Archie Gray will be one of the only Tottenham Hotspur players to emerge with any credit from this miserable season. It is remarkable when you consider that he only turned 20 on Thursday while his team-mates are a collection of senior internationals.
Spurs have lost six matches in a row for the first time in their 144-year history. They are one point above the Premier League’s relegation zone and will probably be eliminated from the Champions League following Tuesday’s crushing 5-2 first-leg defeat to Atletico Madrid.
It has been a season of misery and anger for Tottenham fans, so the response to the club’s ‘Happy Birthday’ message for Gray probably says a lot.
While most things Tottenham have posted on social media in recent months have been met with scathing responses from fans furious with the direction the club in heading, there was universal love and appreciation for Gray — hundreds of comments wishing him well and praising him for being one of this team’s real leaders.
Gray has registered four direct goal contributions since he joined Spurs for £40million ($53m) from Leeds United in July 2024. Three of those — one goal and two assists — have come in his last four Premier League matches. While the attitude of other players has come into question, Gray is doing everything he can to help Spurs avoid relegation.
A brilliant piece of skill led to Dominic Solanke opening the scoring in last week’s defeat to Crystal Palace, while a few days earlier, a beautiful cross had set up Richarlison to head home against Fulham. Gray grabbed an equaliser in Thomas Frank’s final game in charge against Newcastle, but Jacob Ramsey scored Newcastle’s winner minutes later.
In fact, Gray scored the only goal the last time Spurs won a top-flight fixture back on December 28 at Selhurst Park. He has more league goals (two) than Wilson Odobert, Xavi Simons, Conor Gallagher and Randal Kolo Muani, even though they are all regular starters, when fit, and play in more advanced positions.
Gray’s flexibility has made him a useful tool under three successive head coaches. The England Under-21 international prefers to play in central midfield but has slotted into the defence on multiple occasions. Since Igor Tudor replaced Frank on an interim basis last month, Gray has performed at left wing-back, right wing-back and in midfield across four games.
For the second season in a row, Gray had to wait patiently for his chance. Ange Postecoglou had started Gray in all of Spurs’ Europa League initial phase games in the 2024-25 campaign, but he did not make his first league start until a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth that December. An injury crisis led to him featuring regularly from that point onwards, and he was shunted across the defence depending on which other players were available.
There was optimism when Frank combined Gray with Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr in midfield on the opening weekend of this season. The youthful blend complemented each other perfectly in a 3-0 victory over Burnley.
“I like (Gray’s) dynamic,” Frank said. “He’s covering a lot of ground; he’s good in duels. Good in the pressure and great to carry the ball forward as well.”
Bizarrely, Gray was then an unused substitute in eight of Tottenham’s next 11 fixtures. He missed two of those games with a calf injury and came off the bench in the 89th minute of their 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Gray’s only starts until the defeat to Fulham on November 29 came in a Carabao Cup tie against third-tier Doncaster Rovers and a goalless Champions League draw at Monaco. Frank put greater trust in the duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha.
Gray grew in importance across December and January, playing regularly in midfield. He has been forced to cover full-backs Destiny Udogie, Djed Spence and Pedro Porro over the last few weeks as they have all spent time out injured. Gray has started Tottenham’s last eight games in all competitions, which covers the end of Frank’s reign and Tudor’s spell in charge.
Gray’s selflessness and willingness to play wherever his manager needs him are admirable but the long-term effects of this on his development need to be considered. Spurs bought Gray with the intention of developing him into a quality holding midfielder.
“That’s the problem,” interim Tottenham head coach Igor Tudor said when asked in Friday’s press conference about Gray having so regularly changed positions. “He needs to, every game, change position. Four games here, four positions for Archie Gray. He’s an amazing player, but that’s been (a problem). Beautiful guy, beautiful player. I didn’t know him before so much, so from inside, he has my big respect.”
This will have stunted his growth but hopefully it is only a temporary setback. The concern is that Gray is not the only young player who might struggle to fulfil their potential at Spurs. Bergvall, Tel, Odobert and Antonin Kinsky have shown flashes of their quality, yet it is hard to consistently impress when the team is low on confidence and in a precarious position in the table.
It is not just Gray’s goal contributions which have stood out. While other players have been guilty of dropping their heads during games, Gray is always brimming with energy. Gray has grown up with huge expectations on his shoulders because several members of his family played football, including his dad Andy and great uncle Eddie.
They all represented Leeds United, while his younger brother Harry is on loan with League One side Rotherham United. Gray was only 17 when he was part of Leeds’ squad under Daniel Farke which was expected to achieve promotion in the 2023-24 season but lost the Championship play-off final to Southampton. Maybe it is why he does not buckle or look nervous under pressure in the same way as some of his team-mates. Gray is becoming more vocal on and off the pitch, too.
“He’s a phenomenal player, great guy and he’s one of the boys who has been speaking as well, which he has every right to,” Solanke told Sky Sports before this weekend’s game against Liverpool.
“You have seen him play all over the pitch this season, so he is such a versatile player and he is still so young. So it is great to have him in the team and he has so much potential. Even now, you can see how much he adds to the team as well.”
Gray might be required to play out of position again this weekend. Captain Cristian Romero and Palhinha are unavailable to face Liverpool after a stoppage-time clash of heads against Atletico, while Micky van de Ven is suspended. Radu Dragusin and Djed Spence have both missed recent matches with minor injuries too.
Tudor might be left with no other choice but to partner Gray with Kevin Danso at centre-back. It will be a difficult challenge for the 20-year-old to come up against Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah, but you can guarantee he will not complain.