Archie Gray has emerged as a hero of these troubled times for Tottenham and his performance against Atletico Madrid was further evidence he has what it takes to perform at the very top.
Atletico’s Marcos Llorente took the trouble to jog across to shake Gray by the hand as the Spurs midfielder made his way around the perimeter of the pitch having been replaced in the 81st minute. The home crowd rose in waves to applaud him as he walked back to the bench and interim boss Igor Tudor, seldom one to lavish individual praise, hailed the 20-year-old afterwards.
‘He’s playing continually in the right way, in a good way,’ said Tudor. ‘It’s a mix of quality – physically and mentally – to always make the right choices and be humble and have legs to do it.’
Gray continues to progress in adversity, despite the chaos of this Spurs season, despite finding himself pushed from one position to another during the times when injuries have hit hard. Everyone can see he is most at home in the centre of an orthodox midfield, in the role Tudor asked him to play against Atletico alongside Pape Matar Sarr.
He reads the game, covers the miles, wins his personal battles, can compete in the air and in tackles. He is growing in strength. There were traces of a young Declan Rice about him on Wednesday as he broke with the ball and powered from box to box.
As with Rice at West Ham, it is his temperament that elevates him in a mediocre team. The Spurs squad is immature featuring an over-reliance on the young players and with older ones lacking leadership qualities. Gray keeps going, tries to do the right thing even when he is finding it difficult.
Archie Gray has emerged as a hero of these troubled times at Spurs and his performance against Atletico Madrid was further evidence he has what it takes to perform at the very top
Gray is clearly most at home in the centre of an orthodox midfield, in the role he played against Atletico alongside Pape Matar Sarr
Ahead of Sunday’s relegation showdown against Nottingham Forest, it is worth revisiting what happened at the City Ground in December when Gray, taking a pass from his goalkeeper, was hustled into a mistake leading to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener and Spurs went on to lose 3-0.
He was already scheduled for an interview with Daily Mail Sport, but he did not try to duck out of the appointment or dodge questions. Instead, he came in, sat down and owned it. Unequivocally, he absolved keeper Guglielmo Vicario of any blame, said he had spent time scouring over the replays to work out what he should do better and promised to learn.
Only a small example, but impressive for a young man, then still 19.
The defeat at Forest was the start of a terrible run of one win in 15 games for Spurs. The only win came at Crystal Palace when Gray scored the only goal, his first for the club. His second came against Newcastle in what would be Thomas Frank’s final game.
When Tudor came in as interim boss he, like Frank, deployed Gray as a full back and a wing-back before realising, like Frank, that for all his versatility he is in fact the best central midfielder Spurs have available. His partnership in there with Sarr at Liverpool and against Atletico has shown early promise. They have energy, stamina and tick at the same sort of tempo.
They also seem appreciate their limits. Xavi Simons thrived against Atletico because both Gray and Sarr realised the good sense of getting the ball to the feet of their main creative force.
Less than three years after his Leeds debut, Gray has already made 130 senior appearances. More than a hundred of them as a starter and 48 in the Premier League.
‘He shows a lot of resilience, that young man,’ said Frank after his goal against Palace. ‘It wasn’t an easy first season for him in Spurs, and this season also, it hasn’t been straightforward. For him, to keep going shows he’s made of the right character material we need both now and in the future.’
Others are noticing. There are fellow professionals like Llorente. Gray is sure to feature in the conversations for the PFA’s Young Player of the Year.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs who are admirers of Gray
Gray reads the game, covers the miles, wins his personal battles, can compete in the air and in tackles. He is also growing in strength
Gray shone for the England Under 21s at last summer’s European Championship
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are also among his admirers. Clubs managed in the past by Thomas Tuchel and the England manager must be considering Gray as he fine-tunes his World Cup squad.
Former Spurs coach and Frank’s assistant Justin Cochrane is still involved in Tuchel’s backroom team and those in the Under-21 set-up will vouch for him, too.
Rice, Elliot Anderson, Jordan Henderson, Adam Wharton and Alex Scott are the competition. All rank ahead in the pecking order with time running out although Gray can make a case through his versatility.
And by his determination to rise consistently to every fresh challenge thrown his way.
