10 | Rayan Cherki - 2025/26

supercity88 said:
Ultimately though, without him we won't win the title. He's the spark that helps everyone else tick.
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That's Rodri.

Cherki is very important. But so are Nunes, O'Reilly, Bernardo, Doku and Haaland especially.

For all Cherki's dribbles last night, Doku delivered better balls in the box or to Haaland.
 
ninjamonkey said:
Why would I be comparing him with somebody else?


What two chances? Don't recall any chance on a plate for Haaland from cherki. The only link up i can remember is when cherki flicked a ball towards Haaland slightly behind him at an impossible height for Haaland to do anything with. Cherki laid one on a plate for O'Reilly at the end, who 100% should have buried it, that's the only real chance he created though, should have laid one on a plate for Semenyo but delayed too long and overhit a simple ball. I said I could see Pep deciding to bench him next league game to keep him in check, I did not say he should be benched.
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Sorry im just convinced you, we are witnessing the most creative, exciting player in Manchester since George Best , clearly not to your standards yet, luckily neither of our opinions count!
 
alexmcity said:
That's Rodri.

Cherki is very important. But so are Nunes, O'Reilly, Bernardo, Doku and Haaland especially.

For all Cherki's dribbles last night, Doku delivered better balls in the box or to Haaland.
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Rodri's the heartbeat of the side, he makes us harder to beat and enables our attacking players to take more risks. That's unquestionable.

But since we've settled on this shape and system and finally found the right balance, it's Cherki that's been instrumental in helping us find that cutting edge in the final third. O'Reilly's been a huge part of it too, and it was surprising Pep didn't keep him at left back if the aim was to score more goals as his combinations with Doku and ability to find space in the box has been critical.

I just see Cherki as the one that pulls the strings. Different system but at West Ham it was all sluggish and sideways. It was predictable and whilst we had chances we didn't really stretch them enough. Prior to that we had plenty of chances to score against Brighton, Chelsea and Forest but were vulnerable at the back.

The league cup final gave us the blueprint. Cherki was the heartbeat in the final third. He followed that up with 2 assists against Chelsea and the goal against Arsenal. Last night he was wasteful but we need someone who can inject the tempo and play a more adventurous pass.

Without him I'm certain we'd struggle. We'd play loads of passes without really having a cutting edge. We'd be reliant on Doku or Semenyo beating their man and someone putting the ball in the net. It might happen of course, but Cherki gives us that x factor and helps us attack with more pace.
 
supercity88 said:
Rodri's the heartbeat of the side, he makes us harder to beat and enables our attacking players to take more risks. That's unquestionable.

But since we've settled on this shape and system and finally found the right balance, it's Cherki that's been instrumental in helping us find that cutting edge in the final third. O'Reilly's been a huge part of it too, and it was surprising Pep didn't keep him at left back if the aim was to score more goals as his combinations with Doku and ability to find space in the box has been critical.

I just see Cherki as the one that pulls the strings. Different system but at West Ham it was all sluggish and sideways. It was predictable and whilst we had chances we didn't really stretch them enough. Prior to that we had plenty of chances to score against Brighton, Chelsea and Forest but were vulnerable at the back.

The league cup final gave us the blueprint. Cherki was the heartbeat in the final third. He followed that up with 2 assists against Chelsea and the goal against Arsenal. Last night he was wasteful but we need someone who can inject the tempo and play a more adventurous pass.

Without him I'm certain we'd struggle. We'd play loads of passes without really having a cutting edge. We'd be reliant on Doku or Semenyo beating their man and someone putting the ball in the net. It might happen of course, but Cherki gives us that x factor and helps us attack with more pace.
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I largely agree but that take underrates Doku's role in opening up spaces and creating chances or Haaland's role in engaging the defenders. Think Doku creates more chances in some games (say, vs Madrid). So regarding Cherki as the creative heartbeat of the team is misleading.

Ultimately, it's the system that makes everything tick, not a single player. Sometimes the focus is too much on single players. Individual brilliance matters a lot, but the qualities of the other players and the system in place enable individuals to shine.
 
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alexmcity said:
I largely agree with but that take underrates Doku's role in opening up spaces and creating chances or Haaland's role in engaging the defenders. Think Doku creates more chances in some games (say, vs Madrid). So regarding Cherki as the creative heartbeat of the team is misleading.

Ultimately, it's the system that makes everything ticks, not a single player. Sometimes the focus is too much on single players. Individual brilliance matters a lot, but the qualities of the other players and the system in place enables individuals to shine.
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I'm not underrating anyone else in the side. Like you say it's the system and the team ultimately. But I don't think they system works without Cherki. He's such a threat and has the ability to create from anywhere on the pitch as De Bruyne did. He can inject speed into our attack, has the vision to create something from nothing and ultimately he's such a threat he's absorbing the opposition which helps others have more space to operate in.

