Rayan Cherki says France’s reluctance to move the ball quickly enough cost them in their 3-1 defeat by Italy on Thursday night, as Zinédine Zidane suffered his first loss since taking charge of Les Bleus.
The Manchester City midfielder started in the centre of the park at the San Siro but found it difficult to leave his mark on a match that swung dramatically after France took an early lead through Michael Olise.
Italy hit back through Francesco Pio Esposito, Davide Frattesi and a second from Esposito to complete the turnaround and move top of their Nations League group.
Cherki was also seen remonstrating with team-mates during the second half, urging a response after Italy’s second and third goals.
According to L’Équipe, those interventions were not always welcomed by his colleagues, coming as they did after he had already pulled players up earlier in the game.
Cherki explains what went wrong during the match
Speaking to TF1 afterwards, the 22-year-old gave a candid assessment of where it went wrong for France.
“I think it was quite a difficult, quite a closed match. We started well. We did what was needed, pressing them high, as we did for the goal.
After that, it became a more difficult game. We should have moved the ball around more quickly. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, but it will allow us to learn a lot of lessons.
“Everything couldn’t be perfect. We tried to do the best we could, but tonight we are very frustrated.”
Cherki, who has become an increasingly important figure for City since Enzo Maresca took over as head coach, said France had the tools to hurt Italy but became too easy to defend against when their passing slowed down.
“I think we move around well and find each other well, but at certain moments in the game we don’t play quickly enough, and that made a big difference.
“When we found each other quickly, we immediately caused danger. When we put together sequences with too many touches, it became more difficult.
“It’s a shame because there was space. We mustn’t forget that the road is still very long. There is nothing worrying about tonight’s performance.”
Switching play “from left to right”
The former Lyon playmaker also felt France were too one-dimensional against a compact Italy defence, failing to switch the point of attack often enough to stretch the back line.
“Perhaps there was a lack of success. When you go onto the pitch against teams sitting deep, you mustn’t hesitate to move the ball from left to right, from right to left. You shouldn’t stay on just one side, for example.
“I think I didn’t touch my first ball until the 14th minute, and Michael didn’t either. That shows that perhaps we didn’t move the ball around enough.”
For Cherki personally, the result comes at an awkward moment. He has been a regular contributor for City under Maresca this season, and a muted night on the international stage will do little to ease scrutiny of his form heading into a busy period of fixtures for his club.
France will have a quick opportunity to respond when they host Turkey in their next Nations League fixture, with Cherki’s comments offering a clear sense of the adjustments he believes are needed — namely faster, more varied ball circulation against sides who sit deep and compact.
