2:07pm Sunday 14th March 2010
GIANFRANCO ZOLA elected to take the positives out of West Ham’s demoralising 4-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in a result that sees them team dragged back into the scrap for survival.
The Hammers fell behind to an Alex header early on, but found themselves back on level terms thanks to a stunning strike from former Chelsea midfielder Scott Parker.
“Scott Parker’s goal was a cracker,” said Zola. “I keep telling him to shoot more than he does. I am pleased for him. He was fantastic for us and set the tone. Hopefully it will be the first of many.”
The Italian manager chose to start Mido and Ilan up front for the first time since the pair arrived in January, leaving Guillermo Franco on the bench, while it was claimed that Carlton Cole was suffering from a knee injury.
Kieron Dyer also started in midfield, and there was a Premier League debut for left-back Fabio Daprela, who came in for the injured Julien Faubert.
Chelsea hit the accelerator after the break, Didier Drogba heading home the first of his two goals, while the excellent Florent Malouda also got in on the act, finding the net with a shot from the edge of the box.
However, Zola insisted the result did not reflect the game.
“It was very good for 65 minutes,” he said. “As soon as we conceded the second goal, the boys went flat because they had spent so much energy to contain them. Before then we looked OK, we looked good. The second goal really killed us – after that Chelsea took advantage of the space.
“It is vital that you look to the positives. That doesn’t mean that we will turn our backs on the problems.
“We won’t do that. As a manger I take a lot of good things. I believe all the team worked very hard and gave everything. If we keep in that way, we will get what we deserve.
“This attitude is going to make the difference when we play other teams. I told the players, I am not going to give up anything. We have another tough match against Arsenal and we won’t go there thinking about anything other than trying to get the victory.”
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