Darren Bent makes Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez comparison

By Ben Evans

Darren Bent has now made the comparison between Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and Tottenham Hotspur star Cristian Romero.

Bent was discussing the pair on TalkSPORT in the aftermath of another disastrous week for Spurs.

Tottenham are a club in disarray right now, with all the speculation surrounding the future of manager Antonio Conte.

The Italian returned to the touchline in midweek for their Champions League tie with AC Milan.

Needing to overturn a one-goal lead, Tottenham barely troubled Mike Maignan in the Milan goal.

Their task was made a lot more difficult by Cristian Romero picking up a second yellow card for a foul on Theo Hernandez.

It meant they had to break down a stubborn Milan side with ten men for the last 15 minutes.

Bent has now said that Lisandro Martinez is able to better control himself than Romero right now.

The £56.7m defender has had a similar impact at Old Trafford as Romero did when he first arrived at Spurs.

However, he’s much cleverer about his intense style of defending than his fellow countryman.

Bent compares Martinez to Romero

Speaking on TalkSPORT, Bent was quick to criticise Romero after Tottenham’s latest defeat: “Romero, listen he’s a good player, but I look at him and I look at [Lisandro] Martinez.

“They’ve both got that rash dog in them, but Martinez can control it, he can’t.

“Romero, listen he didn’t get away with that, and there’s been a fair few in various games where he’s been towing the line a little bit where he could have got himself sent off.

“For Spurs, it seems bonkers, they’re out the FA Cup, they’re out the Champions League, they are still fourth, but it almost feels like the wheels have completely come off.”

Antonio Conte insisted in his press conference yesterday that Romero has improved a lot working under him.

His aggression is one of the things that makes him such a good defender, but he’s crossed a line too many times recently.

Bent’s TalkSPORT colleague Jamie O’Hara called Romero a liability, and in comparison to Martinez, has received more yellow and red cards this season.

Romero’s reputation could start to work against him, as he’s avoided plenty of potential bookings already this season.

He’s undoubtedly Tottenham’s best centre-back right now, but needs to learn how to control himself in key situations.

Thankfully for Spurs, his European ban doesn’t carry over to the Premier League.