We're likely not as effective without many of this side in their positions. You've named the key ones. I'd just put Cherki top of that list.
 
oldius said:
I thought he was the most dangerous player on the pitch, creating decent chances for Semenyo, Haaland, and O'Reilly, but he was also slightly off where he has been, and was defended against quite well.
He had a 90% pass completion, and created 8 chances according to the stats.
Not his best game, IMO, and didn't take the simple option when it was there, as @ninjamonkey states, but still one of the best on the field of play.
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I agree.

Definitely not his best game, but he was at the very least "good" id say.

He was a little eager to do something but rightfully so in the passing as he should have had a few assists.

I think my main gripe is not in creation (which i was happy with), its more that he was trigger happy with his shooting or just not on target enough.

He took 8 shots, which is alot, but only 2 on target, so he needs to do better there.
 
He still:

- Hit the post
- Assist for that Haaland shot that got blocked behind for a corner in the first half
- 2 shots from inside the box that were blocked
- low shot from outside the area that the keeper got down to quickly
- Great one-touch link up to tee up O’Reilly for that curler he attempted that went straight at the keeper
- Great combination with Semenyo before playing a through ball down the right back to Semenyo where he ultimately did nothing
- Great run over half the length of the pitch to eventually put the ball into an area in the 6 yard box where it’s not unreasonable to have expected Haaland to have attacked
- Great run and assist for Semenyo where he blazed over from about 10 yards
- Played that lovely through ball to Guehi when he got in behind on the left and his cross found Savinho for him to hit a weak shot
- nice dribble and assist for Haaland where Haaland blazed over with his right foot on the volley
- Great assist for the O’Reilly sitter at the end
- nice lay-off to Guehi on the edge of the box where Guehi’s shot was blocked

Was he perfect? No. Was he trying too hard? Yes, at times. But the performance without him would be tragic.
 
I have no complaints about his creativity in the Burnley game, but fixing one small thing would improve him a lot. Like Pep said, he should stay near the opposition box instead of dropping deep for pointless ping-pong passes with defenders which brings him too close to teammates and ruins attacking links.
 
WallyA said:
I agree.

Definitely not his best game, but he was at the very least "good" id say.

He was a little eager to do something but rightfully so in the passing as he should have had a few assists.

I think my main gripe is not in creation (which i was happy with), its more that he was trigger happy with his shooting or just not on target enough.

He took 8 shots, which is alot, but only 2 on target, so he needs to do better there.
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Yep. He's 22 and in a new league with a host of new people around him. He has plenty of development ahead of him, but the base level is beyond the ceiling of almost everyone.
 
bluethai said:
I have no complaints about his creativity in the Burnley game, but fixing one small thing would improve him a lot. Like Pep said, he should stay near the opposition box instead of dropping deep for pointless ping-pong passes with defenders which brings him too close to teammates and ruins attacking links.
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I tend to think he does this a little more when we are faced with teams in a low-block. Little space ahead - drop deeper to draw them out.
 
Just watched the 5 minute clip of all his involvements last night. He is incredibly talented and exciting, there’s not really any other players (that I can think of) quite like him. Fantastic dribbling, shooting and passing with either foot, dribbling phenomenal with either foot, very creative and imaginative in his play and has huge levels of self belief in his ability.

Any negative comments here are because our expectations of him are becoming ever greater game by game.

Ultimately, a bit like the team last night, Cherki was very good in actuality, but the tight nature of the result affects our appreciation of it.

If we’d done what our performance deserved last night we would have scored 3, 4 or more and might have had a more comfortable.

Yes they could have had a couple but if we’d knocked out a 5-2 with a couple of Cherki goal involvements the mood would have been much better on here.

It’s easy to forget that he’s 22, in his first season here and that his potential improvement over the next few seasons is very exciting.

The Doku assist for Haaland was mint (and reminiscent of KDB) - I thought there was a couple of occasions last night Cherki and a couple others had the chance to put Erling in again but we delayed.

If he gets more of that in his locker he will become unplayable.
 
ninjamonkey said:
Why would I be comparing him with somebody else?


What two chances? Don't recall any chance on a plate for Haaland from cherki. The only link up i can remember is when cherki flicked a ball towards Haaland slightly behind him at an impossible height for Haaland to do anything with. Cherki laid one on a plate for O'Reilly at the end, who 100% should have buried it, that's the only real chance he created though, should have laid one on a plate for Semenyo but delayed too long and overhit a simple ball. I said I could see Pep deciding to bench him next league game to keep him in check, I did not say he should be benched.
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Pep isn't going to bench Cherki as Pep has already said it was a mistake not to have him in the side previously. So if we take Pep at his word then Cherki will play in all the remaining games.
 
Some player honestly. You can see the potential of a player that can totally dominate football games. It's a shame that the ball didn't go in more because he could've easily walk away with several goals and assists in the game.
 
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