‘I was super impressed by him’… Jody Morris says he thought one Leeds player was ‘outstanding’ vs Chelsea

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Jody Morris has issued his verdict on the performance of Archie Gray after Leeds United were knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea on Wednesday night.

In the grand of scheme of things, Leeds giving a great account of themselves at Stamford Bridge without adding to their fixture list was a really good outcome.

There were so many impressive performances from the Leeds players. Mateo Joseph scored twice to open his account for the first-team. Meanwhile, Jaidon Anthony provided the assists for both of Joseph’s goals.

Jody Morris lauds Archie Gray despite Leeds defeat

But perhaps no player created more of a buzz with their display than Archie Gray. Leeds fans have known how good the 17-year-old is for some time. But seeing him shine against Premier League opposition of the calibre of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo was further proof of his enormous potential.

And speaking on Sky Sports News, former Leeds and Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris suggested that he was amazed by Gray’s display against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

“I thought he was great. I thought he was outstanding. I’d heard about him for the last few years to be fair, because I know his dad a little bit, but Jon Harley’s closer with his dad. I thought he was outstanding. To be of that age and going away to Chelsea, Stamford Bridge. But there were so many plaudits being handed to him by the commentators, and rightly so last night, because I thought his temperament was great as well. I thought he was picking the ball up in different positions, calm as you like, looked like he’d played 100 games already,” he said.

“I thought he looked great. And you’re right, there’s obviously going to be people looking. There always is whenever there’s young players that are coming into first-teams so early. And rightly so, because I was super impressed by him.”

Whites need to keep moving forward to keep most exciting youngsters

Given Gray’s age, you would hope that Leeds would stand an outside chance of keeping him even if we fail to get promoted this season.

However, his performance on Wednesday hinted that he is already ready for that sort of level. He does not look out of place in the Championship, despite spending most of the season at right-back.

There are going to be a lot of clubs who take notice of his form over what remains of the campaign. And that sets the challenge for Leeds to ensure that we continue to move forwards in the next few years.