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Archie Gray

dingdongo said:
I didn't mind it tbh. Would need to watch it back but I thought at the time that Gray was a bit sloppy and let that winger get a cross in too easily. About 2mins later he snuffed out a potential cross well.

Either way, He's no full back, especially on the left, and is doing his best which is all we can ask. I really hope he gets some Europa games or PL sub appearances in CM soon though!
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Think he'll keep getting games at full back. It's where we're short on options at the moment and Davies who is an option for the EL at least is needed at CB. We cannot keep playing Porro and Udogie, Spence is injured and not registered for the EL.

Meanwhile in midfield we actually have real options including Bergvall who surely also deserves game time.

Gray seems to be developing well while playing as a full back. And since we invert the full backs anyway he gets very useful experience for midfield roles for when that opportunity arises.

Would be fun to see what he could do in midfield. But particularly for the 6/DM role I think he's still some way off being ready for that in the league anyway.

Unless we get a proper injury crisis in midfield I'm guessing full back will be his main role this season.
 
this guy is mr cool, never seems to be underpressure, keeps going an a serene manner.
its his awareness of whats going around him that allows him to be like that.
i get the feeling that he is playing it safe - and that cross was just a sample of the quality that we can expect from him in the future.

in terms of readiness i think gray is already EPL 1st team standard.
Moore, soon. Bergvall and Lankshear still a long way more.
 
metalgear said:
this guy is mr cool, never seems to be underpressure, keeps going an a serene manner.
its his awareness of whats going around him that allows him to be like that.
i get the feeling that he is playing it safe - and that cross was just a sample of the quality that we can expect from him in the future.

in terms of readiness i think gray is already EPL 1st team standard.
Moore, soon. Bergvall and Lankshear still a long way more.
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Maybe, but definitely not in either FB position. I would like to see him playing in midfield so we can assess his actual ability play the role and where he is in his development. We need to see his positioning, his recoveries, his tenacity, how good he is at closing passing lanes, his harrying etc.
 
Bishop said:
Maybe, but definitely not in either FB position. I would like to see him playing in midfield so we can assess his actual ability play the role and where he is in his development. We need to see his positioning, his recoveries, his tenacity, how good he is at closing passing lanes, his harrying etc.
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True
But these experiences of covering many roles will only help him
We didn’t buy him to play CM this season. We brought him for a long term role and the education he is getting is massively valuable
 
Danishfurniturelover said:
Reminds me of Walker when we loaned him to Villa. You cam see he has class just needs games to get him up to speed.
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I wouldn't have wanted to see Walker out of position at LB against Gala when he was Gray's age. At RB, yes.

I feel for Gray having to keep filling in at LB. He looks so awkward there.

I have a feeling we'll address the backup LB issue in January.
 
Did well at left back against Galatasaray I thought. Coming along nicely.

Agreed that right now he looks the most ready. But these things can change quickly and hopefully Bergvall, Moore and Lankshear are also developing nicely. Moore certainly has taken big steps up this season.
 
Muttley said:
I wouldn't have wanted to see Walker out of position at LB against Gala when he was Gray's age. At RB, yes.

I feel for Gray having to keep filling in at LB. He looks so awkward there.

I have a feeling we'll address the backup LB issue in January.
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awkward but still capable.
its an easier place to be than say centre midfield, where threats come from all directions
 
metalgear said:
awkward but still capable.
its an easier place to be than say centre midfield, where threats come from all directions
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It would have been easier for Gray if he had a Vertonghen on his inside and a left footed Dembele in central midfield. He had a very inexperienced centre half in Davies alongside him, who had a very inexperienced centre half Dragusin on his other side. We have to remember that Ben has probably played as a LCB in a back four less than 20 times. Way different than LCB in a back 3 with a wing-back on the outside.

LB without first teamers around him was a very tough ask for Gray. He has minerals though.
 
A lot of opinions on where young Gray should be playing and what his best position is and will be. Mentioned this in the transfer thread too, but he himself said the 8 role was his best earlier this season.

Will be interesting to see if he's given minutes in DM now Bentancur is suspended. Not like we have a lot of other obvious options there, but also a big ask of Gray - particularly if starting or playing when a game is tight.

