Manchester City dropped points at the London Stadium on Saturday night as they drew 1-all with West Ham. The performance from Pep Guardiola’s side was not good enough to beat Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. City controlled the match and limited West Ham to one shot for the entire game. Unfortunately, a Gianluigi Donnarumma error from a corner allowed Konstantinos Mavropanos to convert the only chance that West Ham had. Looking at Manchester City’s overall performance, City dominated possession but lacked the creativity and urgency to unlock the West Ham defence. That changed when Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and Phil Foden all came onto the pitch.
Saturday night’s match against West Ham seemed like the ideal match for Rayan Cherki to start. Cherki is almost the perfect player to unlock a low defensive block with his vision, eye for a pass and ability to produce the unexpected. Cherki did create openings when he finally came onto the pitch at the London Stadium. Pep Guardiola explained why Cherki didn’t start against West Ham. But Pep Guardiola’s explanation didn’t make sense when you consider the past weeks’ events.
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Pep Guardiola explains why Rayan Cherki hasn’t started the past two matches for Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola was asked why Rayan Cherki didn’t start against West Ham. Instead of Cherki starting, Antoine Semenyo started as a number ten at the London Stadium. Semenyo got into good positions, but his skill set isn’t suited for taking advantage of those positions. You’d imagine if Cherki was in those positions the outcome of Saturday night’s match could have been different. Speaking on the subject, Pep Guardiola explained: “We learned at the beginning playing with Erling [Haaland], Jeremy [Doku], with Cherki that we are incredibly unbalanced. We didn’t have the stability that the teams in the Premier League have to have.”
“That’s why I tried to handle for that. That’s why it’s a team that’s growing; I think from the beginning, we’ve grown a lot. But it’s still not finished business.”
“I will not be the one to say that I don’t love to play with Rayan [Cherki]. Especially when he comes from the bench, always the impact is unbelievable.”
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“But sometimes he does not have the speed; the team was stable when Antoine Semenyo and Nico O’Reilly play in the winger positions and then come inside, arrive to the box – they were really, really good.”
“I’m still finding the best way to have stability consistently as a team.”
Surely the options are available to provide stability to City’s play and start Rayan Cherki.
There is a lot to break down in Pep Guardiola’s answer as to why Rayan Cherki didn’t start against West Ham. Guardiola’s answer can also be applied to his strange team selection against Real Madrid. The first part that stands out is Guardiola’s quest to find stability on the pitch.
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When Rayan Cherki, and Phil Foden to a degree, were starting before Christmas, Rodri wasn’t available. Manchester City’s midfield general was still working his way back to full fitness. Since Rodri came back and rediscovered his touch, he has been starting with Nico O’Reilly and Bernardo Silva in midfield. There is absolutely no reason why Rayan Cherki cannot start on the right and drift centrally with Nico O’Reilly getting forward from midfield. You add two of Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Antoine Semenyo, or Omar Marmoush to the mix, and City would have plenty of quality in attack. With Nico O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva, and Rodri behind them, there would be stability in City’s midfield. Surely that is one way to get Cherki into the starting lineup and have stability in Manchester City’s lineup.
There is one other part to Pep Guardiola’s answer that doesn’t quite stack up. Why would Savinho be forced into the City starting lineup against Real Madrid? Especially off the back of one good performance from the Brazilian winger against Newcastle. Forcing Savinho into the City starting lineup alongside Haaland, Semenyo and Doku took all of the stability out of City’s lineup. Especially if you consider that Cherki would have provided more balance and control in possession to City’s play at the Bernabeu. Guardiola’s answer to the Cherki question is even stranger after the events of the past week.
Final thoughts.
First of all, I don’t believe that starting Rayan Cherki will solve all the issues with this Manchester City team. This City team isn’t yet fully formed. But when a team is screaming out for creativity and a player who can break open a low defensive block with a piece of magic, surely there is room for Rayan Cherki in the starting lineup. Cherki is surely a better option as a number ten than Antoine Semenyo. Pep Guardiola has explained why Cherki hasn’t started recently. Guardiola’s explanation does make sense in a way, as he wants more stability in his team’s play. Surely it is now time to start Cherki and see if that move adds exactly what City’s play is lacking.
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