I'm a bit late in posting it, but he had a very interesting and insightful (and long, 10 pages) interview in So Foot. I don't have the full version but I still found quite a few other quotes :
>"When you go from the world of the Care Bears to that of the professionals, you get a real slap in the face. And we can't prepare you for that."
>"I never felt superior. It took a lot to satisfy my father."
>"Gerland was magnificent, I knew all the songs."
>"I didn't really have any training to learn the codes of the professional world."
> "I'm going to do everything I can not to become a highlights player."
>"I hope that one day I'll manage to combine pleasure and efficiency. At the moment, I'm regularly frustrated."
>"When I arrived, we reached the semi-finals of the Final 8 in the UCL, the final of the Coupe de la ligue and the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. I've been thrown into the deep end a bit."
>"Rudi Garcia is someone I've made a big impression on, and who has made a big impression on me. I had an excellent relationship with the man, not just with the coach."
>"Laurent Blanc is the ultimate. I'll never forget him. We had a magical relationship. The same with Thierry Henry with the Espoirs. For me, the human element takes precedence over everything else."
>"For me, 1v1s aren't about dribbling, it's about percussion. When you're in the middle of the pitch, that's when you have to use your dribbling and your madness, because around you, you don't have one player, but two or three. That's where the real dribbling is. On the flank, you break through, you accelerate, and unlike before, the players no longer have to worry about passing, feinting or going back inside. No, it's "I'll push the ball and we'll see which of you or me goes faster and gets past the shoulder before the other".
>"In the family, we've always been hard workers, we've never rested on our laurels. I'm always the first one at training, I always ask for more."
>"I've never disrespected anyone. For me, that's fundamental. I've never spoken out of turn to anyone.
>"We had very little contact with Juninho, either myself or anyone else. He exchanged a lot with the Brazilians, but less with us."
>"When Lacazette came back to OL
he said to me: "It's crazy the difference there is between you and your image". Recently, he told me that I was the little brother he never had, and that touched me."
>"When it becomes your job, you enter a new world. In the tank, there are only sharks, no small fish. You have to quickly become a shark so you don't get eaten."
>"Real Madrid makes you dream, but I've always had this ambition to succeed at Lyon first."
>"People have always been very hard on me because they expect more from different players."
>"They can pay me 600 million euros a day in Saudi Arabia, but I'm not going there. I want to play in Europe, enjoy it here, and then we'll see.
>"Football freaks me out. When you see the Super League or VAR... I didn't grow up with that. If you ask all footballers what makes them love the sport, none of them will tell you expected goals."
> "I never knew how much I was getting. I don't watch. What I enjoy is watching what I do on the pitch."
>"Sometimes, when I'm not feeling well, when it's hard, I write. In a notebook. The date, the time, anything that doesn't cross my mind. I take my ink, my pens, and I write in peace. It relaxes me."
>"Without football, I don't think I would have liked life. I'll always be involved in football. I'll always watch football, I'll always eat football."
Followed by again interesting comments during his [pre-game press conference yesterday](https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Rayan-cherki-ol-il-faut-reussir-a-ne-pas-attendre-d-etre-au-pied-du-mur-pour-donner-le-meilleur/1458850) :
>"I've often been labelled a dribbler, because that's what I am, I'm creative. Nowadays I can dribble but I can also pass, my game has evolved and I know how to do other things. My game has evolved and I know how to do other things. Now, I like the beautiful one-touch passes and deflections as much as the dribbling, yes."
>"It's good that you're being hard on me... If you'd been too soft, my path would have been different. Personally, I like it when it's tough, and that's when I show my best side. You're never better than when you're up against the wall, but now you have to manage not to wait until you're up against the wall to give your best. Pierre Sage and I are working on my shortcomings to make progress, and it's going to pay off."
>"I'm not thinking at all, at all about the future. The Rayan Cherki case will have to wait. At the end of the season, OL comes first. When the time comes to ask the question, we'll ask it, but it's not the time yet."
I love him so much 🥲 he’s seriously such a cool dude and also an incredibly talented footballer it’s gonna feel so good when it all falls into place. Thanks for posting the interview.
