Carlo Cudicini was a very good goalkeeper. However, José Mourinho was ruthless when he became Chelsea manager in 2004. Very good was not good enough. Mourinho wanted the best and one of the main factors behind the Portuguese winning the Premier League during his first season in charge was the decision to replace Cudicini with Petr Cech.
There is an old line about a great goalkeeper being worth 15 points a season. It is not for nothing, for instance, that Brian Clough regarded Peter Shilton as one of his most important signings at Nottingham Forest. Shilton was key when Forest defied the odds by winning the Division One title in 1978 and there are plenty of other examples of promising teams taking the next step only after buying a top No 1.
