Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez named the Premier League’s best defender by Rio Ferdinand who praises Erik ten Hag for his tactics in not letting the World Cup winner be ‘exposed’

Lisandro Martinez has been called the best in-form Premier League defender by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand.

The Red Devils centre-back has been a key player at the club since joining from Ajax for an initial £46million last summer.

United defender Martinez has impressed since joining from Ajax last summer[/caption]

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Martinez has shown he won’t be bullied despite his 5ft 9in status[/caption]

World Cup winner Martinez has played 30 games in all competitions, helping his team to third place in the standings.

The 25-year-old has already been praised by United icon Roy Keane, who hailed his defensive qualities following last week’s Carabao Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest.

And he has another fan in Ferdinand, who was lyrical about Martinez after his man of the match showed in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand was asked if Martinez is the best defender in the division.

To which he said: “On form at the moment, I don’t think there’s really a whole lot of argument from anywhere else.

“I think he’s dominant, he’s aggressive, he’s a leader, he communicates well, he shows character, he’s there in the big moments.”

Much has been said about whether Martinez would be able to cope with Premier League physicality due to his 5ft 9in stature.

And Ferdinand revealed he was one of those doubters, but he was quickly proven wrong.

He continued: “‘I was one of those people who wondered, ‘Is he physically capable of competing here if the teams isolate him?’

“And that’s where Erik ten Hag had confidence in his tactical ability to prevent teams from dominating the ball enough to isolate someone like Martinez.

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Martinez has played 30 games in all competitions for the Red Devils[/caption]

“And, so far, it hasn’t been exposed in that way, on a regular basis, week after week.

“Aren’t we sitting there saying, ‘It’s a recurring problem over there. It keeps happening, someone picks on him and jumps over him or physically intimidates him.

“We haven’t seen that, that hasn’t become the narrative, and you have to say kudos to him but also kudos to the recruiting so far.”

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