Rayan Cherki is not always successful in the Euro Espoirs. Nevertheless, the Bleuets owe him part of their perfect first-round record. His goals, his dribbling have won games. In short, a Ben Arfa profile for Jérôme Rothen.
Criticized in selection as at OL, Rayan Cherki continues his merry way in this 2022-2023 season. A key man and holder of OL’s White version, he helped the Lyonnais finish Ligue 1 as a cannonball with 5 goals and 6 assists. Selected for the Euro Espoirs, he contributed to the perfect record of Sylvain Ripoll’s men. 9/9, a first place and a qualification in the quarters for the France Espoirs team. Cherki was not left out in this collective performance. Substitute at the start of the tournament, he rose to power until the last match against Switzerland against which he scored a goal and caused a penalty.
Cherki, the inconstant talent like Ben Arfa
A correct statistical record for Cherki, which does not prevent criticism of his game. Like Les Bleuets, the young OL player was not in top form in the three group matches. As in Lyon, it does not seem simple enough with the ball at the foot. His technical waste was sometimes too great, which leads some specialists to speak of an overrated player to define him. An off-topic analysis for Jérôme Rothen. The RMC consultant doesn’t deny Cherki’s problems in the game but he recognizes his pure talent. For him, Cherki must be analyzed like Hatem Ben Arfa in his time: an inconstant raw talent who only asks to be well supervised.
🗣💬 @RothenJerome “Cherki I have the impression that he is a continuation of Hatem Ben Arfa.” #RMClive pic.twitter.com/2KL1o9JxDN
— Rothen ignites (@Rothensenflamme) June 30, 2023
” I knew Hatem Ben Arfa at the very beginning of his career. Same, Hatem has been like this throughout his career: he was disparaged but the talent was there. Cherki he is a continuation of Ben Arfa and it shows. He is able to chain efforts, races. But, too often, it is stopped. He takes the stopped ball, he goes to strike, he always does the same actions. The problem is that when you have this player profile, you can disappear even when you are good during certain matches because we can’t touch you or you come across rough opponents. At times, he starts the match well for half an hour, then he spends 3/4 of an hour of the match where we hardly see him and he comes back in the last minutes. It’s frustrating but you have to get used to it. We can rave about his matches at the Euro but he has not changed. Unfortunately, on the next match, we will expect continuity as with Hatem but we will be disappointed because there will not be any “, he analyzed in Rothen ignites. A comparison that will not delight all French and Lyon supporters. Nevertheless, at 19 and with a competent trainer, Cherki has everything to avoid the pitfalls known by his eldest.
