View: Ange cannot axe 93% Tottenham star v Liverpool, Henry Winter says he has 'Elite Mentality'

Ange Postecoglou will have plenty of issues to address despite Tottenham beating Manchester United to the EFL Cup semi-final on Thursday.

Spurs raced into a commanding 2-0 lead through Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski on 19 December, with the former grabbing his brace to put the game out of sight.

Son Heung-min looked to extinguish any chance of a Man United comeback after goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo, though Jonny Evans’ injury-time goal allowed for a nervy ending.

Despite reaching the next round of the tournament, the manager cannot be fully happy with his team’s performance and that could see a number of changes before facing Liverpool on Sunday 22 December.

One player who should not be taken out of the lineup, however, is 18-year-old Archie Gray. He has flourished since being given his opportunity and it would be silly to stop that now.

Henry Winter certainly agrees, writing via X [19 December]: “Archie Gray is 18. He’s playing centre-back very capably. He’s good at full-back. He’s best in central midfield.

“Whichever position, he takes responsibility. Elite mentality. Brilliant signing by Tottenham. And he’ll get better and better. He’s only 18.”

Ange Postecoglou to stick with Archie Gray at Tottenham

While Spurs did concede three goals on Thursday night, two of those can solely be put down to errors from Fraser Forster’s ability with the ball at his feet.

Gray was an example student during the clash, completing 93 per cent of his passes, winning 100 per cent of his tackles, making four recoveries and also winning 75 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob].

Despite Man United’s pacey attack, the youngster made zero fouls and helped keep a calm and composed backline, at least until Forster’s distribution forced the team into a frenzy.

With a top 93 percentile ranking for blocking shots [FBref], Gray is an important figure wherever Postecolgou decided to play him, and that could be important against the Reds on Sunday.

Centre-back partner, Radu Dragusin, was far more shaky, having only completed 79 per cent of his passes and 20 per cent of his long balls and winning zero per cent of his tackles [FotMob].

These stats just go to show that age is only a number. Postecoglou cannot afford to drop Gray when he is firing on all cylinders.

In other Tottenham news, a Sky Sports journalist has been blasted after linking Spurs with an £83million transfer.

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