Stuart Dallas shares what made £40m Leeds United man 'different' as early Marcelo Bielsa session recalled — YEP 12/9/24
By Kyle Newbould
Archie Gray had been involved with the first-team for almost
two years before his Leeds United debut.
Stuart Dallas was struck by the commitment of Archie Gray
during his formative years in and around the Leeds United first-team, knowing
early on the teenager was destined for great things.
Gray enjoyed a breakout campaign at Leeds last season, only
making a senior debut in the opening-weekend draw at home to Cardiff City
before cementing his place in Daniel Farke’s side. The academy prospect
excelled at right-back and in midfield, showing the kind of versatility his
experienced teammate Dallas built a reputation on.
But Gray had been among the first-team squad for a number of
years before that debut and was working alongside his more senior teammates at
Thorp Arch while completing his studies, often having to balance the two. And
it was that commitment to such long and testing days that left Dallas knowing
big things would come for the teenager.
"Archie would do one part of his gym programme and then
went to do his education," the Leeds defender told Sky Sports. "By
the time his education finished, every other player was gone. I returned in the
evening with my kids who were at the pre-academy and Archie was back in the gym
finishing off his programme.
“Anybody else would have been gone, there were no staff in,
but he was in. That showed me that he's different, he's special and he's going
to go on to bigger and better things."
Gray’s first foray into first-team training came at just
15-years-old, with a well-timed growth spurt allowing him to compete physically
with the more senior players. And with Marcelo Bielsa in charge, there was
little room for coddling with the teenager thrown into a ‘murder ball’ session.
"One of the first sessions up with Marcelo was a murder
ball session and Archie took part in it," then-Under-32’s coach Mark
Jackson recalled. "He put someone on their backside with a tackle. I
thought, 'oh, hello, that's good.'" His attitude from minute one was
really, really driven. He has no fear."
Gray was named in a matchday squad while still only 15,
appearing on the substitutes bench for the visit of Arsenal to Elland Road amid
an injury crisis. It would be almost two years before that debut came, helped
in no way by a pre-season injury in 2022, but the academy graduate has not
looked back since.