Archie Gray believes Tottenham can take a number of positives from Wednesday night’s 5-3 Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain despite describing the result as “not good enough.”
The pre-match talk at the club had been about effecting a reset after Sunday’s 4-1 derby humbling at Arsenal to boost confidence for Saturday’s home game against Fulham. Spurs are desperate for a victory at their stadium having won only once there in the league this season under Thomas Frank. More broadly, their home league record shows three victories in 20 matches.
It was a strange game for Spurs to analyse against PSG. The view was coloured by Frank’s team having set the bar so low with their performance at Arsenal and also because it was PSG, the star-studded, defending European champions. What was pleasing from a Spurs point of view was that they showed some attacking thrust. Richarlison scored his sixth goal of the season and Randal Kolo Muani, who is on loan from PSG, got two – his first in Spurs colours. Frank went man-for-man in midfield and there was fight and aggression.
Yet Spurs were guilty of sloppy defending, especially on the concessions for 3-2 and 4-2. It was a frustration that they were not able to resist after Kolo Muani had put them 2-1 up in the 50th minute; they were 4-2 down by the 65th minute. It was a whirlwind turnaround when Spurs heads were scrambled, the lack of conviction pronounced. The defeat extended the team’s worrying run. Since the end of September, they have won three matches in all competitions out of 12, losing five.
“It’s disappointing to lose games of football and we’re not happy after that one,” Gray said. “But we’ve got more positives to take from this game than the last game. We scored three goals so that was obviously pretty positive. It was always going to be a tough game, we were playing probably the best team in Europe. But we showed positives we can take into Fulham. The Arsenal game took a bit out of us but we were always going to bounce back.
“The fans were unbelievable [in Paris]. They have stuck with us through a lot of hard times and we can’t thank them enough for the support they give us, especially after a few tough games. Hopefully there were a few positives that we could give them. It’s not good enough these losses at a club like Tottenham but we’re going to look to improve that.”
Gray was a plus point against PSG. He pushed high in central midfield in Frank’s 4-4-2 diamond formation when Spurs had the ball, looking to make things happen, and he was involved in his team’s first two goals. Out of possession he dropped deep alongside the holding midfielder, Rodrigo Bentancur.
Gray had not played since the 0-0 Champions League draw at Monaco on 22 October because of a calf injury. He started at left-back that night and has been used in numerous roles, notably at centre-half by Ange Postecoglou last season. He wants to be in midfield. It is possible to feel that Gray does not regard his versatility as a blessing.
“The pressure [against PSG] was just man-to-man,” Gray said. “Find your man and stay with them. It was just trying to find the spaces where the [PSG] midfielders don’t want to track you and finding the half spaces like with the cross [for the opening goal].
“The coaching staff have been absolutely brilliant with everyone, especially improving our individual games. Last season was a tough season. It ended really well [with the Europa League victory] but there were a lot of tough moments, especially for me playing centre-back and all these different positions, which I’m grateful for but there were loads of setbacks. It is just things to learn from and the coaching staff this year have been really helpful with individual plans and stuff like that.”
Gray, who is 19, was asked whether he was conscious of the desire of the Spurs fans for their team to play entertaining football. “Yes, definitely,” he replied. “Every club wants to play entertaining football and sometimes when you play teams like PSG you have to alter that a little bit. They have that individual quality where they can take you apart in literally one moment.”
