strong player who excels in the air due to his elevation, eye for goal, and heading accuracy, making him a goal threat on set-pieces; he is also a competent and aggressive tackler. In addition to his defensive skills and goal scoring ability, he is gifted with pace, and is comfortable on the ball, possessing good technical ability, as well as good distribution, passing, and crossing ability, which allows him to carry the ball forward, switch the play with long balls, or play out from the back on the ground. According to Spanish sports newspaper Marca, FIFA's official records confirmed that in 2015, Ramos was clocked at a sprinting speed of 30.6 kilometers per hour, making him one of the fastest footballers in the world at the time. He is also an accurate penalty taker, and is known for often using the Panenka technique when taking them. He has also been known to take free kicks, courtesy of his ability to bend the ball and his powerful striking ability from distance. Ramos has earned plaudits for his leadership, athleticism, technical prowess, and his ability to excel both offensively and defensively, as well as his versatility, which allows him to be deployed as a centre-back and as a full-back; in his youth, he often played as a right-back, while he later established himself as a centre-back as his career progressed. Due to his wide range of skills, his former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has compared him to legendary defender Paolo Maldini; he went on to describe him as "the best defender in the world at the moment" in 2014, a view which was echoed by Giorgio Chiellini in 2020. Ramos has also occasionally been deployed as a central or defensive midfielder, in particular under Ancelotti during the 2014–15 season. Ramos has been praised for his decisive performances in important games, most notably for Real Madrid, due to his tendency to score crucial goals for his team, and is considered by several pundits to be one of the most reliable performers in high-pressure situations. However, despite his ability as a defender, his tactical sense, consistency, and concentration from match to match have been questioned at times by pundits and other footballing figures, who have accused him of being too impulsive in his challenges or prone to occasional defensive errors throughout the course of a season. Ramos is also often criticised in the