Zola on ... Hull

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 20th February 2010

A happy Gianfranco Zola shares his thoughts on today's comfortable win against Hull City...

On the game...

We needed to set the tempo straight away and the way we started was excellent. That made the game easier for us. It was very professional.

When there was a little bit of doubt in the game it was because we allowed those doubts. I'm talking about the last five minutes of the first half when they came back and had a couple of chances; it was because we made it easy for them.

Other than that I think we controlled the game very well. We are getting better and better, it was an excellent game for us.

On his two strikers...

Carlton is an important player for us, he gives the team a different dimension. You can see when he's on the team we always pose a threat. It's important that we have him fit.

Also I think it's been massive losing Guillermo Franco for a while. He is a player who sometimes doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's so intelligent and his linking between Cole and the midfielders is fantastic.

But I must say that the whole team performed very well. Today was a team performance, especially the way we started the game. It was fantastic.

On Valon Behrami...

He scored a goal today but he could have had a hat-trick, because he had a great save against him in the first half with the header and then another good shot. Valon Behrami is a player who I can play in different positions and different ways and his contribution to the team is always massive.

Playing in that position I think he will have more chances to score.

On Julien Faubert...

Julien has been playing very well for us and I'm pleased for him, because he's had difficult times and now he's proving himself. In a different position actually, and that is a good thing for him and for the club.

We've been trying to help him because last year there were little things letting him down. But this year he looks so much more mature and focused. Not only the goal, but the pass for Carlton Cole.

On irrigation...

We wanted it [the pitch] watered a little bit because you can see it is very bobbly and we wanted to reduce that. That's why we watered it more than normal.

On relations with the bosses...

It's been good. I think they were pleased with the victory against Birmingham and I think they will be even more pleased with the win we got today. At the end of the day they want the best for West Ham, we want the best for West Ham - so we will be alright.

On end-of-season targets...

I think it's too early to say. Certainly these two results are big, not only in terms of points and position in the table but in terms of confidence for the whole team. But we've got some massive games coming up, at home especially, and we have to stay focused. Today was good, but it's not over yet.

We don't know whether 37/38 points will be good enough to be safe. It depends. There's been some surprise results - for example, Tottenham losing against Wolves. We think it might be 37 or 38 points but we will try to get 40 if we can.

On the forthcoming trip to Old Trafford...

We will see. I have to consider making some changes to refresh the team a little bit. I haven't decided at the moment but we're going to go there and battle, there's no doubt about that.

This is a team that when playing with confidence can be a surprise - so who knows.

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