While playing his very first match of the season, Rayan Cherki allowed himself to question the play of his Lyon team. Speaking in the heat of the moment after the defeat against Marseille (2-3), he judged that his team did not have enough character to win. He even uttered the word “shame”.
These statements by Cherki did not please everyone. Internally, he was pulled by the ears by the coach Pierre Sage. And outside, observers brought him down for having disassociated himself from his partners.
“Where is the Cherki phenomenon?”
Former French international Christophe Dugarry was the one who was most angry with the Lyon star. On RMC Sport this Monday, he said: “What does what he said mean? When you have chances, you have to take them… But man, it’s your career. You replace the ‘we’ with ‘I’. Everything he said in his interview, you put it with ‘I’. 142 games, 18 goals. The guy comes to explain to you at the end that you have to be efficient, that you have to push (the opponent) and that when you have to score three or four goals, you have to score them. But that’s what he’s been criticized for since the beginning of his career!”
For the 98 world champion, the French international hopeful was intoxicated by the goal he scored at the end of the match.
“That he comes to the microphone because he came on and at the end, he scored a goal… What does ‘We’re going too far back’ mean? On Lirola’s goal, they’re really high up. His analysis of the content of the match is not true. ‘We need to play higher up’, that doesn’t mean anything. Once again, Cherki is way off the mark. If he comes to brag because he scored a goal…”
Finally, Dugarry advised Cherki to roll up his sleeves and get to work rather than saying anything in public. “If he wants to bring his team to be more efficient, I hope he starts every other game and finally brings his team to be more efficient. Because it’s this kind of player who should bring that about. Two weeks ago, the guy had left, he had packed his bags, so you have to know… It’s all well and good to arrive and honk like that. Where is the future phenomenon, the nugget and all?”
