WEST HAM: Zola calls for flying start at Chelsea (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WEST HAM: Zola calls for flying start at Chelsea

12:55pm Saturday 13th March 2010

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WEST HAM boss Gianfranco Zola has demanded his team fly out of the blocks when they kick off against Premier League title favourites Chelsea at Stamford Bridge today.

The Hammers had a false start in their defeat to Bolton Wanderers last week, when several defensive lapses saw the team fall two goals down in just 16 minutes. However, they will instead look to their blistering start when they dismantled Hull City at Upton Park several weeks ago as inspiration for Saturday’s game, when Valon Behrami netted after just two minutes in a 3-0 victory.

Zola has called on his players to replicate that effort to stand a chance of taking anything from Carlo Ancelotti’s Blues.

“It is important that, in the Premier League, you start the game very well because it really dictates the result a lot,” said the Italian. “The point I made was that when we played Hull City, after three minutes we pressed and created an opportunity. We got the ball back in their half and we scored a goal and we won 3-0.

“With Bolton it was exactly the opposite. The way that we started wasn’t good enough and they won the game. They were better prepared for the game than us and they won the game. That was a big, big lesson, and it’s going to be important to start properly.”

Zola also emphasised the importance of setting out an organised unit to take on Chelsea, who have enjoyed an almost faultless season at home, with the exception of their recent 4-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

“One of the most important things is going to be the organisation, the desire to be a team,” added Zola. “We need to play more like a team which, in my opinion, against Bolton we didn’t do very well. That would be vital. We are in a situation where everybody has to play together and everybody has to work hard for each other. If we do that, then we have a very good chance.

“The mental thing is one of the most important things because everything you do starts in your mind first, so you have to be prepared. It’s probably the most difficult thing, because the mind can be tricky, but that is what makes the difference between winning or losing, between achieving big things or not, between becoming a great team or being another average team.”

Zola admitted he has ‘no excuses’ for the team’s poor away record, which has contributed heavily to West Ham’s disappointing season.

“We’ve been very, very inconsistent and very poor,” Zola conceded. “I have no excuses really. It hasn’t gone the way it should have gone. The point is that it is part of the past and we have ten games to go and I’m looking forward to getting some more points now that we need them.

“It’s not going to be easy as we have difficult challenges ahead for us, but it’s something we need to improve. We lost three important points against Bolton and we need to get them back and we’re going to start to look for those points (against Chelsea).”

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