Ramires was one of Chelsea’s star performers during the 2011/12 season, a season which saw the Blues capture both the FA Cup and the Champions League. Many expected Ramires to build on his excellent performances from that season and nail down a regular place in the starting XI in the 2012/13 season. And while he did manage to feature quite regularly for Chelsea, it’s safe to say he didn’t improve on the form he displayed the season before.
While he did manage to put in a few good performances during the 2012/13 season, his season will no doubt be remembered for his consistently poor form, characterised by an inability to pick out a man with even a simple 6-yard pass as well as his poor first touch and general inability to influence the game from midfield. He did get a few goals, and his work-rate in general was always excellent wherever he was deployed. Sadly, his excellent work-rate cannot compensate for one poor performance after another.
Mind you, not all of the problems he faced are down to him. The deep role in a midfield double pivot isn’t exactly his favoured role. Ramires is most effective when deployed as the advanced midfielder in a midfield three. His lightning pace, amazing work-rate and stamina are well-suited to that position. He can burst forward with pace to aid the attack and track back and help out in defence whenever possession is lost. Playing in a deeper role means he isn’t able to get forward whenever he wants to and must sit back and dictate the game, something he isn’t exactly good at.
Playing in a deeper role last season exposed the flaws in his game. His passing range isn’t the best, and his poor first touch and control often led to Chelsea losing possession. Someone who struggles to complete a 6-yard sideways pass simply cannot be expected to dictate a game like a Xavi or a Pirlo.
However, Ramires isn’t a totally useless player. His work-rate means he can be used in situations when the team need to shut shop (or “park the bus”, to use more familiar terminology). Also, if Mourinho wants to sometimes revert to using a 4-3-3 formation against certain teams (as I suspect he might), Ramires could be deployed in his favoured position. However, unless Ramires drastically improves his passing range and his ball control, he won’t be first-choice whenever Chelsea play a 4-2-3-1 formation, as they will most of the time. Marco van Ginkel has an excellent passing range, and so does Frank Lampard (we might not have seen him pass much last season, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten how to pass) and both will be preferred to Ramires as the deep-lying playmaker.
So, to answer the question I posed right at the beginning of the article, I don’t see Ramires being anything more than a squad/utility player next season.
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27 thoughts on “Will Ramires Be Anything More Than A Squad Player Next Season?”
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Ramirez to be a squad/utility player next season. Ouaaaahh! ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MIKEL OR TORRES???
good and well written article mate. You deserve a thumbs up for this. I completely agree with you and knowing Ramires he won’t be unhappy with this role. His versatility means that he will be an ever present force during very busy fixtures and his lightning pace can be the answer to our missing ‘super sub’ since the departure of Kaloo. Anyway i don’t think that next season the double fulcrum midfield position will be a problem because sooner or later we will certainly reach an agreement with Roma for De rossi. In my opinion De rossi can be our yaya toure..experienced strong and equipped with a good vision.
Why drop out MIKEL from the list of passers we have??
Hmmm the article i’v read here today are really …….. Or probably am just paranoid today?
RAMS IS OK, BY THE WAY HE PLAYS.THERE,S ALOT OF LOAD ON HIM LAST SEASON, HE FEATURE ALMOST IN ALL, AND HE PERFORMED EXCELLENTLY, WE CAN,NT RATE HIM WIHT LAMP IN VIEW OF LAST SEASON HE DESERVE TO PLAY REQULARLY EVEN IN NEXT SEASON UNDER MOUR,
I agree with you only if we use a 4-2-3-1 formation, which I think Mou would be modifying to bring in more defensive players, so Ramires wud b more than just a squad player.
Ramires is good player,but i agree with you since he is a different kind of player who opts to play long ball game,works with pace and strength and lets not forget his tackling ability the way he won the ball from rooney in manu match against old trafford in league has changed the result of game is the best example.Yes he is not good in passing and first touch or controlling and different from mata,hazard and oscar but i do hope he gels well in mourinho style of play, so that he gives verstaility to our game as he differs from other players.
Ramires is good player,but i agree with you since he is a different kind of player who opts to play long ball game,works with pace and strength and lets not forget his tackling ability the way he won the ball from rooney in manu match against old trafford in league has changed the result of game is the best example.Yes he is not good in passing and first touch or controlling and different from mata,hazard and oscar but i do hope he gels well in mourinho’s style of play,so that he gives verstaility to our game as he differs from other players.
