SUNDERLAND are ready unleash Ricky Alvarez on the Premier League today with manager Gustavo Poyet believing everything is in place for his fellow South American to be a success story on Wearside.

Alvarez arrived on a season-long loan from Inter Milan on deadline day and he is in line to make his debut against Tottenham at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

Uruguayan Poyet is eager to see the 26-year-old showcase his talent on the flanks for Sunderland, having first been aware of him in his youth days playing for Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield.

“On Saturday, it is down to Ricky, not me, not anyone else, but Ricky on the pitch,” said Poyet. “He will have the ball and he can do his bit. I am really excited to see him play because I saw him when he first started in Argentina and he was so good to watch.

“Even when he first started he was 6ft 2in, skinny but very skilful on the ball. He was great to watch. Now he has to do it on the pitch for me at Sunderland.”

After the club was forced to take a financial hit on January buy Ignacio Scocco this summer - when he was allowed to return home to play for Newells Old Boys - Poyet could have been forgiven for having reservations about targeting another Argentine forward.

He said: “Two things are important when South Americans try to settle here. One, I think the English adapt better to the players coming from South America than they did before. In the beginning it was all new to the English. There were only two or three (South Americans) before, so it was harder.

“Now that the Premier league has become so international, there are so many foreign players, South American players around, so every single club is doing the right things to make sure they adapt quickly. That’s in life, but playing football is every weekend, so players can be different out there too.

“People like Carlos Tevez adapted in five minutes and other players like Nacho Scocco maybe needed a year. He didn’t want to wait a year. He is not here now.

“The situation here is easier for somebody like Ricky, for example, because of us. We can explain things to him every day, what we mean, and the reasons behind we do things. He can get it right, not with a translator, he can get it.”

Fitting in his new signings and getting Sunderland to tick is what has been on Poyet’s mind during the international break. Alvarez is pushing for a starting spot on the left, where striker Connor Wickham has been tried following Fabio Borini’s exit in May.

Ideally the Sunderland boss, looking for a first Premier League win, will name a team with two strikers, although he does not think he is at that stage just yet.

He said: “It depends on the next couple of games. The team plays comfortable playing this way at the moment because they know their roles.

“Every player has a role and they know it. When you change the system in football, it can hugely affect a game. I’m not happy with Connor playing wide, even if he is. I need him in the middle. Playing two strikers is an option, even if it is not for me right now.

“We are more dangerous when we play with two strikers. It depends on whether the midfielders get in the box; it is the players who make the system at the end of the day. I love 4-4-2.

“Why would we change the system when we knew what we were going to get with players like Fabio Borini or Marcos Alonso last season? We didn’t get those players back, so why would we not think about changing it now. I’m not a magician; I just have to find out what is our best system. Sometimes you need to change, depending on personnel.”

One player Poyet does think can have a real impact in a Sunderland shirt this season is Emanuele Giaccherini. The 29-year-old played every minute of Italy’s last two internationals against Holland and Norway and it has not come as a surprise to his club boss.

Giaccherini was an expensive £8.7m buy from Juventus 13 months ago but he was unable to hit the heights expected of a Serie A title winner in his first season on Wearside. This time around could be different, according to Poyet.

He said: “Giacch was one of the players who suffered the most from the previous manager. It was difficult for him, coming to a new country, things not going very well. He was one of the biggest signings, expected a lot of him, then the new manager came in and didn’t play him. It was a very difficult season for him.

“I think that most would give up and go home, but he is not that character. He took missing out on the World Cup in an incredible way. I would not have done. He came back to us incredible.

“From the first day in pre-season you could tell he was like the first day that he arrived last summer, with all of that adrenaline, you want to show who you are. The whole pre-season we have talked about Giaccherini. I promise you, the whole of it.

“I have changed my mind completely and he has made me happy. Sometimes we ask some things of players and it’s unfair but we have to do it. If you are good enough to play in Italy, you should be good enough to play here. It’s as simple as that. I think he is going to be great. I see him as a new player, a totally new player.”

SUNDERLAND

Mannone

Vergini Brown O’Shea Van Aanholt

Cattermole

Johnson Rodwell Giaccherini Larsson

Wickham

Adebayor

Chadli Lamela Eriksen

Capoue Bentaleb

Rose Vertonghen Kaboul Dier

Lloris

TOTTENHAM