Considered one of the best players in the French championship during the first part of the season, Rayan Cherki got off to a rather bad start to 2025. Because of him or Pierre Sage? Sidney Govou has his own idea.
Named among the finalists for the UNFP Player of the Month Trophy for December alongside David and Greenwood, Rayan Cherki will have to quickly redeem himself if he also wants to apply for this award in January. Quite simply because the Lyon playmaker started the new year rather poorly. Substitute during OL's victory against Montpellier on Saturday (1-0), the Lyon number 18 came on in the 65th minute of play. But if he showed all his technical qualities, Cherki above all showed his face of the bad days by falling back into certain past faults. Less collective than it had been during the first part of the season, the Gone once again annoyed OL's followers. But for Sidney Govou, the fault of Cherki's first failed match lies as much with the player as with Pierre Sage, who did not include him in his starting eleven.
“I was shocked by Cherki’s non-tenure”
“OL have been sluggish lately, they need to do better in terms of content. In this match, I was shocked by Cherki's non-starting. I hear that Sage wanted to keep him to bring something extra at the end of the match, but I have a little trouble with this form of coaching, this anticipation, unless the reason given was not the right one. Your best player must help you win the match and the substitutes must bring in at the end”launched the former Lyon striker in the columns of Progress. Not really convinced by Sage's explanation, who said he put Cherki on the bench in a player management policy before a tense month of January, Govou especially hopes that Cherki will not be polluted by the transfer window as had been the case last summer.
