Tottenham Hotspur center midfielder Lucas Bergvall is currently out injured, but his return should be on the horizon. He could either get some minutes off the bench against Leeds United this weekend as a tune up, or he could return for some starts after the November international break.
Bergvall and fellow young gun Archie Gray haven't gotten many starts in the midfield this season, but when they have played there, they have shined. The Swedish international has been stellar since a terrible Matchday 1 surprise start against Brentford when Spurs lost 3-0, while Gray has mostly started at right back, slowly turning up the heat to the point where he has been more than just an emergency right back option for star man Pedro Porro. As evidenced by his outings against Chelsea and Crystal Palace in 2-0 wins for the Lilywhites, Gray is legitimately one of the better right backs in the Premier League.
Tottenham have one of the best defensive midfield pairings in world football right now in Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, who both played Chelsea and Palace completely out of the park in beyond dominant displays. Fernandes and Tonali are, as expected by their 185 million pound price tags, locked in as the clear starting duo for the Lilywhites.
But as Tottenham Hotspur know better than anyone else, a team with aspirations of a Premier League title - or even "just" Champions League football in this grueling English top flight - needs to have a strong B Team. And between Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, Spurs probably have the best possible B Team they could ask for if they need to replace one of Tonali or Fernandes...or both.
Gray can play the Tonali role. Obviously he's not Tonali in terms of his advancement in reading the game and dictating the play, but as everyone saw last season when he was Spurs best player when they were beyond awful and coached by the worst manager in the league, he's quite good at that, especially for a young player. And he has even managed to bring those traits to the right back position with his technical ability, bravery, and vision.
Likewise, Bergvall isn't as technical as Fernandes or as apt creatively, but he is just as good at winning the ball and plenty good at carrying the ball and making things happen in the final third. In the 6/8 equation, Gray is the 6 for Tonali and Bergvall the 8 for Fernandes, and if Spurs need to give the main men some rest going forward or experiment a bit differently, they have the ideal backups to keep the momentum going forward no matter what.
This article was originally published on www.hotspurhq.com as Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray give Tottenham the ideal B Team .
