Ramires talks good game now he’s no longer lost in translation at Chelsea

11 April 2012

Chelsea midfielder Ramires believes he is beginning to make an impact in English football and has no regrets about moving to the club.

Carlo Ancelotti called Ramires "a fantastic player" when he became Chelsea most expensive signing of the summer following his £18.3million switch from Benfica.

However, the Brazil international has failed to live up his coach's billing and struggled in a side that are now on their worst run of form for more than a decade, with just six points from their last seven league games.

Ramires, though, claims he has come to terms with the pace of the Premier League in time to make a difference against Manchester United on Sunday and is adamant he can only improve from now.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "I feel good, I feel better all the time and I am more adapted than I was before and starting to show the football I played at my previous clubs. I am working hard to show I am more at home in England. With the language, I am still taking lessons to try to improve my English because I want to be more chatty with the rest of the people here and want people to know more about me.

"You don't always understand what you are being told and it is hard for me to express myself but I enjoy the lessons and my English is getting better.

"As for life in London, I am settling, I have my family here with me and I am happy, so things are going well and I look forward to fulfilling my contract with Chelsea. We have to look forward, train hard and make sure we get the results that we want."

The 23-year-old has started 14 games this season, which is perhaps more than Ancelotti planned. The coach has been forced to play him after losing Frank Lampard to a long-term injury, while Michael Essien also missed three games through suspension recently.

Ramires has been guilty of making some high-profile mistakes, most notably in the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City in September when he was caught in possession and Carlos Tevez went on to score. At times it has looked as if he wasn't ready to play at a much faster speed than he was used to back in Portugal or Brazil.

But Ramires insists the English game has held no surprises for him and feels his displays against Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham prove that.

He added: "It is everything I expected. I came prepared for the speed and the strength of the Premier League and the training sessions at Chelsea are as intense as the matches, so the matches are as I thought they would be.

"Training here is even better, I like the fact that training is intense because that way you prepare for matches as you should do. In previous clubs training was never so intense but I pushed myself harder so that physically, tactically, I was always ready to play.

"For me, the best games were against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in October and away to Newcastle but in the game against Tottenham I felt more adapted to the English game. I have been working hard for it and I hope now it leads to much better games."

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