Rodrigo Bentancur
Rodrigo Bentancur

Tottenham idol 'amazed' by Rodrigo Bentancur as new information emerges

Paul Robinson

Paul Robinson is a former England goalkeeper who played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United Blackburn Rovers and Burnley. Paul is a former England international, earning 41 caps between 2003 and 2007. He joined Football Insider in 2020 and is a regular at Premier League matches and also often hops on a plane to cover the Saudi Pro League as well as Serie A.

Published on

Paul Robinson has heaped praise on Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for his defensive output during the World Cup.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Spurs and England number one said the "amazing" 25-year-old took on a lot of defensive responsibility for Uruguay.

Bentancur started all three of Uruguay's games at the Qatar World Cup.

As relayed by The Spurs Web (3 December), Bentancur won possession more than any other player during the group stages.

However, his displays were not enough to book his side a place in the knockout stages of the tournament.

When asked by Football Insider for his assessment of Bentancur's displays at the World Cup, Robinson said: "We know Bentancur is a top player.

"Stats can be used how you want. The interesting thing about that stat is that Bentancur plays a lot deeper when he plays for Uruguay.

"I think that is because of the age of the centre-halves. Bentancur has more defensive responsibility in that side. Uruguay were not the strongest defensively.

"Listen, Bentancur is a defensive midfielder but at Spurs he plays a little more advanced.

"In all honesty, I thought he was poor in the first game. He improved as the tournament went on.

"That stat about him recovering the ball does not surprise me. His ball recovery skills are very good. He is an amazing midfielder. He's been a revelation for Spurs."

www.footballinsider247.com