Zola Writes - Stay Positive, Support The Team

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A Letter from Zola entitled "A lesson in how to be positive"!

Dear Hammers Fans,

We are in a tough situation but we will react and we will be ready to give everything when we go to Arsenal on Saturday.

It was hard and painful to lose at Chelsea but there is no time for me or the players to dwell on that. We have to stay focused and give everything we can next weekend. I have seen enough to know that we have both the belief and the ability.

We have three big games in a week with Wolves and Stoke following after Arsenal and we can change a lot in just eight days. Your support will be vital and we know we have to give you something back after the disappointments in the last few games when you have backed us non-stop.

I made some changes at Chelsea and I will judge in the week what to do next time. I really pay attention to how the players train, their form, their condition and then I make my choices. We have players coming back from injury and I have plenty of options. In football another game could bring anything and I will go to Arsenal with a positive approach.

The result on Saturday did not reflect the way the match was played. I feel for my players. They worked hard for the whole game and I don’t think they deserved to lose in such a way. We were in a good position at half-time against a top team.

Before the second goal we looked OK and in control but to concede when we did was obviously a big blow. Two players went to challenge John Terry as he came forward and we left Florent Malouda alone when he got the ball. You can expect a quality cross from a player like him and the rest was easy for Didier Drogba.

I thought that before that moment we had a chance because we were playing well.In the middle Scott Parker was in my opinion dominating the scene and we looked like we could’ve got something. But that is the difference with teams like Chelsea. They punish you when you make mistakes. We have to try to learn from such experiences and how to handle such pressure.

We didn’t deal well with their goals and it is something we will be working on. We will sort it out and I am certain we can turn it around.

Scott is unbelievable. He scored a great goal to equalise. I keep saying to him to focus on his shooting because it would make a big difference to his game. But other than the goal he score was excellent. There was a moment at the end of the first half and the start of the second half when he was completely in control, actually we were in control as a team..

Thank you to those of you who have bought your tickets already for Wolves next week. I know we will get a big crowd and the fact it is half-price for kids is brilliant. Young supporters are the future of this club and it will be great to come back and play at home again in front of you all.

Thanks for your support and don't listen to HammersFan as he is a muppetto!

"Gianfranco Zola"