Player Watch Player Watch: Archie Gray

[worcestersauce]

If Tuchel doesn’t call him up, which I don’t think he will, he’s going to be in the under 21 squad

I'm not sure how Tuchel can call him up to be honest. He's not going to want him at centre back and how can he call him up to play midfield when he hasn't played there all season.
Perhaps U21 like you say as they are aware of his qualities and can make allowances the first team can't.

 

[Blake Griffin]

I'm not sure how Tuchel can call him up to be honest. He's not going to want him at centre back and how can he call him up to play midfield when he hasn't played there all season.
Perhaps U21 like you say as they are aware of his qualities and can make allowances the first team can't.

england are hardly flush with cb options. guehi and konsa are doing well, maguire is still around i guess. who else? colwill? i'd rather archie. branthwaite? never been that convinced by him tbh and doesn't seem to have hit the same heights this season. mings? tomori? am i missing someone obvious? stones is out for the season.

we can keep saying he's not a cb but fact is he's playing there and looking better than most actual cbs.

 

[Heavywick]

england are hardly flush with cb options. guehi and konsa are doing well, maguire is still around i guess. who else? colwill? i'd rather archie. branthwaite? never been that convinced by him tbh and doesn't seem to have hit the same heights this season. mings? tomori? am i missing someone obvious? stones is out for the season.

we can keep saying he's not a cb but fact is he's playing there and looking better than most actual cbs.

He’s absolutely not looked better than most actual CBs. He’s looked good for an eighteen year old playing out of position in the Premier League, but that’s because you’d expect it to be disastrous and instead he’s just been poor. There’s a reason we’ve conceded a silly amount of goals this season.

I don’t want this to sound like an attack on him, or like I don’t think he’ll be incredible one day - but realistically if Danso had come in and played to the level Gray’s been (understandably) playing at, we’d be calling him a flop.

 

[Teemu]

He’s absolutely not looked better than most actual CBs. He’s looked good for an eighteen year old playing out of position in the Premier League, but that’s because you’d expect it to be disastrous and instead he’s just been poor. There’s a reason we’ve conceded a silly amount of goals this season.

I don’t want this to sound like an attack on him, or like I don’t think he’ll be incredible one day - but realistically if Danso had come in and played to the level Gray’s been (understandably) playing at, we’d be calling him a flop.

I agree with the broader sentiment but poor is very harsh. Most of his appearances at CB have been alongside a much more experienced CB (Dragusin) and he looked like the senior partner on most of those occasions. Not saying a huge amount as Dragusin has been a disappointment, but Gray has been more than passable at CB, without considering the fact he's an 18-year old midfielder.

 

[DannyNZ]

I agree with the broader sentiment but poor is very harsh. Most of his appearances at CB have been alongside a much more experienced CB (Dragusin) and he looked like the senior partner on most of those occasions. Not saying a huge amount as Dragusin has been a disappointment, but Gray has been more than passable at CB, without considering the fact he's an 18-year old midfielder.

Early on he was exposed due to him not being a CB, a few times where he didnt hold the line but I don’t see that anymore. He has also become much more confident with his distribution. Done a good job filling in at CB and improving all the time, although Delap gave him a very torrid time for ten minutes.

 

[Stamford]

I oddly trust him more at CB than i do Dragusin, who terrifies me

 

[hughy]

I oddly trust him more at CB than i do Dragusin, who terrifies me

I think Archie is someone who can make a mistake, but learn from it almost immediately.

For example he really didn't seem to know what he was up against with Delap on Saturday, and massively struggled for the first 10-15 minutes with Delap losing him for 3 big chances. With most CB's you'd think they're in for a long afternoon, however Archie managed to learn on the job and we hardly saw anything from Delap after the chance which hit the crossbar.

I'm not sure whether he's not being fed the right advice prior to kick-off, but he definitely appears to take time to settle in to games.

 

[HildoSpur]

I think Archie is someone who can make a mistake, but learn from it almost immediately.

For example he really didn't seem to know what he was up against with Delap on Saturday, and massively struggled for the first 10-15 minutes with Delap losing him for 3 big chances. With most CB's you'd think they're in for a long afternoon, however Archie managed to learn on the job and we hardly saw anything from Delap after the chance which hit the crossbar.

I'm not sure whether he's not being fed the right advice prior to kick-off, but he definitely appears to take time to settle in to games.

