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Player Archie Gray

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He isn’t a 6. He struggled every time he has played there.

Stick him in the 8 and he looks really good. He is a ball winning 8 like Rice, lots of running and tracking.

Only issue is it means our only 6’s are Palhinha and Bissouma and Bissouma doesn’t appear to be part of anything so there is a danger we could run Palhinha into the ground as no other player in our squad can play that role.
 
Tomo said:
He isn’t a 6. He struggled every time he has played there.

Stick him in the 8 and he looks really good. He is a ball winning 8 like Rice, lots of running and tracking.

Only issue is it means our only 6’s are Palhinha and Bissouma and Bissouma doesn’t appear to be part of anything so there is a danger we could run Palhinha into the ground as no other player in our squad can play that role.
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has to be pal, bentancur is shite, we never play well when he starts and we have to be assertive, theres a reason for that!!!

PAL anchoring with gray and berg in front is tidy.
 
daveyboy88 said:
has to be pal, bentancur is shite, we never play well when he starts and we have to be assertive, theres a reason for that!!!

PAL anchoring with gray and berg in front is tidy.
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Agree with that my issue is Palhinha basically has to play every game now to make our midfield balanced. We have no other player to do that role competently.
 
Shadydan said:
Give him a run in the team.
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Agreed. Especially against his old club leeds this weekend. On all knows form he deserves a chance ahead of Bentancur.

Archie has been fed to the dogs a bit so far at Spurs. Nearly all his minutes last year was in a makeshift back 4 where he arguably looked a better centre back than both dragusin and Davies during that run. We were awful at the time and lost nearly every game so Archie never really came away with any credit from it. Then all his other appearances have been covering full back positions.

The only opportunities he's had in midfield is when we've made wholesale changes and the team had no fluidity. Think Ange gave him his first prem start in midfield away at Anfield when we were resting most our first team and Liverpool were playing to win the league that day!! He didn't stand a chance yet everyone judged him off that performance.

Poor lad hasn't had a fair crack at all yet. I'd love to see him start beside Palhinha this weekend with Sarr or Bergvall ahead of him. That would give him the perfect conditions to show us all how good he is. He genuinely hasn't had that opportunity yet which is crazy.
 
Tomo said:
Agree with that my issue is Palhinha basically has to play every game now to make our midfield balanced. We have no other player to do that role competently.
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We have Biss, who IMO, can play that Palinha role better than Bentancur.

Personally, I still see Gray eventually as a 6, but for now, he makes the team better when he plays the box to box role because he reads the game, makes smart runs, and can pass the ball off either foot.
 
Bentancur did score with a cute finish but also conceded a daft penalty so he had a mixed game. Gray did come on when the opposition was tiring and we had better players upfront so it was easier for him than for Bentancur who had to try and involve a sullen Richarlison and a no confidence BJ in any forward momentum (hence there wasn't any)
 
Richard Arlison said:
We have Biss, who IMO, can play that Palinha role better than Bentancur.

Personally, I still see Gray eventually as a 6, but for now, he makes the team better when he plays the box to box role because he reads the game, makes smart runs, and can pass the ball off either foot.
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Bissouma is an actual 6 but he is 8/10 or 1/10 in performances, way to unpredictable.

We bought Gray as a 6 but he isn’t remotely a 6 he is a ball winning 8 like Rice.

I don’t see much of an alternative to running Palhinha into the ground and hoping he can deal with it if we are serious about winning games. The alternative is to play an unbalanced midfield or hope Bissouma can do something he has never done which is consistency.

Fuck knows what we would have done if we didn’t get Palhinha this summer.
 
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Tomo said:
Bissouma is an actual 6 but he is 8/10 or 1/10 in performances, way to unpredictable.

We bought Gray as a 6 but he isn’t remotely a 6 he is a ball winning 8 like Rice.

I don’t see much of an alternative to running Palhinha into the ground and hoping he can deal with it if we are serious about winning games. The alternative is to play an unbalanced midfield or hope Bissouma can do something he has never done which is consistency.

Fuck knows what we would have done if we didn’t get Palhinha this summer.
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What is a 6? That Palinha does that Gray can’t be in the future? Or you feel Gray has attributes wasted at 6 that better suit 8?
 