I still think he looks a great talent and that it's good he's getting game time, almost regardless of where it is. But now there may come a point where he has to do a job in DM.
 
braineclipse said:
A lot of opinions on where young Gray should be playing and what his best position is and will be. Mentioned this in the transfer thread too, but he himself said the 8 role was his best earlier this season.

Will be interesting to see if he's given minutes in DM now Bentancur is suspended. Not like we have a lot of other obvious options there, but also a big ask of Gray - particularly if starting or playing when a game is tight.

I still think he looks a great talent and that it's good he's getting game time, almost regardless of where it is. But now there may come a point where he has to do a job in DM.
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I don't know what his best position is or should be I do however think he's a pretty poor FB so far. It feels a shame that we've given him some decent minutes but presumably in the position he is weakest in.

There's a lot of thought that Gray is the long term solution to the DM position but until he starts getting minutes and performances in that role his actual suitability is guesswork from the fans.
 
Bishop said:
I don't know what his best position is or should be I do however think he's a pretty poor FB so far. It feels a shame that we've given him some decent minutes but presumably in the position he is weakest in.

There's a lot of thought that Gray is the long term solution to the DM position but until he starts getting minutes and performances in that role his actual suitability is guesswork from the fans.
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But you would hope he is learning loads in every game he has playing other roles
 
He is not a full back, you can see his quality on the ball and he is being underused massively imo. He could well be the tackling, ball playing midfielder we are in need of.
 
If we persist with pushing our full backs right up the pitch.
Then, because we use 3 midfielders to start each match, and because none are a true DM.
I think we'll often need to play two "marginally more defensive" midfielders from Sarr/Biss/Bent/Gray.
Alongside a "more attacking" midfielder from Deki/Madd/Berg.

The trick is to ensure a balance; we don't need 8 attackers.
We don't need 8 defenders.
Get the balance right.
Vary the amount of defensiveness from Sarr/Biss as they can both play 8.
 
Bullet said:
If we persist with pushing our full backs right up the pitch.
Then, because we use 3 midfielders to start each match, and because none are a true DM.
I think we'll often need to play two "marginally more defensive" midfielders from Sarr/Biss/Bent/Gray.
Alongside a "more attacking" midfielder from Deki/Madd/Berg.

The trick is to ensure a balance; we don't need 8 attackers.
We don't need 8 defenders.
Get the balance right.
Vary the amount of defensiveness from Sarr/Biss as they can both play 8.
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"we" = ange
 
Bishop said:
I don't know what his best position is or should be I do however think he's a pretty poor FB so far. It feels a shame that we've given him some decent minutes but presumably in the position he is weakest in.

There's a lot of thought that Gray is the long term solution to the DM position but until he starts getting minutes and performances in that role his actual suitability is guesswork from the fans.
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Lone DM role, particularly for a team playing as ambitiously as we do is one of the positions that's hardest for a very young player to break into imo. Such a complex role requiring a lot of different abilities and requiring a high degree of consistency both on and off the ball.

He could "break through" there for us in two years and still imo be really young for a player in that role.

Players breaking through there at big or fairly big teams as teenagers is almost unheard of. Not entirely, but almost. Busquets comes to mind, think he broke through as a teenager. There are others too not coming to mind right now for me, but the majority break through in that role in their early or even closer to mid twenties - at a high level at least.
 
braineclipse said:
Lone DM role, particularly for a team playing as ambitiously as we do is one of the positions that's hardest for a very young player to break into imo. Such a complex role requiring a lot of different abilities and requiring a high degree of consistency both on and off the ball.

He could "break through" there for us in two years and still imo be really young for a player in that role.

Players breaking through there at big or fairly big teams as teenagers is almost unheard of. Not entirely, but almost. Busquets comes to mind, think he broke through as a teenager. There are others too not coming to mind right now for me, but the majority break through in that role in their early or even closer to mid twenties - at a high level at least.
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We'll see of course and he's got time on his hands to develop into the role. Hopefully from my perspective he gets more minutes in the midfield area that seems to suit him better than the FB roles that hes struggled in defensively so far.
 
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