CM: A hand in all three goals – why Ramos had a crucial role vs. Lecce despite not scoring

Goncalo Ramos remains stuck on one goal for the season, and yet there is no reason for Ruben Amorim to feel alarmed.

Calciomercato.com begin a report on Ramos by stating a simple premise: if he doesn’t score, Ramos helps others to. For Amorim, that’s what really matters. The strikers goals will also come in time, but for now he is showing himself to offer different things.

Ramos was signed in part because of the mentality he acquired with Luis Enrique at PSG: what matters is the team, how they play, and the active participation in developing a certain philosophy and style of play.

There’s no jealousy in the mind of the Portuguese international, who celebrated Diego Moreira’s goal when he made it 2-0 despite ignoring the obvious cut-back to him. What matters to him is that the team win.

Amorim calm

Amorim spoke to SportTV and said: “It’s normal, Ramos works hard, the goals will come. He’s already scored, he’s already provided an assist, and above all, he puts a lot of effort into the team. Today we were closer to him, and that’s why he played better. So, it’s a combination of both factors, but I’m very happy with Ramos.”

Despite Lecce’s performance being lacking, Amorim implemented some interesting tactical changes, from a back four in the initial build-up phase (with Mario Gila playing as a defensive playmaker) to the wing-backs’ constant runs to attack the space in behind.

It was Ramos’ movement and play that gave the Rossoneri the victory. For the first goal, he drew a marker into the attacking midfield zone, thus freeing Christian Pulisic to collect Strahinja Pavlovic’s pass. For the second, he linked with Adrien Rabiot and provided a no-look assist. For the third, he recovered the ball in midfield before a solo run by Moreira.

Ramos – who has so far scored just one goal against Venezia – worked tirelessly, making numerous passes and engaging with his team-mates, covering 11.6km. That’s almost 2km more than in the previous round’s match against Lazio.

For a player who cost €70m plus bonuses, the fact that he’s played four consecutive games without finding the back of the net or shooting is a significant statistic and influences the assessment. The flipside of this is that Ramos is still generating goals with his actions.