Sampdoria have been wandering in the bottom half of the table in Serie A due to their defensive struggles and failing to find a balance between the lines. Coming after a short spell at Roma, Claudio Ranieri is yet to build a strategy to fit his players’ strengths, whilst they are underperforming and make his task even harder.
Surprisingly, their best performer so far is not even amongst their regular starting XI. Despite not getting the deserved praise by the coach, Gastón Ramírez takes advantage of his limited time on the pitch and supports his team’s attacking actions.
He has been used on a few different positions, adjusting to all formations that Sampdoria employ quite successfully. Pulling out some solid performances against the top half teams like Juventus, Napoli and Milan, proved that Ranieri might think about making Ramírez a regular starter.
This scout report aims to show his impact on Sampdoria’s performance using tactical analysis. We will try to break down his contribution to the different phases of the team’s tactics.
Ball progression
Ramírez has been a starter in 12 (played in 15) games this season, being allocated to quite a few different areas and having different roles. He has contributed as an attacking midfielder behind the forward duo in a 4-3-1-2 formation. His experience in the 4-4-2 scheme was different – being placed either as a forward or a right-winger. Despite his positioning, he always has similar responsibilities. He plays a key part in the team’s build-up strategies
He most frequently occupies the right-hand side and helps in Sampdoria’s build-up ventures providing additional passing option and creating short pass combinations with his teammates. He aims to help in retaining possession and slowly advancing the ball.
The team’s compact structure suggests the attacking players to drop deeper towards the central line and help to distribute the ball to the final third. No matter if the Uruguayan plays as part of the attacking duo or behind it, he always supports the midfield actions by moving around the half-spaces. Out there he provides additional threat but also supports his teammates by dragging players out of position.
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