Tottenham Hotspur have started the season in embarrassing form in the Premier League, losing 3-0 to Brentford and then 2-0 to Newcastle United. One of the concerning storylines of the campaign has been Archie Gray being utilized as a right back as Pedro Porro rounds back to fitness, and even though Porro was fit enough to start against Newcastle, Roberto De Zerbi inexplicably started him as a right winger and Gray as a right back with predictably horrible results.
Gray was one of the team's best players last season and someone Spurs are hoping to build the future around, and De Zerbi actually played into that by making Gray captain in several preseason games before naming him the official fifth captain of the team.
But now, he is casting aside Gray, who is performing very poorly at right back. Now of course, that is to be expected, because nothing about Gray, a holding midfielder who progresses play and reads the game at a high level offensively and defensively, is conducive to him being a right back.
Tottenham are playing a dangerous game with Archie Gray
Pedro Porro being fully fit should negate the need for Archie Gray to play right back, but Tottenham Hotspur do not have a true backup right back after selling Djed Spence. And their only concrete right back target, Neco Williams, was someone they showed cursory interest in towards the end of the window, with Nottingham Forest totally unwilling to sell a key player to Spurs (yet again).
No matter what, even if it means playing Destiny Udogie at right back if Porro is out and Andy Robertson at left back or transitioning to a three man defense with Tosin Adarabioyo as a right sided center back, Tottenham cannot keep playing Gray at right back.
Although Tottenham were never going to seriously entertain any bids for Gray, it is telling that Brentford and potentially another club were interested in him right at the end of the summer transfer window, just when an inkling of doubt and frustration was beginning to show, just as it was with Kevin Danso, who did end up leaving to Sunderland.
Roberto De Zerbi actually seems high on Gray and has been making overtures to show that he will be important to Tottenham, but De Zerbi is also not the most tactful in terms of maintaining great relationships with players who are not the very five or so on his list of untouchables.
And if De Zerbi continues to discard Gray worse than Ange Postecoglou did by playing him at right back and not in midfield, he runs the risk of costing Tottenham one of its biggest gems in 2027 if this continues.
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