West Ham boss Zola: Diamanti reminds me of ... me!
West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola says Alessandro Diamanti deserved his man-of-the-match award after victory over Hull City.
Diamanti enjoyed an outstanding game in the 3-0 win.
"Alessandro excites me," Zola told whufc.com.
"That is the reason why I keep playing him, although I have very good players. I keep playing him all the time because I know he can do something special for us at any moment.
"It is important to have players like that because they keep the other team on their toes. That is a big thing confidence-wise for the whole team. He also keeps the crowd involved. It is a big thing for me, knowing that on the pitch I have a player that can score at any time.
"He does remind me of me - sometimes he does the unpredictable things. He also does some unpredictable mistakes as I used to. That is the kind of player he is, you have to take him for that. What is surprising me is that his work-rate has been fantastic. He is helping the team.
"He is also playing in a position he has never played in. In Italy, he was always second striker or just behind the two strikers in the hole. He didn't work very hard defensively. If you see how he is playing now and his work-rate, it is massive for the team."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri Feb 17th | |||
| Reading | Burnley | - | 20:00 |
| Sat Feb 18th | |||
| Crystal Palace | Watford | - | 15:00 |
| Leeds United | Doncaster Rovers | - | 15:00 |
| Hull City | Brighton & Hove Albion | - | 15:00 |
| Millwall | Middlesbrough | - | 15:00 |
| Peterborough United | Bristol City | - | 15:00 |
| Barnsley | Portsmouth | - | 15:00 |
| Ipswich Town | Cardiff City | - | 15:00 |
| Reading | Burnley | - | 15:00 |
| Nottingham Forest | Coventry City | - | 15:00 |
| Southampton | Derby County | - | 15:00 |
| Blackpool | West Ham United | - | 15:00 |
| Leicester City | Birmingham City | - | 15:00 |
| Tue Feb 21st | |||
| Millwall | Middlesbrough | - | 19:45 |
| Blackpool | West Ham United | - | 20:00 |
| Wed Feb 22nd | |||
| Hull City | Brighton & Hove Albion | - | 19:45 |
| Tue Mar 13th | |||
| Leicester City | Birmingham City | - | 19:45 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham United | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 57 |
| Southampton | 31 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 56 |
| Cardiff City | 31 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 53 |
| Blackpool | 31 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 52 |
| Birmingham City | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 51 |
| Reading | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 51 |
| Hull City | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 50 |
| Middlesbrough | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 50 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 31 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 49 |
| Burnley | 31 | 14 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 47 |
| Leeds United | 31 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 45 |
| Leicester City | 31 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 42 |
| Derby County | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | -4 | 42 |
| Crystal Palace | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | -1 | 40 |
| Watford | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | -7 | 40 |
| Barnsley | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | -6 | 39 |
| Ipswich Town | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | -10 | 37 |
| Portsmouth | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 35 |
| Peterborough United | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | -4 | 34 |
| Millwall | 31 | 7 | 10 | 14 | -11 | 31 |
| Bristol City | 31 | 8 | 7 | 16 | -19 | 31 |
| Coventry City | 31 | 6 | 7 | 18 | -16 | 25 |
| Nottingham Forest | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | -25 | 25 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 29 | 6 | 6 | 17 | -24 | 24 |
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