Chelsea: Three positives and one well-known negative from win over Everton

3. Lampard’s big goalkeeper decision looks to be paying off

There’s no question that the decision to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga has been Lampard’s biggest decision as a manager thus far. Willy Caballero was perfectly adequate playing in his place, but the door was always going to be kept ajar for an eventual return by the Spaniard. The FA Cup match against Liverpool was his opportunity to make a statement, which he did with aplomb. He retained his spot against Everton, and, although he wasn’t tested nearly as much, he did everything right when called upon.

Perhaps most notably, he confidently claimed a handful (no pun intended) of crosses, which has arguably been his biggest weakness since he joined the club. In one instance, he managed to hang onto the ball despite a solid collision with Kurt Zouma, showing the kind of toughness needed by an undersized goalkeeper.

There’s also something to be said for his newfound willingness to just smash the ball upfield rather than trying to delicately play out from the back, which has been a dangerous bit of Russian roulette this season.

It’s the type of confident and intelligent goalkeeping that seemed unimaginable just a month ago.

There will be bigger tests for him in coming weeks, but he looks a lot more like the player Chelsea shelled out a record fee for just 18 months ago.

Lampard deserves credit for having had the guts to bench him, and it’s starting to look like a genius piece of man-management now that he has returned to the lineup. Or, it might just be the snazzy all-black goalkeeper kit.