View: 88.9% gem is exactly what Ange needs after what he said about Tottenham role

Ange Postecoglou will be encouraged by the latest view of Archie Gray on his role at Tottenham Hotspur.

The 18-year-old – who arrived on a six-year deal from Leeds United in the summer – is gaining traction in his Spurs career with increasing opportunities in the Premier League, having been a regular in the Europa League and Carabao Cup.

Gray’s versatility has been a huge benefit for Postecoglou and could be a long-term saving grace for Tottenham, who take on Manchester United on Thursday night [19 December] for a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

The teenager has said [19 December] he is concentrating on receiving game time performing any role, as shown on page 63 of Thursday’s Daily Mail: “No, I’m not really focusing on what position I am right now.

“I’m more than happy to play anywhere just to get the minutes on the pitch. I try to take every opportunity I get and just try to stay in the team. I’ve played central midfield since I was a young age but I enjoy playing everywhere.”

Archie Gray learning all trades at Tottenham

Gray is a player learning on the job with his development at Tottenham considered a project with no major rush, but his ability has seen him regularly feature for Postecoglou this season.

He is more mentally developed in the game than many his age, and it’s easy for many fans to forget he was a first-team regular with Leeds United in a Championship promotion fight last term.

As shown by Sofascore’s contrasting heat maps, Gray was predominantly used at right-back across 2023-24 for Leeds whereas he has filled into at least four positions in six Europa League matches so far for Tottenham.

While sometimes naive last season and giving the ball away 10.4 times per game, it showed his confidence in possession and his positional awareness was beyond his years, recovering 4.5 balls per 90 minutes along with only being dribbled past 0.7 times per 90.

With his physical development often playing catch-up, opponents look to gain an advantage on Gray in defensive positions. Taking his 540 minutes (six full games) in the Europa League this season – his first competition of this standard – his duel success rate has averaged only 41.5 percent including just 33.3 percent of aerial duels [Fotmob].

However, he has won 88.9 percent of his attempted tackles and made six recoveries per 90 minutes against the likes of Roma, Galatasaray and Rangers.

In competing with established players such as Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Sarr in deeper midfield areas this season, Gray is appearing to carve out his place in the defensive line. He has filled in at right-back, centre-back and left-back and has largely held his own.

The England youth international’s first two Premier League starts have come this month, in the defeat at Bournemouth [5 December] followed by the thrashing of Southampton last weekend [15 December].

While there will come far tougher tests than the 5-0 win at St Mary’s, Gray’s clean sheet operating at centre-back will come as a welcome confidence boost with a 97 percent pass success [Fotmob], and crucially winning both of his ground duels against physical presences in the Saints team – an area he has at times struggled.

Versatile players at the highest level are gold dust, and all the time Gray maintains this open-minded approach, Postecoglou knows he has one of the country’s best prospects to rely on.

In other Tottenham news, the Getafe president has denied one of his talented stars is Spurs-bound.

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