I don't think there's been any Chelsea player in the recent past with a greater gap between ups and downs as Ramires. That's probably because he's such a strange footballer -- blessed with enough pace to be a good dribbler by default as well as the stamina to use said pace all day, every day, but bizarrely incapable of playing a simple passing game, Ramires is perhaps Chelsea's best midfielder off the ball. He's certainly the one you want attacking space.
His strange mixture of abilities means that depending on the job he's asked to do he either looks incredible or diabolically bad. Runner in a 4-3-3? Amazing. Pivot player, asked to control tempo? Frequently ridiculous (although he's been improving in this regard, in fairness).
One suspects, however, that the highs will be remembered for far longer than the lows. Probably the most important player in Chelsea's Champions League run not named Petr Cech or Didier Drogba, Ramires will always be associated most strongly with that goal at the Camp Nou, and indeed that's what sticks out for him most of all as well. Celebrating his 200th appearance in Chelsea blue, the Brazilian told Gazeta Esportva:
If I had to pick the best moments of what I have done in a Chelsea shirt, to score against Barcelona and to win the Champions League title would be highlights. Those are memories immortalised in the history of the club and in my memory.
As I said, I hope to continue at Chelsea for a long time and to accumulate more good things to tell my children and grandchildren.
-via Sky Sports.
Is this post a thinly-veiled excuse to watch the video again? Yes. Yes it is.