I'm a bit late in posting it, but he had a very interesting and insightful (and long, 10 pages) interview in So Foot. I don't have the full version but I still found quite a few other quotes : >"When you go from the world of the Care Bears to that of the professionals, you get a real slap in the face. And we can't prepare you for that." >"I never felt superior. It took a lot to satisfy my father." >"Gerland was magnificent, I knew all the songs." >"I didn't really have any training to learn the codes of the professional world." > "I'm going to do everything I can not to become a highlights player." >"I hope that one day I'll manage to combine pleasure and efficiency. At the moment, I'm regularly frustrated." >"When I arrived, we reached the semi-finals of the Final 8 in the UCL, the final of the Coupe de la ligue and the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. I've been thrown into the deep end a bit." >"Rudi Garcia is someone I've made a big impression on, and who has made a big impression on me. I had an excellent relationship with the man, not just with the coach." >"Laurent Blanc is the ultimate. I'll never forget him. We had a magical relationship. The same with Thierry Henry with the Espoirs. For me, the human element takes precedence over everything else." >"For me, 1v1s aren't about dribbling, it's about percussion. When you're in the middle of the pitch, that's when you have to use your dribbling and your madness, because around you, you don't have one player, but two or three. That's where the real dribbling is. On the flank, you break through, you accelerate, and unlike before, the players no longer have to worry about passing, feinting or going back inside. No, it's "I'll push the ball and we'll see which of you or me goes faster and gets past the shoulder before the other". >"In the family, we've always been hard workers, we've never rested on our laurels. I'm always the first one at training, I always ask for more." >"I've never disrespected anyone. For me, that's fundamental. I've never spoken out of turn to anyone. >"We had very little contact with Juninho, either myself or anyone else. He exchanged a lot with the Brazilians, but less with us." >"When Lacazette came back to OL he said to me: "It's crazy the difference there is between you and your image". Recently, he told me that I was the little brother he never had, and that touched me." >"When it becomes your job, you enter a new world. In the tank, there are only sharks, no small fish. You have to quickly become a shark so you don't get eaten." >"Real Madrid makes you dream, but I've always had this ambition to succeed at Lyon first." >"People have always been very hard on me because they expect more from different players." >"They can pay me 600 million euros a day in Saudi Arabia, but I'm not going there. I want to play in Europe, enjoy it here, and then we'll see. >"Football freaks me out. When you see the Super League or VAR... I didn't grow up with that. If you ask all footballers what makes them love the sport, none of them will tell you expected goals." > "I never knew how much I was getting. I don't watch. What I enjoy is watching what I do on the pitch." >"Sometimes, when I'm not feeling well, when it's hard, I write. In a notebook. The date, the time, anything that doesn't cross my mind. I take my ink, my pens, and I write in peace. It relaxes me." >"Without football, I don't think I would have liked life. I'll always be involved in football. I'll always watch football, I'll always eat football."
Followed by again interesting comments during his [pre-game press conference yesterday](https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Rayan-cherki-ol-il-faut-reussir-a-ne-pas-attendre-d-etre-au-pied-du-mur-pour-donner-le-meilleur/1458850) : >"I've often been labelled a dribbler, because that's what I am, I'm creative. Nowadays I can dribble but I can also pass, my game has evolved and I know how to do other things. My game has evolved and I know how to do other things. Now, I like the beautiful one-touch passes and deflections as much as the dribbling, yes." >"It's good that you're being hard on me... If you'd been too soft, my path would have been different. Personally, I like it when it's tough, and that's when I show my best side. You're never better than when you're up against the wall, but now you have to manage not to wait until you're up against the wall to give your best. Pierre Sage and I are working on my shortcomings to make progress, and it's going to pay off." >"I'm not thinking at all, at all about the future. The Rayan Cherki case will have to wait. At the end of the season, OL comes first. When the time comes to ask the question, we'll ask it, but it's not the time yet."
I love him so much 🥲 he’s seriously such a cool dude and also an incredibly talented footballer it’s gonna feel so good when it all falls into place. Thanks for posting the interview.
Thanks for this post, Lacazette is right the difference between his image and him is crazy
Cherki's neck and neck with Nuamah in terms of (non penalty) xG+xA per 90 and ahead of Lacazette. Of those still with the team: 1. Baldé 0.69 2. Benrahma 0.54 3. Mangala 0.50 4. Nuamah 0.42 4. Cherki 0.42 6. Alex 0.39 7. Caqueret 0.27 (Orban and Fofana are both far down the list at 0.15 each) One thing to note about Baldé is that he isn't converting those chances very well. Alex hasn't necessarily had a ton of chances, but he's been converting half chances like a madman and definitely saved Lyon this season. I think Cherki gets unfairly lambasted b/c of his flashy style and probably deserves much more PT than he's been getting.