Archie Gray has shed light on his mindset as he looks to establish himself as a vital cog in the Tottenham midfield.
It is fair to say that some eyebrows were raised when Spurs shelled out £40m for Gray in 2024, with the youngster arriving through the door after just one successful season in the Championship.
As expected, the 20-year-old has had a steep learning curve at Tottenham, but he is now looking increasingly at home at the highest level and has started to show his class.
Igor Tudor has admitted that he has been impressed with both Gray’s physical and mental attributes, and the former Leeds man’s latest words show why the Croat said what he did.
Archie Gray is determined to show Tottenham fans how good he can be
The England U21 international has admitted that he goes into games looking to outwork the opposition and make his presence felt in the middle of the park before earning the right to play.
Archie Gray revealed that he has been working hard on his awareness and the quality of his delivery, adding that he is focused on continuing to improve as a player.
The youngster said to Tottenham’s matchday programme ahead of the Atletico Madrid clash: “Whenever I get the chance to get on to the pitch, I always make sure I give my all, no matter what may come up in the game.
“I always try to put myself about in tackles and focus on how I play without the ball first, over anything else. My old coaches at Leeds always used to say to me that I had to earn the right to play, whether that be making a tackle within the first five minutes or putting a few good passes together early doors.
“I always focus on starting sharp and being aware, and then I start to trust my quality on the ball. I’ve worked really hard for my whole life to get here so that I can deliver that quality, and there have been a few more [goal contributions] in the past few weeks, my assist against Crystal Palace, for example. I’m determined to make that continue and to show the fans and my team-mates what I can do and keep improving every day.”
Gray’s comments show he is a real team player at Spurs
The midfielder was willing to put his hand up and fill in anywhere he was required last season, and he has now further demonstrated that he puts the interest of the team before his own.
Gray explains that even when he is not playing as well as he would like, his focus remains on helping his teammates and influencing the game in other ways.
He added: “I always want to push my teammates on, and I always want to push myself. I think I show that on the pitch. One of my best mates in football, Charlie Cresswell, would always say to me when I was a youngster at Leeds ‘If you can’t have a good game as a football player, you can always be loud and help your team-mates’. That has always stuck with me because it’s so true.
“You might not be having the best game, but you can always affect a game of football, no matter what. When I’m playing at centre-back or right-back, for example, it’s always nicer to have the player next to me being vocal and letting me know they have my back. As a team, we have to do more of that and learn to be better at it in these next few games.”
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