10 | Rayan Cherki - 2025/26

Thought he was really poor today if you look beyond the flashy stuff. No end product, regularly chose the wrong option instead of a simpler one, constantly declined the opportunity to shoot in favour of something more flashy. Just generally trying too much.

Surprised Pep didnt hook him. Expect him to be rested weekend and if one of his replacements plays well, I can see him starting on the bench against Everton, needs grounding a bit.
If he's benched for any of the remaining league games then we can kiss goodbye to the title. He's the one player whos trying to create something. It mightn't always come off but without him there not much coming from anyone else.
 
Thought he was really poor today if you look beyond the flashy stuff. No end product, regularly chose the wrong option instead of a simpler one, constantly declined the opportunity to shoot in favour of something more flashy. Just generally trying too much.

Surprised Pep didnt hook him. Expect him to be rested weekend and if one of his replacements plays well, I can see him starting on the bench against Everton, needs grounding a bit.
You will get a few with that , he put at least two chances on a plate for Haaland and he missed them , he won four corners with his dribbling into the box , and had three shots blocked and who do you start ahead of him if he's on the bench ? Would never accuse any player in our shirt of "trying too much "
 
Really poor compared with who? Bench v Everton! Attention seeking drivel.
Why would I be comparing him with somebody else?

You will get a few with that , he put at least two chances on a plate for Haaland and he missed them , he won four corners with his dribbling into the box , and had three shots blocked and who do you start ahead of him if he's on the bench ? Would never accuse any player in our shirt of "trying too much "
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.
 
Thought he took one touch too many most of the time. Gets in great positions and looked our biggest threat but over indulged a little
 
Thought he was really poor today if you look beyond the flashy stuff. No end product, regularly chose the wrong option instead of a simpler one, constantly declined the opportunity to shoot in favour of something more flashy. Just generally trying too much.

Surprised Pep didnt hook him. Expect him to be rested weekend and if one of his replacements plays well, I can see him starting on the bench against Everton, needs grounding a bit.
Rested on the weekend, yes. Sitting v Everton? No fucking way...
 
Best player in the league, best player tonight but of course the miserable cunts who follow this club think he was wasteful or not on it. He should have had 4 assists. If you don't se how lucky we are to have this player then crack on with your miserable outlook on life. Bet you have Tesco club cards and carry bags for life around.
 
Best player in the league, best player tonight but of course the miserable cunts who follow this club think he was wasteful or not on it. He should have had 4 assists. If you don't se how lucky we are to have this player then crack on with your miserable outlook on life. Bet you have Tesco club cards and carry bags for life around.

He's going to be held to a standard like Erling.

If Erling doesn't break records, it's considered a below par season. He has 35 goals in all competitions this season and no doubt golden boot winner.

I think it's going to be the same with Cherki. He can create many chances per game but it'll go unnoticed if he doesn't do something absolutely mind blowing amongst it.
 
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.
You would be comparing someone else when you choose to say he should potentially sit on the bench if someone this weekend plays well. Unless you are saying the entire front 4 (outside of Haaland) are at risk, and there is a chance they ALL get dropped.

So ultimately yes, of course there is an element of comparison.

And the idea that any of the bench players are currently good enough to take his place is beyond drivel.
 
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.
 
Tried to score another solo goal, and that was a mistake at times. His dribbling was excellent but he tried to do too much on his own and wasted good opportunities to find team-mates.

His performance was ambiguous and different sets of fans see it differently. On the one hand, he was heavily involved, wanted the ball, carried the ball, dribbled past defenders... For some, this means he was the best. On the other hand, he didn't do enough, because he didn't keep it simple enough and overcomplicated things. I think Pep wasn't happy with that either, not just some fans.
 
Doku was comfortably better. He was better than Semenyo. I've no complaints with some of his approach play, he was positive in that regard, carried the ball forward well but the end product wasn't there. too many times he tried the highlight reel moment rather than the more effective simple option.


What defines a chance created? By my reckoning, he created one proper chance, which was for O'Reilly at the end who should have scored, that was a good chance and should have got an assist for that. Don't think there was anything else, what were the other 7?

There's not a lot he can do when people don't get the first touch right or swipe at the ball and miss. He was very dangerous all game and the only one in our team who kept on trying to make something happen, always showing for the pass as well. I do agree there was a couple of times he maybe overdid it and tried to do it on his own but I'll always applaud him for being brave. Another night he could have walked away with a goal and a couple of assists.
 
If the sacrifice is he takes too many touches 3 or 4 times a game but he creates and inspires the team in the way he has since being put back in the starting line up then it's a sacrifice I'm more than happy to make!
 
I don’t understand how a playmaker trying to create equates to “doing too much”, this isn’t FIFA where every single through ball is going to go through. How many times did Kev try whip it in or thread one through until one finally landed. he’s a volume chance creator so expect more things to fail than come off. Should’ve had a definite assist so that’s more on the finishing than Cherki’s performance. Worlds best on saturday and now needs benching wow ahah
 
If his shot goes in just after Haaland scored the floodgates would have opened.

I think he misunderstood the idea of going out and scoring lots with being a personal challenge and he overplayed it at times. He's our biggest threat creatively but he doesn't need to try and do it all on his own. The pass to Semenyo when we countered in the second half was shocking too - got the weight of it all wrong and the chance was gone.

Ultimately though, without him we won't win the title. He's the spark that helps everyone else tick. It didn't quite happen for him last night but that was true for many of them. After a big mental and physical effort on Sunday it's no surprise there was a little rust.
 

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