Tottenham: Exciting Archie Gray offers solution to lingering Rodrigo Bentancur issue

Tottenham's 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray on Thursday was a wild game – pure Europa League and perhaps too messy and chaotic for any substantial takeaways.

If there were conclusions to be drawn from the occasion, though, they came in the performances of Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur, who both impressed for a Spurs side who were abject for long periods in Istanbul.

For the second European away day running, Gray started out-of-position at left-back but the 18-year-old was the best of a sloppy bunch of visiting defenders, who gave up chance after chance in the first hour and were lucky to be just 3-1 down before a late rally following Will Lankshear's red card.

Gray made Lankshear's first-half equaliser with an outstanding diagonal to Brennan Johnson, who squared for the teenage striker to score his first senior goal, and kept the ball better than most of his teammates, despite being on his weaker left side. He also stood up well to Gala's speedy right winger Barış Alper Yılmaz.

Ange Postecoglou, the Spurs head coach, believes all his young players will have learnt from the defeat in a deafening atmosphere, but it was notable that he differentiated Gray from Lankshear, 19, and Lucas Bergvall, also 18, who struggled to impress on another difficult European night.

"[Lankshear] will be disappointed with [being sent off]," Postecoglou said. "He took his goal well, he worked hard for the team, I'm sure he'll learn from it.

"Same with Lucas. Understanding the levels there is in this game, you've got to expose them to it.

"I thought Archie was great, to be fair to him.

"It's great we can expose 18-year-olds to this kind of environment, it's going to mean they develop quicker, grow from it and ultimately we'll benefit from that."

Gray, Bergvall and Wilson Odobert – Spurs' third teenage summer signing, who has largely been injured this season – have been grouped together since arriving at the club, but the England Under-21 international increasingly looks the most likely to break into Postecoglou's strongest XI.

The Australian has had nothing but praise for Gray, frequently singling out his versatility and maturity, but the head coach has so far exclusively started the midfielder in cup games at full-back or even centre-half, where he played the second half against Ferencvaros.

And this is where Bentancur comes in. The Uruguayan was outstanding from the bench against Gala, helping Spurs to a foothold in the match after he and Dejan Kulusevski replaced wingers Heung-min Son and Johnson at the interval.

Bentancur was the catalyst as Spurs pushed for an undeserved equaliser in the final 20 minutes, running the midfield against a tired and strangely deflated Gala – who perhaps sensed the game was won when Lankshear was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Gabriel Sara.

Bentancur remains in direct competition with Yves Bissouma for one spot at the base of Postecoglou's midfield but the 27-year-old has edged ahead of the Malian in recent weeks, and increasingly looks close to returning to his brilliant best after two injury-hit seasons.

His poise in possession and commitment off the ball were striking against Gala, as both he and Bissouma drove Spurs forward either side of Dominic Solanke's goal.

The concern for Spurs, however, is that Bentancur continues to play with the Sword of Damocles hanging over him.

He is still waiting for the outcome of an independent disciplinary panel after being charged with discrimination by the Football Association for a racist slur about Son over the summer, and could miss between six and 12 matches if found guilty.

Losing Bentancur for any length of time would be a blow to Spurs given his ability to keep the ball and screen the defence but if he is sanctioned – which is not a certainty, to be clear – Gray should be well-placed to finally get an opportunity in his preferred position.

Bissouma would likely remain Postecoglou's first pick at No6 but, like Bentancur, Gray has the work-rate and technical quality to be the platform for Spurs' attacks and it feels like he has earned the right to be considered in midfield after a string of encouraging displays.