Cherki points to lack of pace after France's defeat in Italy

France suffered a 3-1 defeat in Italy during the first loss of the Zinédine Zidane era, and it was Rayan Cherki who spoke to analyse the result immediately after.

“It was a fairly complicated and closed match,” acknowledged the Manchester City midfielder. The former Lyon player felt the opening fifteen minutes had been promising, with France pressing high and winning the ball back, before the game became more difficult. “We should have moved the ball faster against their low block,” he regretted.

Cherki pinpointed two specific areas for improvement. First, the speed of collective execution: “There are moments where we don’t play fast enough for each other. It’s a shame, because today there was loads of space.” Second, the lack of switching play: the France playmaker lamented that the ball stagnated too long on one side without being quickly transferred to the other, which prevented France from exploiting the available space.

Despite these criticisms, Cherki refused to overreact. “There’s nothing concerning about tonight’s performance. There’s a lack of luck,” he stated, notably recalling that a save by Gianluigi Donnarumma had denied him a goal in the second half that could have turned the match around for France.

The Manchester City player also admitted he wanted to touch the ball more during the evening. Nevertheless, he showed determination to bounce back quickly. “With our quality, we don’t want to let any match slip away, whether it’s in the Nations League or the World Cup,” he assured, promising a reaction in the next meeting against Turkey, which is crucial for qualification to the quarter-finals.