A player that Roberto De Zerbi has backed to make a big impact for Tottenham this season may still be a long way away from being fully fit.
Spurs sit at the bottom of the Premier League table going into the international break, and that is mainly down to their inability to put the ball in the back of the net.
Their cause has not been helped by the fact that their top scorer from last season, Richarlison, has been frozen out after falling out with the club.
However, the striker who De Zerbi has backed to get 15 goals this season still seems a long way away from his best.
De Zerbi said: “I spoke with him, and I would like to manage him in the best way I can in the physical aspect and in the mental aspect, because he’s a sensitive guy, he needs to feel full confidence and from myself he has big, big confidence.
“I believe he can score 10-15 goals for sure. He’s already scored in Bournemouth and why not he can score in Tottenham? It’s the same sport, different stadium, no pressure, because in our stadium, if we push, if we play well, the fans are with us.”
Dominic Solanke was limping after Tottenham’s loss to Aston Villa
De Zerbi has continued to back Dominic Solanke publicly, but the England international has done little to repay the Italian’s faith in him so far.
Gold has now revealed that the former Bournemouth man was moving gingerly after the loss to Villa, and suggested that the striker could still be carrying a niggle or is short of his best physical condition.
Gold wrote in Football.London about Solanke: “He looks unfit, lacking in sharpness, and worryingly, the sight of him limping, or at the least shuffling awkwardly, out of the dugout and onto the turf after the final whistle does not breed confidence in a striker who appears to have none in himself. Hopefully he was just a bit stiff or had taken a little whack that was aching, but it was a concerning image.
“His day was summed up during that early double Savio chance. Tonali’s initial ball reached him first but the striker had no anticipation or awareness that it was going to do so and it simply bobbled off him and into the Brazilian’s path instead.
“Solanke made a couple of defensive contributions but mostly he looked like a lumbering tree with legs rather than the hold-up man with the skill to dribble past a defender that he once was. Whether it’s simply a lack of fitness – although he’s been back now for almost a month – or a lingering injury, perhaps that troublesome ankle, that continues to dog him, De Zerbi needs much better.”
De Zerbi says he will back Solanke ‘until the end’
The Tottenham boss is clearly a big fan of the England international, with De Zerbi even describing Solanke as one of the best strikers in the Premier League when he is fit and firing.
He said: “I like him as a player, I like him as a guy. There are not many strikers better than Dom Solanke in the Premier League. I think he changes the quality of performances depending on the confidence he feels. First of all, we have to finish the transfer market, and then we speak better about Solanke.
“Anyway, I want to keep him, because I like him as a player, he’s complete as a striker. He can attack the space, he can cover the ball, he’s able with the ball to link, he’s able to score 15-20 goals in the Premier League.”
Even after the striker’s struggles on Saturday, the 46-year-old continued to back him and made it clear that he still has faith in him.
De Zerbi said he will stay with Solanke until the end, admitting that the striker needs to improve his physical condition to regain his confidence.