Roberto De Zerbi has promised to restore Tottenham’s pride, to stay for years, to take them to the top – and to thrill fans with the sort of football they played under Ange Postecoglou.
De Zerbi, whose first game as Spurs boss will be at Sunderland on Sunday, has signed a five-year contract without a relegation escape clause.
‘In my plan for sure there is the idea to stay for a long time,’ said the 46-year-old Italian as he field questions for the first time in his new role.
‘To try to put Tottenham – and I’m not speaking about the titles because it’s not the right moment now – but to put Tottenham to stay in the first position in the Premier League because everything is here to reach that level.’
De Zerbi wants to play attacking football and believes the players are available to do that successfully.
‘I want to keep the ball,’ he said. ‘I want to see again the Tottenham I watched with Postecoglou. In my second season in Brighton, there was Postecoglou here with a lot of these players and it was one of the best teams in terms of quality of play.
Roberto De Zerbi begins his Totttenham rescue mission at Sunderland on Sunday
‘With Pedro Porro, with Destiny Udogie, with Micky van de Ven, with Cristian Romero, with this squad, and I would like to see it again.
‘The DNA of this club, of this squad is to find the goal, to score!’
The most urgent priority for Spurs however is to escape relegation. They are winless in 13 Premier League games, a dismal run stretching back to December and are onto their third boss of the season after sacking Thomas Frank in February and Igor Tudor six weeks later.
‘I do not think I am better than Thomas Frank or Igor Tudor, because I consider them very good coaches,’ said De Zerbi. ‘I try to bring my style, myself, my character, my personality, my passion, to help the players first to show their qualities, because they have a lot of qualities.
‘And then to achieve our target, because the most important part now is our target. Now I have to work. Now we have to make points.’
