Roberto De Zerbi has already explained what he wants Dominic Solanke to do for Tottenham

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The new Tottenham Hotspur head coach has been explaining the style of football he will bring to the north London club

Roberto De Zerbi has very specific tasks he will ask of Dominic Solanke and Richarlison as the strikers in his Tottenham team this season.

The Italian has signed a five-year deal with the north London club but his immediate task is keeping Spurs in the Premier League. There are seven games remaining of their season and if West Ham beat Wolves at home on Friday night then De Zerbi will begin his tenure with his team in the bottom three.

Tottenham make the trip to Sunderland on Sunday and the 46-year-old will have to pick up his new players quickly and get his methods across if they are to finally win a Premier League match in 2026.

De Zerbi has previously said that when he see the ball up in the air it "hurts my heart" because as a former attacking midfielder he prefers it to be played on the deck. He brings a high energy, attacking brand of football with each player key to the overall system working as a unit and one of the key roles is the central forward.

In a Sky Sports interview with Glenn Murray during his time as Brighton head coach he spoke extensively about building up from the back and using six players to bait the press but also what he expected of his strikers and how he likes to adapt to his players' strengths.

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"I love playing with different solutions depending on the different characteristics of the players, because on the pitch they're the ones who have to play and they have to find the solutions. You can't move the player with a [computer game] joystick," he said.

Of his front three and the man in the middle, he said: "If we want to control the game we need the number nine to be smart, intelligent to understand when he has to play, when he has to attack the space and when he has to open the space [behind] for Mitoma for example or to open this other space [in front of the box].

"If you play for Brighton, you have to work for the players first of all. Then for sure we can't forget our style. We can't forget the quality of the play if we want to compete with the big teams.

"In this [system] there is myself. There is my history, there is my character. There is my madness, no? Everything."