Tottenham Hotspur are on a bit of a slide now. The draw with Brighton on the road was one thing, but being the first team in the Premier League to drop points to Wolves was honestly a disastrous outcome immediately afterwards. Then, Spurs continued their slide of not beating an inferior opponent, drawing Bodo Glimt 2-2 in the Champions League, having knocked out the Norwegian side in last year's Europa League semifinals.
Now, three straight draws isn't a cause for catastrophe, and it certainly doesn't mean that Thomas Frank is doing a poor job as Tottenham manager. If anything, it's exposed what Spurs supporters should have already known, and that is the fact that the squad is deeply flawed right now.
A way of erasing one of those flaws is by taking seriously the events of the Bodo Glimt game. Rodrigo Bentancur may be closing in on a contract extension with Tottenham, but that doesn't mean Spurs should feel compelled to start the Uruguayan, just because he is a proven veteran player.
Bentancur was woeful against Bodo Glimt. He was completely overrun by a more athletic and energetic midfield. The former Juventus man worked hard for the team defensively and was accurate with his passing, but he was a ghost in terms of his actual influence on the ball. He couldn't create anything meaningful for the team and wasn't able to impose himself on the game in possession.
A higher upside option is available for Tottenham
Meanwhile, young Archie Gray has stood out as being capable of providing those exact things to the Tottenham midfield. Whenever Spurs have played him, even in games where they haven't been impressive as a team, Gray has been a positive because of his athleticism, command of the ball, and ability to progress play positively whlie in possession as a passer or a dribbler.
For Tottenham, the future is now, and that's a very important statement for Spurs to carry with them throughout the 2025/26 season. Bentancur offers no real upside to Tottenham as a team, whereas the U21 standout Gray is someone who can be one of the best in the Premier League over the next decade under Frank if his development goes as planned.
And it is going as planned, based on what we are literally seeing before us. Gray, in 10 minutes against Bodo Glimt, helped changed the game for Spurs and provided more urgency on the ball than Bentancur did. It's time to give Gray some more minutes and more trust, and if it is at the expense of Bentancur, who is a perfectly decent player, then so be it. Because Gray might just be a whole lot better than decent already.