Sorry for mistake, it was against manu in old trafford!
Good one there, i just hope he will improve more this season.
he is a mourinho kinda player, he plays with his heart and that works cos it brings out initiative
Good article, cheers! for that, you mean Scolari doesn’t have the eyes to see remires during confederation cup competition? He need to improve nothing more than that simple, no time for him to be learnin passes at such age.
I believe he’s gonna step up his game. Ram lois a good player. His best come when he plays from th flank
Why is nobody even mentioning Kenneth Omeruo of Nigeria who is supposed to return to Chelsea after the extended holiday due to the confederations cup. The young lad is good
Why is nobody even mentioning Kenneth Omeruo of Nigeria who is supposed to return to Chelsea after the extended holiday due to the confederations cup. The young lad is good and can easily fit in the team
alexis spark jasper.
Let’s not forget Ramires is a good winner of the ball and he does that better than any other player in our team.
We can’t expect him to be excellent every season, after all he’s just a human but not a machine.
Let’s give him de benefit of the doubt: even Messi floops in some games and that’s football for you.
Are u kidding me,ramires is a tough tackler no midfielder presently in d holding role can co exist without ramires..he’s. Fast an option while in attack and a good finisher.I think chelsea should let mikel or essien leave to make room 4 a de rossi n ramires holdins role.
Agree
You fucky bloody admi,sumtims i wonder wer you learn hw to analyse soccer 4rm,u are totaly off u mind 2day,cuz he didnt feature in confed.doesnt mean he is nt excellect,all the games we played without him we suffered.stop analyzing wat u dnt knw.
When sum stupid cfc fans hears a new name,dem wil mak such name d best.is DE ROSI beta than common MIKEL last season talk more of RAMIRES?get ur fucking head straight nd analyse well next time.drop favouritism aside or we remove u 4rm admi post
Even when de rossi is @ sleep he is a better player than mikel..buh I think essien shud make way 4 de rossi
Ramires is better pairing with mikel than lampard cos lampard always like to surge forward and when the ball is loss then rami cant soak the pressure alone forcing him to commite fouls
Remember Brazil’s starting formation in the Confed Cup? 4-3-3 with an attacking mid. Ramires can play the Paulinho role next to the screen,he has license to go forward. Technically it’s a 4-2-1-3.
Mata plays the attacking mid role and Hazard the left wing but he is free to roam aswell and switch with the Spaniard. More or less like Oscar and Neymar in Scolari’s system. This in general aids Hazard’s dream of scoring 40-60 goals,which in my opinion isn’t possible in the Premier League but okay,he can certainly score more because he has the potential to do so.
Ramires does not fit the 4-2-3-1. Does it aquire a box to box type? I don’t think so. But generally there are many options to accommodate him and get the best out of him.
So u want Lampard and de rossi u prick! Lampard is a 34 year old english who is held high by the british press. Ramires and mikel will play,HATER!
First of all let me congratulate you on writing such an excellent articile, with such great analysis and reasoning. I completely agree with this article and moreover think that ramires is one such player in our team who really brings in energy, robustness and the high tempo the chelsea play with, a very effective player for us in midfield who i think we should never let go off. Moreover with jose at the helm i think ramires may have still have the best years ahead off him…..
Everybody knws that the pairing of Ramires and Mikel worked wonders last season!De Rossi and Lamps wil be definitely be an error!De Rossi is an overrated player!
Sincerely speaking, I don’t know much about de rossi but based on what I saw chelsea play last season, mikel is good but in some type of game we played, his technique n idea was not fitting bcos he’s not fast, he retrives atimes n sometimes regress d attack when in play which will or culd hamper counters so I think whether ramires, mikel or de rossi, d type of team we play or d type of formation or tactics we employ will determine who will best fit a particular position based on the fact that we already know d strength of each of them. I can tell u dat d 3 are world class players which is evident in d way mikel played in d confed cup. Its left to mourinho what he wants to play based on style, tactics n formation. We shuld rather sell essien bcos I dn’t see his place in d team anymore cos I feel his play is now average.