Why Jose Mourinho should unleash Ramires against Manchester City

Ramires Santos do Nascimento is slowly emerging as a rather curious player.

Having quickly established himself as an important component of Chelsea’s side following his arrival from Benfica three years ago – as you’d expect a £20 million midfielder to – the Brazilian has now racked up over 160 appearances for the west Londoners and has quietly impressed without ever really kicking on and excelling.

That he has so far failed to hit the highest heights for Chelsea is only curious because he clearly seems to have the talent to do so. At a glance, Ramires has many of the tools needed of a modern-day central midfielder: he projects, with his canny positioning, an astute tactical brain, he boasts the sort of wiry physicality that allows him to expend his phenomenal stamina while also retaining his explosive short-distance sprints, and he is capable of some dazzling displays of technique.

Fittingly, though, for a slightly odd footballer, the technical side of his game is one fraught with contradictions. Ramires, at his best, is able to pull of genuinely breathtaking feats of fleet-footedness of the sort that many of his more illustrious countrymen would be proud of, but is at the same time neither the most reliable of incisive of midfield passers, nor is he much, if anything, of a creative influence upon his team. 20 chances created over 35 league appearances last term is far less than you would expect.

This is no great shame, of course, and especially not in a side containing the wealth of playmakers that Chelsea’s does – perhaps it even speaks positively toward his tactical restraint – but the question still lingers as to whether a footballer as (potentially) skilful as Ramires player who is so effortlessly capable of lung-busting forward runs should be offering his side more than just ‘security’.

It’s hard not to reach this conclusion when you draw to mind Ramires’s previous flashes – and they have always been isolated flashes – of attacking brilliance since joining Chelsea: Most obviously, the stunningly deft chip, executed at full pelt, at the Nou Camp in April 2012, or his slaloming, goal-scoring dance which confounded the defenders and goalkeeper of Manchester City a year later.

It is City who Ramires and Chelsea play host to for Sunday’s showpiece fixture – a clash of the two rightful title favourites and one that may or may not fulfill its advertised description of ‘Super’. Ramires, the sort of energetic presence that has become a fixture in these games, is likely to start the game alongside one or both of John Obi Mikel and Frank Lampard. It’s fair to say he’ll have plenty of immobility to compensate for.

Jose Mourinho, as we know, strives desperately for control in these important games. This doesn’t necessarily take the form of sustained possession (and as Barcelona fans will politely inform you, it often doesn’t), but control for Mourinho means to have control over the opposition’s capacity to make chances and to maximise the spells of possession that his side do have. Ramires, whose longer passes can often go astray, as they did in his last outing against Cardiff, may not seem ideal for such a gameplan.

On the other hand though, taking the odd risk in possession with direct, zipped balls forward is something encouraged by his manager in these sorts of clashes, and Ramires vitality and vigour in an otherwise decrepit engine room – as well as his positional intelligence – will also be looked upon warmly from the dugout.

Perhaps most intriguing, though, are the possibilities that may present themselves to Chelsea if Ramires is allowed to involve himself in his side’s attacks, even just to a small degree. The Brazilian, when he does get forward, tends to do so down the inside-right channel (as he did so effectively at the Nou Camp), and links up well with his full back and winger on that flank. His performance away to Norwich is a good example of this.

Now, that side of the field, on Sunday, also marks Manchester City’s achilles heel, with both Gael Clichy or Aleksandr Kolarov notably vulnerable to any sort of direct attacking threat, especially in the form of high-paced overloading. Their home defeat to Bayern Munich earlier this month was a classic example of this, as the Bavarians took City to pieces down their left side with laughable ease.

Ramires, should he be permitted to venture forward and offer an extra body in that area of the pitch, could well go some way to replicating Bayern’s dissection of the City defence, although the level of Mourinho’s conservatism – as well as the effectiveness of his more genuine creators – is likely to be the decisive factor here.

Should he be adventurous enough, or feel the need, to loosen the leash of his dynamic midfielder on Sunday the result could reap dividends for his side, and three points snatched from City would represent a significant blow landed between the two forces most likely to be vying for the league trophy in May.