Having watched his team run out comfortable winners against the only London side to have previously taken a point off them, Carlo Ancelotti was confident the Manchester City defeat is now out of Chelsea's system.
It could have been one of those afternoons when it all went badly wrong with West Ham equalising Alex's opener with a goal they had barely threatened. But the side that drew 1-1 with us at Upton Park in December and on their visit to Stamford Bridge last season were blown away by a second-half Didier Drogba brace and a Florent Malouda goal.
'We played a good match and were better in the second half,' decided Ancelotti as he assessed the 4-1 win that put Chelsea back on top.
'It was important to have a good performance and to return to playing our football with confidence. I am happy for this, not only for the result. Now we want to maintain this concentration and determination because every game could decide our future.
'It was important to have a good reaction after losing to Manchester City. We had that against Stoke City and improved on that in this game. It was a bad day against Manchester City and we came back the right way.'
Key to the win was the performance of Malouda who not only scored the third goal but tortured West Ham right-back Jonathan Spector all afternoon, supplying the delivery for Chelsea's first two goals; two of 16 crosses from the France international during his 86 minutes on the pitch.
'That was the best performance of Florent Malouda,' praised his manager.
'He did very well, worked for the team, did fantastic assists for goals and I hope that he will play like today on Tuesday. He won't play left-back,' Ancelotti smiled.
West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola had surprised many with his team selection by leaving out the creative Alessandro Diamanti in favour of player s he believed could do a better job counter-attacking.
'It was tough after Chelsea's second goal,' said the former Stamford Bridge favourite. 'Before that we looked okay and Scott Parker in the middle was dominating the scene. But then John Terry came through the middle and we made a mistake because Behrami and Spector both went to challenge him and Terry put the ball wide.The cross was perfect as you'd expect from a quality player like Malouda. The rest was easy for Drogba.
'That is the difference. Teams like Chelsea really punish you when you make mistakes. I believe the score at the end was too much. It doesn't reflect the game.'
It took until the final minute of the second-half for West Ham to properly test Ross Turnbull for a second time in the game and the Chelsea league debutant keeper was up to that task.
'Turnbull was not involved a lot of times but he did a good save at the last minute and he played with confidence. This is important,' said Ancelotti.
'He deserved to play this game because he has trained very well.I think he will play on Tuesday.'
It could have been one of those afternoons when it all went badly wrong with West Ham equalising Alex's opener with a goal they had barely threatened. But the side that drew 1-1 with us at Upton Park in December and on their visit to Stamford Bridge last season were blown away by a second-half Didier Drogba brace and a Florent Malouda goal.
'We played a good match and were better in the second half,' decided Ancelotti as he assessed the 4-1 win that put Chelsea back on top.
'It was important to have a good performance and to return to playing our football with confidence. I am happy for this, not only for the result. Now we want to maintain this concentration and determination because every game could decide our future.
'It was important to have a good reaction after losing to Manchester City. We had that against Stoke City and improved on that in this game. It was a bad day against Manchester City and we came back the right way.'
Key to the win was the performance of Malouda who not only scored the third goal but tortured West Ham right-back Jonathan Spector all afternoon, supplying the delivery for Chelsea's first two goals; two of 16 crosses from the France international during his 86 minutes on the pitch.
'That was the best performance of Florent Malouda,' praised his manager.
'He did very well, worked for the team, did fantastic assists for goals and I hope that he will play like today on Tuesday. He won't play left-back,' Ancelotti smiled.
West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola had surprised many with his team selection by leaving out the creative Alessandro Diamanti in favour of player s he believed could do a better job counter-attacking.
'It was tough after Chelsea's second goal,' said the former Stamford Bridge favourite. 'Before that we looked okay and Scott Parker in the middle was dominating the scene. But then John Terry came through the middle and we made a mistake because Behrami and Spector both went to challenge him and Terry put the ball wide.The cross was perfect as you'd expect from a quality player like Malouda. The rest was easy for Drogba.
'That is the difference. Teams like Chelsea really punish you when you make mistakes. I believe the score at the end was too much. It doesn't reflect the game.'
It took until the final minute of the second-half for West Ham to properly test Ross Turnbull for a second time in the game and the Chelsea league debutant keeper was up to that task.
'Turnbull was not involved a lot of times but he did a good save at the last minute and he played with confidence. This is important,' said Ancelotti.
'He deserved to play this game because he has trained very well.I think he will play on Tuesday.'
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