10 | Rayan Cherki - 2025/26

[oakiecokie]

The bald headed fucker is just jealous.

 

[Ajm1985]

Imagine if Erling had put away that chance - that dribble & pass from Cherki was insane.

 

[alexmcity]

Imagine if Erling had put away that chance - that dribble & pass from Cherki was insane.

I liked it more than the rabona cross.

 

[oldius]

I liked it more than the rabona cross.

Me too. much more. The skill was ridiculous, but the vision and technique to find Erling even more so. Goal of the season if Erling buries it (as he should).

 

[SilverFox2]

But that wasn’t high-risk for Cherki. He can play a rabona cross like that with his eyes closed

Exactly this.

We have many times seen virtually all of our players seemingly unable to pass a ball accurately when using the simple technique Pep prefers.
In other words as a two footed player he should perhaps be allowed to adjust his passing method according to where ball ,opponent and target are at the moment of contact. Perhaps his moment of perfect delivery was only available with this trick with a split second later to do correct feet positions with the same cross
We play football not snooker.

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Isn't half the joy of having a player like Cherki watching him do things you know will drive the boss mad. Don't think we need to take sides on it.

 

[xmusampa]

Don’t see the problem with him doing something at top level that people would only be to happy to manage in a park game .
Anyone can cross the ball . Surely these moments are what we pay to see!

 

[Marvin.]

I don't care too much about what Pep said or didn't say about the ribona, I am more excited that Cherki played at such a high level. It's going to be great fun to watch him develop.

 

[Akira]

A big reason why David Silva was so consistent was how well he did the simple things - holding onto the ball, short passes, linking with your teammates, etc.

I don't see Pep's comments as "berating" Cherki or showing any intention of coaching the flair out of him, just saw it as healthy reminder to a young starlet to stay grounded. Essentially, "do you want to be a Messi or a Neymar?"

He clearly sees Cherki is a special talent, and keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground will let him go the distance in his career.

 

[vintiz]

I wish Erl had hooked that assist in from Rayan. What a run that was and scoop.
Deserved a goal.
I'm getting dem feelings about this erl, rayan, Phil triple crown set up.
Seems to also be helping docu as well.

Docu?

 

[Fiftyyearsandcounting]

That assist looked brilliant, and it was, but the danger is that because it came off once he'll be wasting many good opportunities by trying similar high risk tricks in search of the spectacular which will rarely come off.
I'm with Pep on this.

I seem to recall Mancini giving Mario a bollocking when he tried some trick shot and missed an open goal. I think it was only a friendly pre-season game but Roberto wasn't best pleased.

 

[Jimmieblue]

Image the BBC headline if a rag player had done that.

 

[Gabriel]

A Rabona isn’t really a Rabona when you are equally adept with both feet, merely efficiency and effectiveness, something one-footed plodders like Guardiola and Messi might not appreciate…

 

[Jwoody19]

And to think some wanted the German Charlie Adam as first choice. This lad is outrageous, love him, long may it continue

 

[Blue warrior]

One word: Maverick!

 

[toffee balls]

I don't care too much about what Pep said or didn't say about the ribona, I am more excited that Cherki played at such a high level. It's going to be great fun to watch him develop.

May I suggest if you have a gander at his post match interview, you will see that Pep is clearly beaming at the weapon he has at his disposal.

 

[jimharri]

Not being funny mate but have you seen some of our other players cross the ball haha there's no risk to anyone with some of them floaters

Some of 'em couldn't cross the road. The ball boys on the opposite side of the pitch are kept busy anyway!

 

[Xhavenjoe]

One word: Maverick!

Isn't James Garner at Everton?

 

[blue_danube]

I seem to recall Mancini giving Mario a bollocking when he tried some trick shot and missed an open goal. I think it was only a friendly pre-season game but Roberto wasn't best pleased.

Mancini thought he was arsing about

The truth is you can hear a whistle blow from the crowd and Mario thought it was the ref, so he basically stopped running and did a half arsed trickshot as he thought play had stopped.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

Would we be wrong if we said he was the reason why we didn't collapse like we did in the second half against Leeds and Fulham?

I was thinking about this during the game. They obviously had that moment where Dias gives them a gold-plated opportunity and if they score, things may have been different. Then they hit the post soon after. In other games we would have been at total panic stations for the last 30 minutes, but it was very notable how Cherki got onto the ball and just slowed everything down, literally walking with the ball at one point - and within 5-10 mins we were back in control again. That's the kind of composure he showed during Fulham. He is a tempo-setter, and I don't think we have enough of them in the team at the moment, which is one of our biggest issues.