Bentancur blasted in ‘ill-disciplined’ rant after what he did in Tottenham loss
Rodrigo Bentancur has been slammed in a new “ill-disciplined” rant after what did in the FA Cup clash between Aston Villa and Tottenham on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s side bowed out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 against Aston Villa away from home on 9 February, with goals from Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers doing the job for the hosts.
Mathys Tel found the back of the net for Spurs in added time, but it was too late for a comeback.
The result has added more pressure on Postecoglou as fans debate whether he should be sacked, while several players have found themselves in the firing line, with Bentancur being one of them.
Rodrigo Bentancur in firing line
Bentancur’s performance against Aston Villa left much to be desired for Craig Burley, who dubbed him as an “ill-disciplined” player.
The former Chelsea ace is of the view that the 27-year-old should be displaying more leadership as one of the senior players in the team, especially when the rest of the players are struggling.
“For such an experienced player, Bentancur is very ill-disciplined”, Burley said on ESPN FC (10 February).
“When you have inexperience in there and when you have a side that is struggling, you want your more experienced and grounded players – he is an international, he’s around the block, he’s been at some really big clubs – just to start pulling people around and say, ‘listen, you sit there and you sit there’.
“But, they are all going off chasing and that is why it is so easy for teams like Villa to pop it around them and get Morgan Rogers in and running.”
Tottenham to axe Rodrigo Bentancur?
Bentancur has been a regular for Tottenham since joining them from Juventus for a deal worth up to £21.5million in January 2022 [Sky Sports].
The Uruguay international has made 95 appearances across all competitions for the North London giants over the last three years, bagging nine goals and eight assists in the process.
On his day, the former Juventus star can be instrumental for Spurs. However, as Burley said, there is an argument to be made about his leadership being unsatisfactory.
That is perhaps why he has not put pen to paper on a new contract at Tottenham since arriving three years ago.
It is worth noting that the Uruguayan will have only one year remaining on his contract at the end of the season.
That means Tottenham will soon have to make a decision about the midfielder’s future.
It appears Daniel Levy is already planning a midfield overhaul, with Palmeiras’ Richard Rios of significant interest to the Premier League club [CaughtOffside].
Spurs even had discussions over signing the midfielder in the recently concluded winter transfer window, although the talks did not progress beyond the initial phase.
However, there remains a chance that Tottenham make a move to sign Rios in the summer, which may signal the end of Bentancur or Yves Bissouma’s time at the club.