FanPost

The Brazilians and Chelsea - Ramires!

Scott Heavey

Hey, guys!

This is the first article of an analysis of all of our Brazilian players and what is their role with Chelsea after the World Cup and our transfers. Don't expect a professional analysis - it's an easy read, for people who don't usually follow Chelsea but are interested in our current Brazilian contingent.

Ramires

One of Chelsea's key players in their victorious Champions League campaign in the 2011/12 season, the Blue Kenyan - a nickname given by Cruzeiro supporters and adopted by a few Chelsea fans - could be one of the players affected not only by his World Cup performance, but also by Chelsea's most recent movements in the current transfer window.

Ramires' "hot head" that showed at the World Cup wasn't something new for Chelsea fans. The player accumulated 16 yellow cards and 2 red cards in his last two seasons in the English Premier League, gathering 5 suspensions in the process.

One of Chelsea's major deficiencies last season was the pivot duo Lampard and Ramires, whose lack of defensive solidity left centre-backs unprotected throughout the year. Lampard, already over 35 years old, couldn't track back to help Ramires' marking role; meanwhile, Ramires collected cards with over-the-top tackles trying to break up counter-attacks from the opposition.

Looking to solve that problem, Chelsea's football director Michael Emenalo re-signed Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic from Benfica for £21m; in hindsight, a bargain price for a player who is now one of the most solid pieces of Mourinho's current schemes.

Ramires still was used in many Premier League games, having 29 starting appearances and one coming from the bench as a substitute. However, Ramires was mostly used due to a lack of good players to fill in his role rather than sole competence. Moreover, Ramires was often used as a "defensive winger" in a hybrid 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 - just like Felipão used him many times during the World Cup.

In the current transfer window, there were many rumours about bringing in someone to fill Lampard's role - who, without a new contract, moved to MLS club NYCFC only to be loaned to Chelsea's most recent rival Manchester City - but also someone to substitute Ramires, due to his current downfall in form.

One of those rumoured players was young French midfielder and the World Cup's Best Young Player Paul Pogba. However, rumours saying that Juventus rejected £60m bids could have moved Chelsea's board directors away from getting the 21-year-old wonderkid. Still, the club managed to bring in a new midfielder for Mourinho.

Cesc Fàbregas had a good season for Barcelona, but it seems that the Catalan club didn't value him that much. Sold at £30m after moving back to Barça from Arsenal for £40m, the Spaniard might be someone good enough for Chelsea's midfield transition - something the club sorely missed when Lampard ran out of form after his peak.

With the Fàbregas acquisition, Ramires' role this season will probably be to rotate/back-up the Spanish player, being used when Mourinho wants a counter-attack threat. However, Ramires also could be dislodged by Dutch midfielder Marco van Ginkel, who missed most of last season's games with an ACL injury, which now looks completely healed; and the versatile Nathan Aké, a Chelsea Academy product whose hair could cover for the loss of David Luiz's.

John Obi Mikel - another midfielder who divides the fan-base's opinion - should become Nemanja Matic's direct substitute due to his defensive contribution, which helps him getting a squad place each and every season.

Don't be surprised if Ramires gets sold in the near future to a club who were previously interested in his services like Napoli. Rumours linking Ramires to Real Madrid didn't make much sense. Now Chelsea only need to look into upping their negotiations skills so they don't come out of a possible Ramires' move with an overall loss.

Next up: Willian!

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any sort of approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions held by the editors of this site.