Why Jose Mourinho should unleash Ramires against Manchester City

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.