Tottenham Hotspur’s struggles continued on Sunday afternoon as they were easily beaten by Fulham at Craven Cottage with Archie Gray getting plenty of game time, but Spurs in poor form.
Joining Spurs in the summer from Leeds for a fee of £40m, Gray would surely have bitten your hand off had he been offered 38 appearances by the March international break – but that is where he is now at.
It comes after 52 games for Leeds last season in all competitions, largely playing at right-back but often in the middle of the park. At Spurs, most his outings have come as a makeshift centre-back due to injury.
While Gray will be delighted with the amount of games he is playing and the likelihood that he will reach 50 games for Spurs this season, Ally McCoist said he feels sorry for Gray for having to play out of position.
Tottenham fans are not happy with Postecoglou’s Gray decision
On Sunday, Gray was finally given his chance in central midfield. He started alongside Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma, but Ange Postecoglou chose to shake things up and he brought on James Maddison.
Maddison replaced Cristian Romero, and it saw Gray drop back into the middle of the defence alongside Leeds target Ben Davies. It was a move that failed, with Fulham scoring two goals in the last 15 minutes.
Spurs fans have lambasted Postecoglou on social media following his decision to push Gray back into the defence with the teenager performing well in the middle of the park, and ultimately Fulham winning 2-0.
One Tottenham fan said Postecoglou “seems obsessed” with putting Gray back into the middle of the defence even though he was playing well in midfield. Another said “we can’t escape” Gray play in defence.
Gray is not a natural centre-back and while that is his saving grace, Spurs fans will get frustrated if Gray continues to be used there. One supporter said “I just can’t understand this decision” as Spurs lost.
Postecoglou was labelled “arrogant” for thinking the decision would pay off as Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon scored late goals, while the Aussie was questioned for putting Gray into a “chaotic” system.
Archie Gray vs Rasmus Kristensen and Robin Koch coming up
What will be interesting, and what Tottenham really only have left to play for this season, is the Europa League. Spurs take on Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
It will see Gray face both Rasmus Kristensen who remains on the Leeds books, and Robin Koch who left Leeds the summer prior to Gray’s breakthrough into the first team at Elland Road under Daniel Farke.
Tottenham and Gray take on Frankfurt in the first leg on April 10 in London, before the second leg in Germany a week later. If Spurs are to achieve any success this season, the Europa League title is a start.
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