’t become the narrative, and you have to say well done to him but also well done to the recruitment up to now.”
Up next for Martinez and United is back-to-back derbies against Leeds United.
The Red Devils will go level on points with Manchester City in the Premier League table with a win over Leeds on Wednesday evening.
Premier League betting sites have United priced at around 9/20 to defeat Leeds, ahead of kick-off.
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