What we learned from Tottenham 3-1 victory over Qarabag

Tottenham Hotspur kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 3-0 win over Qarabag on Thursday night, despite an early red card. Let's take a look at what we learned from the game.

What we learned from Tottenham 3-1 victory over Qarabag

First of all - Archie Gray is going to be some player. There was plenty of excitement about the teenager before last night, but in only his second start for the club, he showed why fans can be very excited about what is to come. For example, against Coventry City, Gray played as a right-back for this one.

Whilst he has experience there for Leeds United, it is still seriously impressive that he put in such a performance in a position that wouldn't be defined as his preferred one, especially in a game where Spurs were playing with ten men for over 80 minutes.

Throughout the 90 minutes, Gray had 63 touches, created two chances, created a big chance for Brennan Johnson, made two clearances, blocked a shot and made two tackles. For a European debut, with the adversity Spurs went through during the game, it was a very solid display from the Spurs youngster. As a natural midfielder, the inverted right-back role in an Ange system does feel suited to him when he does play there.

With Pedro Porro having the right-back spot locked down, at least for now, Gray's opportunities are likely to come in midfield for Premier League games. There is still no confirmation either way of a ban for Rodrigo Bentancur, but should he face a suspension, that could open the door for the 18-year old to slot in.

Destiny Udogie is starting to look back to his best. The Italian defender had not looked his usual self to begin the season, having come into the campaign with no pre-season after having surgery. In a slightly different role against Brentford, he looked very bright with more licence to cause inroads from a wide position.

Against Qarabag, he played back to the inverted role he has played so often under Ange, with Son holding width. Whilst Son did not look quite as good, Udogie had a really good performance. 19 minutes in, he stopped a sure fire chance with a recovery run, forcing the opponent to scuff his shot. Over the 78 minutes he played, the 21-year old recorded; two clearances, one interception, three tackles, two key passes, and 2/2 long balls.

Son should not have played. This isn't really a hindsight thing either, especially with a positive update on his fitness from Ange. Still, this game was a start too many for a player who already has over 43,000 minutes in his legs, who also clocks as many as 20,000 miles traveled during international breaks. Ange has implied Mikey Moore is ready - so why not give him a start from the off in games like these?

Ben Davies is a reasonable squad player. No doubt there will be some eye rolls reading this, but his experience does show at times. With ten men, some experience at the back last night was definitely useful and Davies provided that. Whilst he does not have ideal athleticism, his ball playing is pretty good and he can help in the build-up. He was given a rare game (under Ange) at left-back last night, though that only lasted a number of minutes after the red card.

We didn't 'learn' per se that Brennan Johnson is a player who is much better when confident, and that Dominic Solanke's instincts alone will get him plenty of goals for Spurs, I'd say the vast majority of people already knew that. However, it was still very nice to have a reminder of those things.

Guglielmo Vicario's shot-stopping goes under the above threshold too, you's say. Those without short memories know what a good shot-stopper he is, but it was an important reminder last night. He made a number of good saves when Spurs were under the cosh, and the fact he got the armband after Son went off showed some proper man management from Ange. After a top performance and being the captain to see the game out, a player who seemed low on confidence will now be feeling ten foot tall.