9 hours ago
4
Manchester City star Rayan Cherki spoke about life with Pep Guardiola after starring in the 3-1 win over Swansea.
Crazy is the word that comes out of Rayan Cherki's mouth when he's asked for a description of what Pep Guardiola is like. And when he immediately follows it up by calling himself crazy, it isn't hard to understand that Manchester City's summer signing is thrilled with his new environment.
Cherki made just his second start of the season in the 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Swansea, having been sidelined for six weeks with a thigh injury. It was frustrating for the Frenchman, who scored off the bench on his debut at Wolves, and in his absence Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden locked down the central midfield positions.
They still aren't providing the goals or assists that the team needs though, as Sunday's defeat to Aston Villa showed. Guardiola wants more from the players supporting Erling Haaland, and making ten changes for the team in South Wales gave an opportunity to offer players returning from injury a chance to stake their claim for a place.
None took it more than Cherki, who constantly demanded the ball and tried to create whenever he got it. That persistence paid off with a neat assist for Omar Marmoush to complete City's comeback, and even then the playmaker's night wasn't complete as he latched onto Josko Gvardiol's pass in injury time to fire home.
A player who is happiest when dribbling and is as comfortable and confident playing with either foot was seen by some as a bad fit for Guardiola's controlling football, and he is certainly a different profile to most of the biggest stars at City in recent years. However, the early signs are promising and Cherki's eyes light up when he is asked about his start with the manager and how much he enjoys playing in the City side.
"It's very good. He's crazy like me - two crazy guys! We talk about everything, it's unbelievable," he said.
"Football is all my life. I eat football, I sleep football, I shower football. We have a big team and we want to win all the games. We don't want repeats of the last game [against Villa].
"I feel very good because with these players it's simple. We speak the same football so when we are on the pitch we take pleasure.
"For me it's very important that when the spectators come to the stadium they take pleasure. My life is good but I don't know if the spectators have a lot of happy things in their life so when they come to their stadium I want them to take pleasure so they go back home with a smile."
Despite that philosophy, Cherki knows that ultimately the game is about winning. As his injury showed, he is also aware that lots of work must go into being able to express himself on the pitch.
Those things gave Cherki extra satisfaction in Swansea as the 22-year-old was able to have a big impact on moving City closer to a trophy as he builds himself back up to form and fitness.
"I feel very good because I was injured for a long time and I'm very happy to be back. I worked very hard with the physio to come back rapidly. I took my time but I worked a lot to be back and I'm very happy to be back and play with my mates," he said.
"The most important thing is the team, not me. I want to take a lot of pleasure and win all the games. When we lost the last game, you want to win the next game and so we are happy."
---
Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.
English (US) ·