Some interesting analysis on AC Milan and Goncalo Ramos’ attacking struggles has been provided by the Sky studios.

It was a familiar tale for Ramos during Milan’s 2-1 win over Genoa on Sunday. He was involved but rarely inside the box, then he was selfless instead of ruthless in front of goal when he chose to square for Christian Pulisic to make it 2-0.

The worries are starting to grow regarding whether the Portuguese can provide the output required of a number nine that cost €70m. Yet, the Rossoneri have scored 23 goals in 11 league games which suggests goals are coming from elsewhere, sometimes with Ramos’ help.

The Ramos paradox

Sky offered some interesting insight after Sunday’s game. Firstly, they picked out just how involved Ramos actually is with various aspects of Milan’s overall play.

For example, he is first in the Milan squad in Serie A for interceptions and recoveries, while he is second for receptions, touches and duels. He is third for passes.

He is first among Rossoneri players for touches in the middle third of the field and touches in the opposition half. Looking league-wide, he is second for fouls committed plus fouls suffered among forwards, with 41.

Sky then shift the focus to the team’s overall play to try and explain why Ramos perhaps isn’t getting the quality service and is having to drop deeper as a result.

They look at data per 30 minutes of possession. Milan are first in Serie A for build-up actions, but they are 20th for entries into the final third and entries into the opposition box.

Amorim’s side are 19th for percentage of touches in the attacking third and 18th in percentage of touches in the opposition box. With numbers like these, there isn’t much for Ramos to get on the end of.

What does this tell us? Well, Amorim’s post match assessment about struggling to get the ball from the defensive third into the final third are true. Milan have a lot of the ball but still struggle to progress it, as the coach told Sky.

“I think it’s difficult for a striker when he doesn’t score goals. But I’ll repeat: we don’t spend much time in the final third of the pitch. We have possession, we’re improving our ball output, but we’re missing that. When we’re consistently in the final third, Gonçalo will score a lot of goals,” he said.

“It’s a team problem, we’re not helping Ramos, but he’s helping us a lot. It’s a process, a journey. And we’re not yet at the point of being so dominant that Ramos spends most of his time in the opponent’s penalty area. We’re still a long way off.”