Rayan Cherki pounces on chance to showcase maverick talent at Lyon | Eric Devin

Though out of favour early in the season, the 21-year-old now benefits from Pierre Sage’s possession-based tactics

By Eric Devin for Get French Football News

The unfortunate truth about many footballing mavericks, especially in the attacking third, is that they are defined by inconsistency. Within a career, within a season or even within a match, the same level of audacity that allows the sport’s most mercurial talents to succeed can also prove their undoing. One too many stepovers and possession is lost, pressing and tracking back is an afterthought, while the desire to arrow a shot into the top corner from a tight angle looks a misstep when a cutback to a late-arriving midfielder would be the better choice.

We’ve seen these outcomes time and again, but our love for these players, those capable of a moment of magic, never seems to cease, even as they are far less frequently seen in the modern game. Ligue 1 is no exception to this – witness the many lives of Hatem Ben Arfa, the meteoric rise and rapid decline of Eden Hazard, and even the contemporary hair-pulling over Ousmane Dembélé.

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