He is clearly a very smart kid and an intelligent footballer. He is not a natural defender, that's clear, however his positioning has improved a lot since the start of the season and he is gaining a ton of experience on all the 'non-flashy' stuff that will make him a really outstanding defensive midfielder in the future.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Archie has some strengths that are so clear that we can look past some of his current flaws (which he is bound to have as an 18 year old being played out of position). A bit like Mikey, I think physically he still has a lot to go and so he’s definitely going to get muscled off the ball way less in the future. His positioning and how easily some players go past him can be concerning at times but he hasn’t ever played the role and he is playing against seasoned premier league players. He is great on the ball though, good feet, good passing range, doesn’t shy away from it. It’s so clear he is going to be class and he is already very good for his experience. He looked a little lost when he pushed up into the midfield role in that weird change in formation against Leicester(?) and got turned around quite a lot, and playing deeper and allowing him to see the game in front of him maybe suits him for now.

Just got to be patient with this one.

 

[BorjeSpurs]

 

[Danny1]

My word this lad is a very good player. Which calmness, composure and reading of the game. I truly believe he can become a world class DM.

 

[Reado]

My word this lad is a very good player. Which calmness, composure and reading of the game. I truly believe he can become a world class DM.

One instance he dropped the shoulder on Haaland whilst last man on the edge of our box. Shows such confidence in his ability. What a player.

 

[Yiddo100]

 

[neilp]

That’s a great achievement for him, good lad.

 

[HildoSpur]

Well deserved. He has been absolutely fantastic. What a talent.

 

[felmani26]

Richly deserved recognition for how he’s adapted tremendously to really difficult conditions in the Premier League.

A class act, a future captain and a cornerstone for this team for years to come!

 

[nedley]

He’s absolutely not looked better than most actual CBs. He’s looked good for an eighteen year old playing out of position in the Premier League, but that’s because you’d expect it to be disastrous and instead he’s just been poor. There’s a reason we’ve conceded a silly amount of goals this season.

I don’t want this to sound like an attack on him, or like I don’t think he’ll be incredible one day - but realistically if Danso had come in and played to the level Gray’s been (understandably) playing at, we’d be calling him a flop.

If Danso had come in and played to the level Dragusin's been playing at, we'd be calling him a flop.

Poor is so so harsh. In this shit system with a covering midfield knowhere to be seen.

 

[newbie]

He’s absolutely not looked better than most actual CBs. He’s looked good for an eighteen year old playing out of position in the Premier League, but that’s because you’d expect it to be disastrous and instead he’s just been poor. There’s a reason we’ve conceded a silly amount of goals this season.

I don’t want this to sound like an attack on him, or like I don’t think he’ll be incredible one day - but realistically if Danso had come in and played to the level Gray’s been (understandably) playing at, we’d be calling him a flop.

I don’t agree

depends on what you are Looking for grey is very good at playing out from the back he takes pressure off the other Cb tbh I think he has been amazing, his looked a lot better than Dier, and Radu, ect

tbh I think Danso is helped by having grey as well his so composed, danso doesn’t get the ball out of his feet cleanly. Djed and Archie are so good at getting the ball out fast.

admitidly ive missed the last few games, I really think we are under rating him

i think danso has done well and will get better

 

[Donki]

I don’t agree

depends on what you are Looking for grey is very good at playing out from the back he takes pressure off the other Cb tbh I think he has been amazing, his looked a lot better than Dier, and Radu, ect

tbh I think Danso is helped by having grey as well his so composed, danso doesn’t get the ball out of his feet cleanly. Djed and Archie are so good at getting the ball out fast.

admitidly ive missed the last few games, I really think we are under rating him

i think danso has done well and will get better

With our inverted high attacking full backs, we desperately need a dedicated DM, it’s not like we don’t have players who couldnt do a job there it’s Ange for whatever reason doesn’t think we need one. Even if he took a leaf out of Poch’s role for Dier when as a CM he could drop in to a back 3, the only explanation is sheer stubbornness. What makes it even more frustrating for me is even when we were crippled at CB, with our first choice keeper out, he still didn’t change. I do like Gray but he is a very inexperienced kid.

Ange is basically a manager who relies on out scoring the opposition, our goal difference, for a team in our position in the league is basically astounding.

 

[BorjeSpurs]