Does Ramos run too much in Amorim’s AC Milan? The reason for the difference in performance with Portugal: the data on kilometres covered

Gonçalo Ramos was the standout performer in Portugal’s Nations League victories, scoring three goals in three matches. But what lies behind the difference in performances compared with Milan?

Dr Jekyll with Portugal, Mr Hyde with AC Milan. Gonçalo Ramos's start to the season has shown two very different sides.

The striker, who arrived in the summer from PSG, has found it far too difficult to hit the target in a Rossoneri shirt. Yet with his national team, he turns into an almost infallible penalty-box sniper.

So what sits behind that stark gap in form? And how does Ramos play with Portugal compared to the way Amorim uses him at AC Milan?

A goal a game against Portugal

Start with the numbers. They tell the story.

Ramos has scored 14 goals in 31 appearances for Portugal, despite starting only a handful of those games because Cristiano Ronaldo has always kept him out.

Now the AC Milan striker has taken full advantage of the sensational breakdown between Jorge Jesus and CR7 in recent weeks, scoring three goals in the last three matches after being picked from the start each time.

That has lifted his Portugal strike rate to one goal every 93 minutes, practically one per game.

The numbers with AC Milan and the last season with PSG

The numbers tell the story. Ramos's first six competitive games for Milan have laid bare the difficulties the Portuguese has run into so far.

Ruben Amorim's chosen striker has scored only once, at home to Venezia, and even then only after missing a couple of glaring chances.

Beyond that, Ramos has offered little threat and produced very few efforts on target: just six on target, 11 in total.

Last season at PSG, despite playing a supporting role, Ramos still reached double figures with 12 goals in 45 appearances.

That was hardly a sparkling average, one goal every 142 minutes, but it was still clearly better than his current return at Milan.

Is Ramos running too much?

In Ramos's first matches for AC Milan, one thing has stood out: the Portuguese striker puts in a huge shift with his pressing and tracking back. That seems to cost him sharpness in front of goal.

The numbers on kilometres covered back that up. The gap between his matches for AC Milan and those for Portugal is striking.

Across five Serie A rounds, the striker has averaged 11.5 km, compared with an average of 8.3 in the four Nations League matches played with Portugal.

But is that alone enough to explain Ramos's different attacking output?

What Amorim said about Ramos

Ramos may not have lived up to expectations so far, but he still has Ruben Amorim's full backing.

Interviewed by 'Sport Mediaset', the AC Milan manager did make one specific request of his main striker: "I know he is under great pressure, he is a Milan player. He has to get used to that and I only want him to keep training as he usually does".

Elsewhere, speaking to 'Sky Sport', the Portuguese coach admitted the whole team must do more to put Ramos and the other forwards in the best possible conditions: "We have to improve as a team to create more chances, but this is not something that only concerns Camarda and Gonçalo. I do not make distinctions between players, age or minutes played do not matter.

Ramos, if you watch every match closely, has already had interesting situations, and he is also doing well with the national team. He is showing his value. My main concern is creating more chances for all my players: for Pulisic, for Camarda, for Cissè. It's a team effort".