Zola – I'm desperate to beat Chelsea!

The West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola is desperate for his team to beat his old club Chelsea, and get some badly needed points to get them away from the relegation zone.

Zola said: “With all respect to Chelsea, I want to beat them very badly. We need a result and we are going to be very ’up’ for it.”

He then went on to talk about the time he played for Ancelotti at Parma, and the reasons why he decided to leave and join Chelsea, which he thinks was one of the best decisions in his life.

“I played under Carlo Ancelotti when we were at Parma, and I left because I wanted to experience English football and try a new adventure.

“I was going through a bad time at Parma when the opportunity to join Chelsea came along – and it proved to be one of the best decisions of my career.

“Now, many years later, I can look back and fitting into the system wasn’t the real problem – my confidence was very low after Euro 96, and Parma’s situation (struggling in Serie A with serious financial problems) didn’t help.

“There are times when you need a change, to find new enthusiasm, and that was the case with me.

“But Euro 96 was a big blow for me (Zola missed a crucial penalty against Germany as Italy were surprisingly eliminated in the first round). I had invested a lot in the tournament emotionally and it affected me badly in the first three months of the following season with Parma.

“Those three months I was very low, but it wasn’t Ancelotti’s fault, it was just me. I couldn’t find a way to be happy, but I could already see he was going to be a very good manager.

“He had good personality, good manners and I’m not surprised he has done so well in his career. I have spoken to him a couple of times this season and he has settled in really well – his results at Chelsea have been fantastic.”

With all respect to Zola, i hope Chelsea beat West Ham tomorrow!