Gary Cahill reflects on the importance of Chelsea's win over Watford

At last, Chelsea returned to winning ways with an exhilarating 4-2 comeback over Watford over the weekend. The three consecutive games without a win, coupled with Watford’s excellent start to the season following the arrivals of manager Marco Silva and attacker Richarlison, not to mention their excellent play throughout the game, raised the stakes for what would’ve normally been a run-of-the-mill match for the Blues. But Chelsea fought back the nerves, and the deficit, and prevailed in a hard-fought positive result.

For captain Gary Cahill, the victory over Watford is more than just a good result against a tough opponent. It is a way to hopefully spark a return to consistency, a return to confidence, a return to good vibes.

"It's easy to play football when everything is going well and you are winning games back to back, winning, winning - it's the best feeling ever. You can go out there and express yourself you feel like you are not going to make mistakes."

"The hardest thing is when things are not going so well and you have got to dig in and get results. Obviously this moment is one of them, hence why [the Watford] result was good."

"When you are in a difficult moment, the mood is obviously going to be slightly down because everyone is going to be disappointed and they want to win."

"For me, it is not just a situation of being here, or this team, I would guess it is the same at every other big club. When things are going well, everyone's coming into training, having a lot of banter and joking about and enjoying things - and when you are not, it's not that feeling, because the expectation level is to win. That is natural."

"That is why there is no better feeling than getting a win and then getting a bit of consistency; getting some consistency, some games won and getting back-to-back wins. All of a sudden, you notice that that lifts [morale]."

"But at the minute, when you go into this game on the back of two defeats you can feel that weight, so it is about character and we have shown that [against Watford]."

-Gary Cahill; source: FourFourTwo

With Chelsea facing a low-pressure encounter against Everton in the League Cup on Wednesday, then an away match against Bournemouth on the weekend, we ought to be able to carry a bit of momentum into the encounters against AS Roma and Manchester United before the start of the next international break in a week and a half. That will require some improvement, especially in defence and midfield, but with everyone saying the right things, hopefully the right actions will follow as well.

“It’s just about working and getting the confidence back. You have to remember we’re in the middle of October. We’re the champions from last season and Man City have still got loads of tough games to play, so have Man United and everyone else.

“We know there are lots of twists and turns to come. We were eight points behind City last season and managed to claw it back. I’m not saying that’s going to happen but we need to calm down and get back to it, it’s still open. We need to stay within touching distance.”

-Antonio Conte; source: Chelsea FC