Can 'maverick' Matheus Cunha step up in Bruno Fernandes' absence?
Matheus Cunha has adjusted well to life at Old Trafford but needs to deliver this month with United shorn of many top players
When Manchester United needed a lift last summer, they signed Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 26-year-old, who cost £62.5million ($83.7m), was seen as a Premier League-proven forward who could hit the ground running and shoulder some of Bruno Fernandes’ creative burdens.
The plan has worked well — to an extent. The Brazil international has adjusted well to life in Manchester and already looks to be a key cog in Ruben Amorim’s plans. “We need that crazy guy where the world is on fire but you say ‘I don’t care,'” said the head coach earlier this season. “It’s not just the leaders but the maverick guys that we need in the team.”
And now, during a difficult January period in which Amorim will be without key players due to the Africa Cup of Nations and multiple injuries, can Cunha step up and be the main man at Manchester United?
Cunha is more than just a big fish in a small pond
Let’s start with the good news: Cunha has adjusted well to life at Old Trafford. The forward is not quite the ball-dominant player he was at Wolves, but he is managing to get possession in similar areas in and around the final third. Sharing the pitch and the ball with Fernandes has done little to impede his attacking verve.
Give the ball to Cunha, and he’s going to do his very best to carry it 10-15 yards towards the opposition goal. Don’t give Cunha the ball, and he’s going to chew your ear off afterwards because he genuinely believes he should have received it. (This is a compliment, as he’s often right.)
He has become one of the best outlets for United in difficult moments. Following the side’s nervy 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Boxing Day, Amorim admitted he didn’t wish to substitute the forward as “he was the only guy who could allow us to breathe”.
Cunha’s ability to cover ground and protect the ball in the final third makes him a valued asset to United’s future plans.
Without the previously ever-present Fernandes due to injury, it has fallen to Cunha to be the team’s primary source of inspiration, motivation and creative ideation.
It’s a difficult task, not least because the Brazilian is still figuring out new parts to his game.
He’s having to reassess how to combine with team-mates
Now for the more confusing stuff. Cunha has adjusted well to life at Old Trafford, but United are having some issues adjusting to him.
The forward’s most common passing combinations bear a strong similarity to his work last season at Wolves, but there has been a notable change in how he works with a centre-forward.
