Gray Reveals Tactical Shift in Spurs‘ PSG Draw, Highlights Coaching Impact
Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain saw a tactical adjustment to a man-to-man marking system, according to 19-year-old midfielder Archie Gray. Speaking after teh match, Gray explained the approach focused on identifying spaces the PSG midfielders were unwilling to cover and exploiting “half spaces,” exemplified by the cross leading to Tottenham’s opening goal.
“[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].”
Gray also credited the current coaching staff with significant improvements to individual player development, acknowledging a challenging previous season despite the Europa League victory. He noted being deployed in multiple positions last season – including center-back – as a learning experience, despite setbacks.
“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.”
Acknowledging fan expectations for entertaining football, gray conceded that facing teams like PSG sometimes necessitates tactical compromise. “Yes,definitely,” he replied when asked about the desire for attacking play. “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.”
