Gonçalo Ramos remains stuck at two goals in Serie A, but for touches, passes and fouls, he is among the top strikers in the league.
Is life hard for a centre-forward without goals? If you were bought for 70 million euros plus bonuses, obviously yes. Milan fans had hoped they had finally found a natural goalscorer in Gonçalo Ramos, but his three goals this season are decidedly a meagre return compared to expectations. And yet, the Portuguese centre-forward is nevertheless proving to be a factor in the Rossoneri's fortunes. How he does so is hidden in data that the average fan may be unaware of, but certainly not Ruben Amorim.
The coach has repeatedly emphasised how Ramos is helping the team, more than the other way around. And looking through the figures, it is impossible to disagree with him. Gonçalo may not be getting his name on the scoresheet, but his work is well explained by statistics that place him among the leading forwards in Serie A. Which ones? Passes (20.7 per match, first in volume among the league's centre-forwards, ahead of Lazio's Noslin) or touches of the ball (second), for example. But also aerial duels won, fouls suffered (19, first among forwards) and even those committed (22, only Bologna's Ferguson, a midfielder, has been penalised more than the former PSG player). All figures that underline the importance of his sacrifice.
Tactics...
There are, then, two considerations that do not emerge from the statistics but are equally important. The first concerns the movements that free up or facilitate things for teammates, as seen in the run for Milan's first goal in Genoa: Cisse finds himself completely alone in the centre of the penalty area thanks to Ramos drawing the bulk of the Rossoblù defence towards himself, thus allowing Rabiot to comfortably set up the young Italian talent. The second consideration concerns the work of pressing and covering, which has changed since the beginning of the season. In the opening matches, Gonçalo was the first to press forward, but in doing so he exposed Modric to an area that was too large to cover in front of or behind him. Amorim therefore asked the Portuguese player instead to disrupt the opposing playmaker, without attacking the defence during the initial phase of possession. A move that allows Luka to run less and think more when the opposition has possession.
Gonçalo Ramos' numbers...
We were saying, however, that Milan are helping Ramos less than the centre-forward is helping the team. In Serie A, Gonçalo ranks 19th for shots (26) and 15th for shots on target (10). While it is true that the Rossoneri maintain high standards in terms of the quality of chances created (third in the league for big chances, behind Inter and Roma), it is equally undeniable that they reach the final third of the pitch less often than might have been expected: Milan rank 12th for touches in the opposition's penalty area and 12th for shots on target. In short, Ramos sees the ball mainly in areas where he cannot hurt goalkeepers, as pointed out by La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper in today's print edition. Even though, in relation to his goalscoring chances, he should have scored twice as many in the league: his xG stands at 4.16 compared with the mere two goals he has scored. Still too few for a Milan number nine.
