Gianfranco Zola: 'My dream is to be Chelsea manager'

By Stephen Topping, Reporter | 03 November 2015

Former Chelsea midfielder Gianfranco Zola admits that it would be his "dream" to manage the West London club, but insists that he must improve as a coach first.

Former Chelsea midfielder Gianfranco Zola has admitted that it would be his "dream" to manage the West London club.

The 49-year-old - who scored 80 goals in 312 Chelsea appearances between 1996 and 2003 - has previously managed West Ham United and Watford, but admits that he must improve as a coach before he could take on the role at Stamford Bridge.

"My dream, let us say my ambition, is to be Chelsea manager some day in the future," Zola told Qatari website sc.qa. "However, I realise that I need to improve as a manager if I want to get there. And I am working hard to achieve my goal."

Chelsea have made a slow start to the season, with the Premier League champions currently 15th in the table, but Zola has backed his former side to turn their fortunes around soon.

"The club has it in them to turn around their fortunes," Zola added. "A good result in the UEFA Champions League game against Kiev followed by a couple of league wins will do the trick.

"There is no one compelling reason for the poor start to the season. The poor form of key offensive players Eden Hazard and Diego Costa has not helped. Defensively as well the team dropped the standards set last year. So the players have lost confidence as a group and this has led to poor results."

Zola has been head coach at Qatari club Al-Arabi since July 11.