Gary Cahill: Players can't give a '9 out of 10' performance every game

A few mildly interesting quotes, given the current situation, from Gary Cahill in the latest Chelsea magazine, which is teased on the official website.  Cahill's words, no doubt spoken well before the Leicester City loss and post-match reaction, still play out as a decent counter-point to the attitudes of which Mourinho's accusing many in the squad.

"There are some great memories, and I don't think we should forget the manner in which we won the Premier League, leading from the start, which was an unbelievable achievement for everyone at the club."

"The flip side, as always with football, is that it's a game of two halves - and we've had a difficult period. Last season was fantastic, this season has been tough, but we're looking to turn that around. We're working hard to make things right."

Outside of the Champions League, things haven't really gone right at all yet, but Cahill remains adamant that the squad will continue to react positively to adversity.

"Not every single minute of your career will go well, individually and collectively, and not every season will go how you want it to, but it's how you react to that. You're not a robot, you're not going to be nine out of 10 every game."

"But when things aren't going well, you work even harder and look for a reaction. I'm sure we'll turn it around."

-Gary Cahill; Source: Chelsea FC

Problem is, at this point we need to be a "nine out of 10" to get good results.  It's probably exactly what Mourinho's demanding of the squad as well.  Anything less, anything relying on small margins and luck is seemingly going against us.  We've left ourselves with zero margin for error, maybe even less than zero.

That said, Cahill's attitude on and off the pitch is certainly worthy of note. Having just resigned to a long-term contract, he is one of the future leaders of the team.  Hopefully his words and his attitude will rub off on his colleagues as our next match against Sunderland might already have relegation implications as the season comes to its halfway point.