Gonçalo Ramos has managed just one shot across his last two appearances, both away defeats against Juventus and Lazio, and Rúben Amorim is now reshaping the attack around him to change that.
The goal against Venezia on the opening home night of the new campaign was supposed to be a launchpad. Instead, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Portuguese striker has been starved of service, drifting through two difficult away fixtures with almost no sight of goal. One shot, off target, is the sum total.
Amorim identified the problem publicly after the Lazio match. "Gonçalo will improve, but it's about getting more players close to the box," he said. "We can have a lot of possession, but if we're far from the box, it's more difficult for Ramos."
The coach's response appears to centre on two adjustments. The first is personnel around the striker: placing Christian Pulisic and Omari Hutchinson closer to Ramos to sharpen the link-up play in the final third. The second is width with end product, using attacking wing-backs such as Samuel Chukwueze on the right and Diego Moreira on the left to deliver balls into dangerous areas rather than circulating possession in front of the defence.
Tomorrow's Europa League opener against Benfica, Ramos' former club, could be where those tweaks arrive in meaningful form. Pulisic is expected to start in the attacking midfield role for the first time this season, while Moreira, who scored twice against Lazio, looks set to keep his place on the left flank. Both changes would put more bodies, and better finishers, within range of the penalty area.
The raw material is there. Ramos proved at Benfica he can score in volume when the supply lines function. Whether the service improves is partly a tactical question and partly one of mentality, as Amorim himself acknowledged, getting players to commit forward rather than keep the ball at a safe distance. The Benfica game gives him a controlled environment to test both ideas before the next Serie A assignment arrives.
From here, it is up to Amorim to turn the theory into crosses, and up to Ramos to turn those crosses into goals.