Going Gray – Leeds United’s Newest Wonderkid Harry Gray Will Continue a Dynasty by Joe Blackburn
One of the biggest concerns for any young player making their debut is around the crowd. After all, you’re coming on to a football pitch in front of 36,000 people at a bouncing Elland Road, let alone the 300 that you might sometimes get for an important Premier League 2 game. Will they like you? Are you good enough for them? Will you fit in with the club?
For most players, this would be overwhelming, especially at the age of only sixteen.
Most players are not Harry Gray.
Like his (now widely known) brother Archie, Harry’s first exposure to senior football was in pre-season. As with his brother he was set to have a big breakout season, only to suffer a major injury that kept him out for months on end. Importantly, exactly like his brother, Harry has made an instant impact with the fans.
HARRY GRAY’S POTENTIAL
The easiest benchmark for Harry Gray’s potential is through his brother, Archie. Throughout Archie’s first, and only, senior season at Leeds United, there was vast conversation around his level – how the youngster is set to be a star in the years to come.
Consider that in the majority of clubs, Archie would stroll head and shoulders clear of any other talent – however in an article in The Athletic, it was noted that Archie was often described as “Harry’s brother”, with the older sibling reportedly even admitting that Harry was the better player.
All of this is to provide context for the rest of the article. A lot of what has been reported about Gray can be said of a player twice his age. The youngster is already ridiculously highly-developed, and as far as many people are able to tell, there is no ceiling to his ability.
ON THE PITCH
When on the pitch, Gray is a somewhat flexible tool for any of his coaches. He’s viewed in incredibly high renown already for his goalscoring prowess as a part of the Leeds United U21 setup, with three goals in just under 500 minutes. A significant proportion of this comes from the sixteen-year-old’s incredible finishing and ability to stay calmly composed as he slots a finish home. According to Aaron Lennon – now a coach at Thorp Arch – ‘He finishes off his left foot as good as any senior pro I’ve seen’ with his right being just as strong.
Even more worryingly, whilst he has spent a chunk of his time playing as a number nine, his work as a ten is held in an even higher regard. In the youngster’s debut, he emerged from the dugout to his own name ringing out from the crowd and stepped into Brenden Aaronson’s role without a moment’s hesitation.
His constant scanning gives him an incredible understanding of the shape of the match around him, meaning that every opportunity for a run found space. Although he may not have himself found the back of the net in the 6-0 drubbing against Stoke, a combination of his speed of thought, movement away from his marker and dogged willingness to get back into shape gives you the impression of a player well beyond his years. Gray may not have had the opportunity to show off against Stoke City, but there was every hallmark of a player waiting for the perfect chance to do so.
BEHIND THE SCENES DEVELOPMENT
A vast chunk of Beren Cross’ article on the recent debutant surrounded his development as a player behind the scenes. Someone to has coached him in recent years said “He’s hyper-intelligent. His thinking frequency is buzzing at a much higher level. He just loves challenges”. This focus on learning, growing, and becoming a better version of himself, is a constant in his time at Thorp Arch.
Beyond that story, the coach explained an instance in which Gray knew a match he was completing video analysis on to the degree he could see a goal coming and described every single touch leading up to that stage. This incredible attention to detail and love of the game is at the core of who Gray is and will serve him well in years to come.
Combining his visible talents and obvious will to learn already gives you an excellent prospect for the future – but few players have an upbringing as perfect. He’s the second player in the third generation of the Gray dynasty. No level of pressure will sway him, with his grandfather and great-uncle using their vast experience (including the final of the European Cup 50 years ago) to teach him to handle all of those issues. That same swagger and ability to handle pressure was true of Archie, and will certainly be true of Harry in years to come.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?
As with Archie, the sky is the limit. A combination striker/number ten that can already fit in the Championship, with a Europa League brother that he is reportedly a better player than. Whether we see him in Leeds United’s return season in the Premier League is something of a question – but there is no doubt that Harry Gray will be a name you hear relentlessly in the years to come.