Three starts and three wins for Gonçalo Ramos with Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo left in the background.
The international break will return to Milan a ruthless version of Gonçalo Ramos: 81 minutes in Norway and the decisive goal in a 2-1 win after Haaland had temporarily made it 1-1; 82 minutes, another goal and an assist in the 4-2 victory in Denmark; and finally 90 minutes and another match-winning goal in Sunday night’s 2-1 home victory, again against Norway.
The Milan centre-forward, who was the subject of much debate between August and September after scoring only once, against Venezia, despite Gerry Cardinale’s historic investment of more than €70 million, has rediscovered his goalscoring touch. That is the version of the striker that all Rossoneri supporters are now hoping to see in a Milan shirt as well.
To become a lethal No. 9 for Milan too, however, Gonçalo Ramos (whose performances and goals have indirectly sparked the Cristiano Ronaldo controversy) will need substantial help from his teammates and, therefore, from Ruben Amorim. The team’s style of play so far has failed to bring out the best in him inside the penalty area, a zone the Portuguese striker has occupied far too little in his first six competitive appearances in Italy.
In the final matches before joining up with the national team, the former PSG player spent little time in the final 16 metres and had very few shots on goal. It is enough to note that in the three and a half matches he played for Portugal, he averaged almost four shots per game, two of them on target, compared with 2.8 shots and 0.6 on target in a Milan shirt, as relayed via Tuttosport in this morning's print edition.
Head coach Ruben Amorim was clear in his recent comments to Sky and Mediaset: "I know Gonçalo is under a lot of pressure, but he is a Milan player. He has to get used to that, and I only want him to keep training the way he normally does. We certainly need to improve as a team in order to create more chances, but this is not an issue that concerns only him or Camarda."
To help his centre-forward, Amorim is also working on a system different from the 3-4-2-1. Against Lecce and in the training-ground friendly against Padova at Milanello last weekend, Milan lined up in a 4-2-3-1, one of the formations also used by Jorge Jesus with Portugal, along with the 4-3-1-2 and 4-1-3-2.
Having another attacking player positioned closer to him (with the national team, that player was former Milan man João Félix) could benefit Ramos. And perhaps, in that sense, the right man could be the now-fit-again Pulisic.
Ramos himself suggested in comments to Sport TV that having more support around him had helped: "These last three games are a source of pride and a demonstration of my work," he explained. "We created a lot of chances and, as a striker, I ended up benefiting from the quality around me. I was there to put the ball in the net, I had to be there. It looks easy, but it isn’t."
Jorge Jesus also spoke about Milan’s No. 9, who is expected back at Milanello today to begin preparations for the resumption of the league campaign, with Milan due to face Sassuolo in Reggio Emilia on Sunday.
“Gonçalo Ramos, like all strikers, lives for goals, and that is what he has done in the last few matches,” the Portugal coach said. “I was the one who gave Gonçalo his debut at Benfica. Today he is a better player, there is no comparison. He is continuing to improve, and I am certain he will be a great help to Milan and to my colleague Amorim.”
