Rayan Cherki: ‘Today we have to score, score, and above all else not concede a goal’

In a wide-ranging interview with SO Foot, Rayan Cherki (20) has touched on how football has changed in his lifetime from a game full of creativity into one defined by a pursuit of efficiency. 

Cherki has always stood out on the pitch for his mesmeric qualities on the ball, in another time he would likely have played in the classic number ten role as a pure creative influence, but as the game has changed that role has increasingly disappeared. 

Players are often forced into a variety of different roles, and there is generally no room in the team for a singular creative influence through which the play is focused. 

Rayan Cherki: “I went home, sat with my mother, and cried” – the full story. (SO Foot) ⬇️https://t.co/4vo939Bvsj

— Get French Football News (@GFFN) April 4, 2024

‘This old-fashioned football is the one we all fell in love with’ – Rayan Cherki

It’s something that Cherki regrets about the modern game he finds himself a player in, as he explains, “Football is evolving, we are moving towards different qualities from those of the past. Now it’s power, efficiency, the search for the goal at all costs.” 

He continues his thought, “For me, the football that I originally watched and appreciated is the one where you say to yourself: ‘Wow, how did he do that?” This old-fashioned football is the one we all fell in love with, right? I associate it with having fun and filling the stadium, but today, we have to score, score, and above all else not concede a goal.” 

This has been a difficult campaign for Cherki, despite starting the season as one of the first names on the teamsheet under Laurent Blanc, he has since struggled to find meaningful game time under subsequent managers, Fabio Grosso and Pierre Sage. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland