Leeds United sensation Archie Gray faces axe after Djed Spence return as Ethan Ampadu and Glen Kamara excell
Archie Gray is faced with his biggest hurdle yet as a Leeds United first-team player with the nearing return of Djed Spence, as his midfield rivals continue to excel.
The 17-year-old Whites favourite has surpassed expectations so far this season in becoming a regular starter for Daniel Farke despite only making his senior debut in the Championship opener.
After regularly partnering outstanding summer signing Ethan Ampadu in his favoured central midfield role he has been deployed over Luke Ayling at right-back in recent games as Glen Kamara has emerged as another key offseason addition in the centre of the park.
But Farke revealed in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Leicester that on-loan Tottenham defender Spence is now just a week to two weeks from a return to action after injury [Yorkshire Evening Post, 1 November].
The 23-year-old was ruled out after making an impressive cameo appearance off the bench against Sheffield Wednesday on 2 September, but is generally expected to be longer-term starter on the right of the defence.
As Graham Smyth said on the Inside Elland Road podcast on 11 October there is an “inevitability engulfing” the Spurs man, and despite Gray drawing strong praise for his “absolutely fantastic” performances out of position [Jobi McAnuff, Sky Sports, 3 November] it will be tough for him to see off a highly-rated specialist once Spence is fully fit.
That would leave him primarily back in competition for a midfield spot, which was a given for the opening weeks of the season, but after Kamara proved an “absolute machine” in a starring performance as Leeds United went to the runaway league leaders on Friday night (3 November) and won, it could leave Gray the odd man out.
Ampadu hasn’t missed a minute under Farke and looks impossible to shift barring an injury absence, which is backed up by statistics from WhoScored.com which show he leads the three Whites in tackles (2.3), interceptions (1.5), clearances (1.7), blocks (1.1) and times dribbled past (0.3) per game, although he also makes the most fouls (1.1).
Defensively, Gray is just behind in tackles per game (2.2) and far outstrips Kamara so far (0.9), but he narrowly trails the Finnish international in interceptions (0.7 to 0.8) and times dribbles past (0.6 to 0.5), while they each only commit 0.3 fouls per game.
In possession Kamara pulls away from the teenager as the former Rangers man leads the three midfielders in key passes per game (1) and times dispossessed (0.1), while he is joint-top with Ampadu on poor controls (0.6).
Gray makes the most dribbles (0.7) and is hardly poor in any area, but comparatively makes only 0.6 key passes, is dispossessed 1.1 times per 90 minutes and has 1 bad control a game.
Kamara is the only one of the three with an assist so far in the Championship, from the fewest appearances, and none have scored in the league.
In terms of pure passing Ampadu, 23, makes the most per game (55.4), followed by Kamara (42.5) and then Gray (30.1), which may be affected by his switch into defence.
The most accurate is 28-year-old Kamara (92.1%), followed by Ampadu (85.8%), and again Gray is third on (80.3%).
Having played a number of games at full-back Gray crosses most of the three (0.4) and it should be noted that his WhoScored rating is actually higher (6.63) than Kamara’s (6.50), although statistically he is probably slightly inferior overall compared to the man 11 years his senior.
So, while Farke has made it quite obvious that the Leeds United academy product has his trust, the German may find that he can’t fit him in with the same regularity once Spence returns, with Kamara coming into “immense” form.
As a 17-year-old, in his first run as a senior player, it would be no slight on Gray to lose his place against a trio of high-quality players with far more experience, and action as a substitute would surely be a given.
At the same time few would have expected him to have made 14 appearances, including 12 starts, at this stage of the campaign so perhaps he will surprise once more and keep one of his senior teammates on the bench.
However, it would be no shock if he saw a reduction in his workload over the coming months, unless Farke finds yet another new position for him.
In other Leeds United news, an international player has “reformed” after his failed switch to Elland Road and is now looking to make a £2.6m move in January.