Tottenham Hotspur have endured a dismal 2025-26 season. And there are only a few players who can come out of the campaign with any credit.
One of those is Archie Gray. The former Leeds United man has stood up to be counted, taking responsibility and making himself available to play in any position. His versatility has made him an incredibly useful asset, given their horrendous injury situation.
At the age of 20, Gray has been a consistent performer for Spurs, wherever he’s asked to play. He’s a manager’s dream.
Gray has been deployed at centre-back, right-back, left-back, right midfield and his natural position in the middle of the park. He deserves plenty of credit for his performances this season. And he’s the type of player Tottenham need to build around for the future.
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Gray’s barely featured-in preferred position
Gray hasn’t stood out on the data this season. But that’s partly down to the regular changing of position.
Despite being a central player naturally, Gray has predominantly played on the right-hand side this season due to Tottenham’s injury issues. And he’s barely featured in his preferred position in the middle of the park.
To be a semi-regular in the Premier League at the age of 20 is already impressive. But to do so playing out of position shows the level of versatility Gray has.
The former Leeds man is incredibly comfortable on the ball, so being deployed at right-back or centre-back has helped Tottenham with their build-up, something they’ve struggled with this season. But there’s no doubt Gray will be champing at the bit to play in midfield.
It would be easy for Gray to complain or make demands to be played in midfield. But with Tottenham in a precarious position, the youngster is getting on with the task at hand. And there’s rarely a game where you don’t see him putting in 100% effort, wherever he’s deployed on the pitch.
They say availability is the best ability, and Gray has missed just four games this season through injury. That’s a number almost unheard of for a Tottenham player. As a result of their injury crisis, Gray has been forced to plug gaps, and it’s a huge credit to him that he’s started nine games in a row for Spurs.
Where will Gray end up?
It’s not uncommon for young players to learn their trade in a variety of positions. In fact, they’re often deployed out wide despite naturally being central players.
This isn’t a new thing for Gray. He was utilised on the right during the 2023-24 campaign with Leeds, sometimes tucking into midfield.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke confirmed at the time that he beived Gray’s natural position was in the middle of the park. But he also hinted at a future inverted full-back role.
He said: “I think his natural position is obviously the midfield, but we will see how his position develops over the next months and years. Also to play a bit more like an inverted full-back.”
It’s certainly a position that Gray could be utilised in in the future. The former Leeds man is comfortable defending 1vs1 out wide, but playing as an inverted full-back will also allow him to receive the ball in central areas, his natural position.
Gray needs to develop physically
One of the key reasons why Gray is perhaps not being used in midfield as much as he might hope is his physicality. The Premier League has developed into an incredibly physical league, and Gray has a small build, both in height and weight.
Playing out wide, Gray is involved in fewer physical duels, and with Premier League sides now shifting their recruitment to bringing in bigger, physical players, it makes sense that he’s not used in the middle too often.
Think of Leeds and Newcastle United as a quick example. Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff, Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes. All tough-tackling, physical midfielders, who Gray would likely struggle against in duels.
In the Premier League this season, Gray has averaged 1.74 duels won per 90 minutes, ranking 333rd, and 3.48 duels lost. It’s a key area that Gray needs to improve if he wants to succeed in the modern era.
There’s no doubt Gray has the technical ability to be a top-level midfielder in the Premier League for many years to come, but developing the physical side of the game is what he needs to do in order to become one of the elites.