Last season, Tottenham started life under Ange Postecoglou in an unbelievable fashion.
They collected 20 points in their opening eight games, a feat achieved by only 28 teams in Premier League history, of which 11 went on to win the title.
Over the next 30 games, they only managed to pick up 46 points, seeing a steep decline from their fast start.
They went from averaging 2.5 points per game in their first eight matches to just a meagre 1.5 during the remainder of the season.
For Spurs to stake a claim and challenge for UEFA Champions League football, fresh acquisitions are required.
Over the past 12 months, Tottenham Hotspur’s recruitment has witnessed the arrival of some of the most sought-after youth prospects in the game.
Alejo Veliz, Ashley Phillips, Yang Min-Hyeok and Lucas Bergvall have all been brought in at the age of 18 across the past three transfer windows.
However, no name stands out more than Archie Gray — the focus of today’s tactical analysis and scout report.
Who Is Archie Gray?
Gray had his breakout season last campaign.
The Leeds United Academy product had been known to the Elland Road faithful for several years prior to the previous season.
Having captained England at U16 level and having been put on the bench at 15 years old by Marcelo Bielsa, Grey has looked destined for the stars.
Making 44 appearances in the EFL Championship last year and winning the prestigious Championship Young Player of the Year award, it looked inevitable Gray would move on after Leeds heartbreakingly lost the playoff final in May.
The England U21 international was sought after by many Premier League clubs, yet North London was Gray’s preferred destination.
Signing for a believed fee of 35 million makes Gray the 6th most expensive teenager in Premier League history.
Since making his first appearances, Spurs supporters have been waxing lyrical about the capabilities of their new boy.
Yet surprisingly, Gray’s tactical ability has recently impressed fans while playing centre-back.
Archie Gray style of play showed his versatility last year, lining up in his natural position of midfield 19 times and 30 times at right back.
This Archie Gray scouting report will seek to provide an analysis of Gray’s potential to be used as a centre-back within Spurs’ tactics.
It will highlight the attributes that prove his capability to fulfil this role as well as areas he would need to improve if making it a permanent role.
Archie Gray Style Of Play In Possession
Gray, being naturally a midfielder, means he’s used to taking the ball in difficult areas of the pitch.
This contrasts with centre-backs, who will always be facing the opposition’s goal when in possession.
Yet, with Postecoglou’s system requiring a precise build-up through the thirds, Gray’s ability on the ball will be needed to overcome the high press that’s deployed by many Premier League sides.
Here, we see that Gray has received the ball in his own penalty box.
Despite being under significant pressure from the opposition, he keeps possession and passes it off to a teammate.
Gray’s ability to keep the ball was highlighted in him having a pass completion rate of 82.2%.
This gave him a percentile rank of 83 when compared with Championship full-backs last season.
Gray also possesses the ability to progress play, which is a vital component of Tottenham’s current style.
Gray averaged a progressive pass distance of 194 yards per 90.
This gave him a percentile rank of 66 when compared with midfielders in the Championship last year.
In this situation, Gray has the ball just inside the opposition’s half.
As the opposition presses high to win the ball back, Gray calmly breaks the first line of the opposition’s press, finding the feet of one of his midfielders and helping his team progress play.
Gray also has several other tools in his locker to help penetrate the opposition.
Gray does have the ability to play long balls.
Despite Tottenham’s preference to progress the ball in a controlled fashion, the utilisation of the long ball is a real weapon against teams that press intensely and have a high line.
Gray has shown this in his opening appearances for Spurs.
This example shows Gray seeing the darting run of his teammate in behind the opposition’s defence.
Gray plays an inch-perfect diagonal ball over the top of the right-back, finding his teammate.
Gray had a percentile rank of 76 for the accuracy of long passes when compared with full-backs in the Championship last term.
Playing at full-back has also helped him develop other aspects of his game.
Gray has grown in his ability to carry the ball forward and take players on 1v1, an attribute that is essential for full-backs.
This can be clearly seen from his stats when compared with the Championship’s midfielders last year.
He had a percentile rank of 66 for progressive carries per 90 and a percentile rank of 80 for successful take-ons per 90.
In this example, Gray drives forward with the ball.
