Pep Guardiola challenges Rayan Cherki despite his impact at Manchester City | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has coupled praise with pointed reminders for Rayan Cherki over the past fortnight, using public comments to push the 22-year-old to improve.

Earlier this month, after Cherki’s rabona assist in the 3-0 win against Sunderland, Guardiola said he preferred solid delivery and would not have liked it had the attempt failed, according to L'Équipe.

After the 2-0 League Cup victory over Brentford on Wednesday, he lauded a fantastic strike from the former Lyon player, then noted his defensive work afterwards did not meet expectations.

At Friday’s press conference before hosting West Ham, Guardiola called Cherki really good for his age, but stressed he does not want to lavish too many compliments and that there is still work to do. The Frenchman has been decisive every 67 minutes since joining Manchester City.

The manager has voiced similar demands of Nico Gonzalez and Savinho, and on Sunday said Phil Foden must be calmer and judge when to keep the ball, pass or quicken play. Guardiola often shields senior stalwarts in public, yet pushes younger players harder, particularly after a poor season in which City often lacked on-pitch cohesion.

Source: L'Équipe