Chelsea FC’s energetic midfielder Ramires spoke at length with the Evening Standard about his return to fitness and his confidence being high. The Brazilian has been dealing with a muscle injury since September that saw him not play a minute of football for the month of October. After he returned from the layoff he was relegated to mostly substitute appearances with a great deal of them coming after the 80th minute of the match to close it out.
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He has returned from his injury and in recent weeks he played the second half against Tottenham and played a full match against Watford. Ramires spoke about his return to fitness and said, “I am happy. I have been playing just five or 10 minutes before, but against Spurs I played for 45 minutes and Watford I played the full 90. I’m more confident because now I’m okay to play if Jose Mourinho needs me to play more games. I’m in the condition to do that”.
It is one thing to recover from an injury and another to come back to full fitness. Even for a player with the stamina that Ramires has it still took him some time to get back in to match shape. For a player known for his tireless running and energy, that recovery time was vital for him.
The midfielder also acknowledged that finding a place in the starting eleven may be hard and he “had to be patient. I stopped playing regularly for a long time and now for me it’s very good to be playing more. I need to do more work to feel more well, but now I can help the team and I’m happy about that”. Ramires described the his injury as well and said, “It was a muscular injury in my abductor. It is a difficult area to get injured because all your movement depends on this. It was difficult for me because one day it felt very good, others not so good. But I try every day to help the team in games”.
Ramires also spoke at length about the Blues’ place in the table. He compared this season to last and said that “this season we have improved a lot compared to the last few seasons”. The Blues were playing catch up last season to both Liverpool and Manchester City and this year they are “at the top of the League, even if Man City are right there with us”. They control their own destiny at this point in the title race and they do not need to rely on other teams to get favorable results.
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The Blues have seen an eight point lead slip away in recent weeks at a time when Manchester City was beset by injuries. City also had a very favorable fixture schedule and still have some difficult matches up ahead such as trips to Stamford Bridge, Anfield, and Old Trafford all up ahead. Chelsea have most of their difficult fixtures behind them and they are also beginning to get healthier in midfield. The reintroduction of Ramires to the lineup gives Jose Mourinho some flexibility that he did not have before.
He could play Ramires in place of Cesc Fabregas or Willian against more offensive teams and use the Brazilian’s pace to spark lethal counter attacks. When Ramires is playing his midfield destroyer role, it gives Chelsea an extra edge that they may not have with players who are less willing to go all-in on a tackle. Ramires was key to the Blues’ double-winning campaign in 2012 and he has a vital role to play this season as well. The long injury layoff may be a blessing in disguise as he can bring his energy and fresh legs to the squad and make the impact we all know he is capable of making.
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