He is smart, taking the ball across his opponent, so he’s unable to challenge Gray without fouling him.
This allows Gray to carry the ball deep into the opponent’s final third.
Despite his abilities growing in this position, Gray’s product in the final third still requires necessary improvement to be a top midfielder or full-back.
He averaged only 1.55 per 90 shot-creating actions, giving him a percentile rank of 17 when compared with Championship midfielders.
He averaged 0.35 shots per 90, giving him a percentile rank of 6 when compared with midfielders.
This could also be seen in key elements of his role as a full-back.
In this example, Gray fails to get enough whip on the ball to put it into an area that tests the opposition’s defence.
He averaged only 1.10 crosses per 90 giving him a percentile rank of 26 when compared with full-backs.
As Gray is still young, it’s understandable that he hasn’t fully developed these qualities.
However, this may point to him being better suited at centre-back.
Archie Gray Style Of Play Out Of Possession
Postecoglou’s high-intensity football requires a lot of his centre-backs out of possession.
Playing a really high line means that Tottenham can be susceptible to a ball over the top of their defence.
In the Premier League last season, they conceded the seventh-most through balls.
This asks a lot of Tottenham’s centre-backs who need to recover and stop attacks that are progressively attacking.
Gray has proven time and time again his ability to defend 1v1 situations.
This, again, is a quality that he was able to hone throughout last season playing full back.
Gray’s numbers are excellent in 1v1 duels.
For tackles won per 90, he has a percentile rank of 80 when compared with Championship midfielders last season.
His percentage of dribblers tackled also saw him finish with a high percentile rank of 95 when compared with other midfielders and 73 when compared with full-backs.
Where Gray would be more of a concern defensively is his ability to defend in and around his penalty area.
He only averaged 0.28 blocks per 90 and 0.75 interceptions.
When compared with full-backs in the EFL Championship last season, this gave him a percentile rank of 15 for blocks and 18 for interceptions.
Here, Gray has taken up a great position at the front post.
His positioning means that he blocks any chance of a player making a dart to the near post and getting an easy shot away.
However, as the ball, is flashed across Gray’s head he misses the ball leaving him fortunate none of the opposition players could capitalise on his error.
Gray’s ability in the air is also questionable.
When you look at Gray’s performances playing at centre back, he has been relatively successful aerially.
He has a 75% aerial duels win percentage when playing centre-back for Tottenham, Leeds, and England under-age teams.
However, when consulting his aerial performances over last season, you see he lacks in this department.
He won only 46.2% of his aerial duels, giving him a percentile rank of 46 when compared with midfielders and 29 when compared with defenders.
In this situation, Gray leaps with the opposition’s left winger, yet he is beaten in the air, allowing his opponent to flick the ball forward.
Tottenham have already looked poor when winning balls in the air having the 6th lowest aerial win percentage in the Premier League.
Overview
Tottenham’s starting two central defenders are the envy of many clubs.
The performances of Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven were key contributions to Tottenham’s excellent start.
Both rank above 80 in percentile rankings for ball recoveries, tackles won and passes blocked.
In possession, Romero has contributed significantly with five goals in the Premier League.
Van de Ven was also a threat, scoring three goals in his 27 appearances.
Both were also impressed with their ability to progress the ball, with Van de Ven having a long pass accuracy percentage of 79.8% and Romero averaging 552 yards in progressive passes per 90.
It was evident when both players were missing last year.
Van der Ven missed 11 games through injury.
In Van de Ven’s 27 appearances, Tottenham averaged 1.85 points per game.
They had a lower figure of 1.45 points per game in his absence.
Players such as Emerson Royale and Ben Davies had to provide backup, which saw a significant drop in quality.
We don’t foresee Gray being utilised often at centre-back.
As more senior players returned to Tottenham’s squad during pre-season, Gray found himself once again in the middle of midfield.
However, Van de Ven’s injury worries and Romero’s disciplinary issues could mean Gray is used for Tottenham in this position more than people anticipated.
He may also be used as an inverted full-back due to his ability to play both midfield and full-back, a role that Postecoglou uses to great effect in his side.
Gray has all the makings of a future England International, and no matter what position he plays this season, he will be looking to cement himself at an early age in top-flight football.