The reason why I bang on about the 6 and the 8 is because they are so obviously very different roles.

Archie Gray didn’t suddenly become a shit player then become good again. He simply played in a role more suited to his skillset.

Last season when he played the 6 he looked poor. A good 6 screens the defence but most importantly on the ball always looks to pass forward. Gray’s first instinct is to dribble because he is a good dribbler. This got him into trouble multiple times last season and if you play the 6 and lose the ball you instantly fuck the team as you loss the ball right in front of the defence. The other aspect of the role is to position yourself to receive the ball from the defenders. Last night Bentancur went hiding behind opposition players offering our defence no passing option.

Palhinha might not be the world’s best passer but he does the basics of a 6 brilliantly, while Bissouma is up and down.

All of Archie Gray’s strengths remind me of Declan Rice. He carries the ball well, makes runs, tracks runners, high energy. That is not the skills of a 6, it’s an upgraded Hojbjerg.

Gray needs to compete with Sarr and Bentancur for the 8 role and we need to only play Palhinha and Bissouma for the 6. Midfield balance is key and Bentancur or Gray as a 6 makes us look crap. 6 is a specialist role, it needs a player suited to it.
 
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Richard Arlison said:
What is a 6? That Palinha does that Gray can’t be in the future? Or you feel Gray has attributes wasted at 6 that better suit 8?
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For a start Gray last season would win the ball in front of the defence then lose the ball trying to dribble and expose the whole backline. A proper 6 like Wharton or Rodri don’t do that. His instincts are of that of a more forward player.

Play Gray to his strengths. We can’t shoehorn him into the guy who sits in front of the backline, his way of playing doesn’t suit that unless he changes his game.
 
Tomo said:
For a start Gray last season would win the ball in front of the defence then lose the ball trying to dribble and expose the whole backline. A proper 6 like Wharton or Rodri don’t do that. His instincts are of that of a more forward player.

Play Gray to his strengths. We can’t shoehorn him into the guy who sits in front of the backline, his way of playing doesn’t suit that unless he changes his game.
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Tbh I don’t remember him doing that at all. But that’s a decision not an ability. I think it’s pretty that any 19 year old is going to develop the decisions they make.

In terms of strengths, imo that ability to use quick feet in tight spaces to keep the ball under pressure and then pass off either foot are the reason why I always saw a 6. And tbhb the type of 6 England rarely produces. But if we are saying 6 would curb the instincts to make forward runs like we saw for the equalizer, then maybe his future is an 8.
 
Tomo said:
He isn’t a 6. He struggled every time he has played there.

Stick him in the 8 and he looks really good. He is a ball winning 8 like Rice, lots of running and tracking.

Only issue is it means our only 6’s are Palhinha and Bissouma and Bissouma doesn’t appear to be part of anything so there is a danger we could run Palhinha into the ground as no other player in our squad can play that role.
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I wouldn't say Bissouma isn't a 6 either.

Biggest problem for the last few years is that we had no DM to cover back 4 that included Dier.

We have far to many players that are of a similar style.

Bergvall, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulu, Bentancur, are all drivers with the ball.

We have just two little magician creative players, Xavi and Maddison, and one is out for the year.

Levy built us a lopsided, franken wank, of a team, that has no depth, and can't be rotated effectively.

Wasting millions

120 mill on Richie and Solanke
40 Mill on Johnson

A £160 million on 3 players, not worth a quarter of that combined.

Yet, all our promising young talent, including Lankshear, Veliz (I like him), and the youngster we sold to that Dutch team can't get a look in, despite the three above being close to abject shit.
 
Nah fukkin roll the tape back on this!!!

What the FUKK...I aint heard of no footballer called GRAY before...why the fukk is this a question??? is GRAY a secret football dynasty I aint heard of??? the Redknapps yeah I geddit +Lampard POINTS neffy innit...The Cloughs I geddit...The Delaps I geddit...The Haalands I geddit...

What is this journalist snorting???

The GRAYS?!?! what a wanker...WTF...

Does anyone know of an OBVIOUS GRAY that played??? I'm not asking for a friend nor the fukkin chatgpt / wikki stalkers here I MEAN ACTUALLY saw them play???


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0zP6jkoJIg
 
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