Ramires must stand tall to avoid becoming Chelsea's weakest link

Hard going: Ramires makes a rare charge forward in Chelsea’s defeat against Manchester City last weekend
11 April 2012

When Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti signed Ramires from Benfica last month he primarily had protecting the team's back four on his mind. Just six weeks later and the Italian is instead having to defend his biggest signing of the transfer window.

The 23-year-old knows all about having to cope with intense scrutiny playing for Brazil but in terms of club football, Chelsea are a whole new level to what he has been used to in the past at Cruzeiro and Benfica.

Like the rest of his new team-mates, Ramires enjoyed a comfortable start to the season as the side reeled off six successive victories. Yet two consecutive defeats has handed everyone at Stamford Bridge a reality check and thrust the defensive midfielder into the spotlight as they try to avoid an inglorious hat-trick at home to Marseille in the Champions League tonight.

Common sense would tell you that it is far too early to judge whether his £18.2million transfer is a success or failure, however enough time has passed for Chelsea's opponents to target him as a possible weakest link.

Newcastle and Manchester City, the club's conquerers over the past week, made him the focus for special attention. Their players were clearly instructed to close him down quickly and were rewarded accordingly as he was guilty of either being caught in possession or giving it away too easily.

It was his error that led to Ancelotti's game plan, of not allowing City the space to counter attack, to fail as Carlos Tevez sprinted clear to score the deciding goal on Saturday after James Milner had tackled the Brazilian.

Such a mistake is understandable as he gets used to the pace of English football but when playing for the champions there is no place to hide and he has come in for a lot of criticism from pundits and fans alike since the match.

It doesn't help that he has been in the side in place of the ever-dependable Frank Lampard, who has been out for the past month with a hernia injury.

Instead of getting forward like the England international, Ramires has been satisfied with sitting alongside holding midfielder John Obi Mikel and concentrating on providing a shield to Chelsea's goal. Only against City he ended up doing anything but.

Ancelotti rarely likes to single out individuals for praise in his team but felt it necessary to exonerate Ramires for what took place at Eastlands.

He said: "I saw the data of the last game and physically we lost a lot of tackles but our best player for the number of tackles was Ramires. He is ready. Physically he is not so big but he has a lot of power inside, it is important to have power in your heart."

Ramires certainly stands out among what is a tall and powerful squad because he is just the opposite. His frame is more akin to Claude Makelele, who made a big impact during his five years at the club.

There is a major difference between the two players in attitude as much as skill, though, for Makelele arrived from Real Madrid with the confidence of being the finished article, while Ramires is still a work in progress.

He confessed in an interview with Chelsea Magazine this month that: "I don't like to talk about myself too much, it feels odd and I am a bit shy about putting myself under the microscope.

"Before I came to Europe with Benfica last year I had never been outside of Brazil and although Portugal is similar in some ways to home, it was difficult because there is a slightly different culture. But I worked hard because in life you have difficulties that you have to overcome and I am willing to work very hard.

"With time people will get to know me so I hope I can live up to the expectations of being at this club. I have put my mind to listening to everyone who has been here longer than me and I knew it would get physical."

It could get even tougher against the French champions, who are looking to register their first points in Group F having lost their first match at home to Spartak Moscow.

Striker Loic Remy has already admitted his team intend to go in hard on the Blues and it is a view shared by his coach, former Chelsea midfielder Didier Deschamps. The 42-year-old knows more than most about what it requires to perform at the highest level in front of the back four having starred in his playing career for Marseille, Juventus and France.

One can't help but think Deschamps had Ramires particularly in mind when he said: "I did watch the game against Manchester City, who did a lot of good things that hopefully we can repeat.

"We need to close the space down and impose ourselves physically. These kind of games are settled in the finer details and let us hope it is settled in our favour. Chelsea have had a good start to the season but they have not played many sides from the upper echelons of the league.

"Chelsea at home in a European tie against most teams would be favourites. There are a lot of experienced heads in their team. But we are not here just to watch them play."

Ramires has been warned.

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