What Matheus Cunha brings to Manchester United: Confidence, direct dribbling and a striker’s instinct

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It’s fair to say that things haven’t quite gone to plan at Manchester United of late.

A drab Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, coupled with a 16th-place finish in the Premier League, means that there will be no European football for Ruben Amorim’s side next season, sparking fears that a summer overhaul could be compromised without the allure of Champions League nights at Old Trafford.

In that regard, United’s move for Matheus Cunha — after meeting the release clause of £62.5million ($84.4m) in his Wolves contract — is an encouraging flicker of life. The 26-year-old was one of the division’s standout performers last campaign, with his 15 goals and six assists accounting for well over a third of his team’s goal returns.

His quality is evident, but here The Athletic drills into the numbers to see how he could fit into Amorim’s plans. 

First and foremost, with Alejandro Garnacho likely to leave the club this summer, United are suddenly light on impactful options to fill one of the attacking roles behind the striker in the manager’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system. Mason Mount and Amad have shown promising signs of stepping up, but both have had their injury troubles, and Bruno Fernandes — should he not to leave the club during the transfer window — needs more reliable support as he has shouldered the creative burden.

Cunha fits the bill with his consistent output, versatility and availability. As we can see from the graphic below, he would be comfortable operating from the left-sided No 10 role at United, but is also happy to pick up spaces on the opposite side and play up front as an out-and-out centre-forward.

He’s also played around 70 per cent of all available Premier League minutes since he joined Wolves two and a half years ago, with only a handful of minor impact injuries and disciplinary issues — which we’ll get to later — keeping him out of the squad.

Whichever role he plays, Cunha is always keen to get forward — he is one of the most direct attacking players in the top flight. It’s a profile that United sorely lack, being over-reliant on the positivity and quality of Fernandes to kick-start moves with more adventurous passing from deep.

The scatterplot below outlines the Premier League players who are progressive — or put simply, who move the ball towards the opposition goal — with the highest proportion of their passes and carries.

Only four midfielders and forwards look forward with their passes more often than Fernandes but most of his team-mates are notably hesitant to move things on with the ball at their feet.

Cunha, on the other hand, stands out as a double threat, both a confident dribbler and daring passer whenever the opportunity arrives.

A fine example of Cunha’s confidence came against struggling Leicester in April as the Brazilian helped himself to a goal and two assists.

From a Wolves goal kick, Cunha drops into midfield from his No 10 role and senses the opportunity to run at a stretched defence. His first touch wrong-foots Wilfred Ndidi, before he bursts through the midfield line and bears down on goal, shooting wide from the edge of the box.

Though he arguably makes the wrong final decision, that ability to create something from nothing with ambitious dribbling is something that can help United to be more dangerous from fast breaks, as well as to break down man-to-man pressing structures — more prevalent than ever in the Premier League — more effectively.

That same game highlighted the positional freedom given to Cunha by Wolves, with him being allowed to drift across the attacking third to affect the game.

Later in that first half, he ambles over to the right flank from his starting position on the opposite side, pushing wing-back Nelson Semedo inside. Again, he is quick to look towards goal, taking two touches before swinging a low cross for striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, who diverts the ball just wide.

Ten minutes after the break, Cunha is wide on the left receiving the ball after good hold-up play from Strand Larsen.

Once more, a couple of touches are all he needs to get the ball out of his feet as he glides towards goal and slides a pass through to the Norwegian to score.

Such fluidity and variety of movement was encouraged under Vitor Pereira at Wolves, where Cunha was often the offensive inspiration with his technical quality and off-the-cuff style. But that may need to be curbed slightly at United, where he will likely need to share the limelight with the similarly free-spirited Fernandes.

Analysis from Mark Carey for The Athletic in March showed both players to be in the top three for overall “usage rate”, a metric that outlines how often a player completes the last action in a sequence for their team. That could be a shot, cross, take-on, pass — successful or otherwise — to highlight how much responsibility each player takes in trying to make things happen.

That influence shines through further when we look at the percentage of team actions carried out by players.

As we can see below, Cunha was responsible for almost 30 per cent of Wolves’ shots on goal last season, and he was similarly talismanic when it comes to receiving the ball in dangerous areas, passing the ball into the box and carrying the ball forward.

There’s only one ball on the pitch, and United will soon have two players who like to use it as much as they can in the final third.

Of course, Cunha could ease the weight on Fernandes’ back — and maybe one day step into his role — but the pair will need to be conscious of their positional discipline and selflessness in attacking situations if they are to dovetail as seamlessly as their technical quality suggests they should.

One of the other great benefits of signing Cunha is that he has experience of playing in a similar 3-4-2-1 shape under Pereira and Gary O’Neil.

But Cunha brings more to his new club than they currently have in that No 10 role, namely two-footed unpredictability, varied running and a goalscorer’s instinct around the box.

We’ve already seen how he likes to drop deep to get on the ball, but Cunha is also quick to spot an opportunity to run in behind, as we saw during his match-winning display at Fulham.

Wolves settle into their build-up shape, dropping midfielders Andre and Joao Gomes into the back three to tempt the press. Strand Larsen is occupying two centre-backs, which opens up the space for Cunha to exploit.

What follows is an example of Cunha’s technical ability and composure around the penalty area, as well as his potential to hurt teams with runs from deep.

He takes down Mario Lemina’s lofted pass perfectly with his right, before lifting a finish over Bernd Leno for the equaliser.

Similarly against Ipswich, Cunha is first to react as Strand Larsen falls to the ground after an aerial duel, showcasing those striker instincts that could come in at United.

While full-back Harry Clarke appeals for a foul, Cunha manages to steal a march in frame two, before offering himself for the through ball.

He collects on his left, steadies himself, and powers a shot in at the near post with his weaker foot.

Cunha can play up top — he mostly did at Wolves before the arrival of Strand Larsen — but he can also offer support with direct running into the box if the likes of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee aren’t finding those spaces.

Cunha isn’t prolific on his weaker side, having only attempted 26 of his 209 Premier League shots with his left, but the above finish, along with a sensational curling effort from the edge of the box at Anfield this season, underlines that the threat is there.

He has drastically overperformed in front of goal this season, with only Chris Wood and Bryan Mbeumo finishing more clinically in relation to their expected goals, helped by a league-leading five goals from outside of the box.

But even if Cunha’s goal tally drops at United, his positivity and a desire to drag the team up the pitch can only help to inject some conviction into an unconvincing front line.

Cunha’s up for the @PremierLeague goal of the month! ✨ pic.twitter.com/kNC4U4s6xJ

— Wolves (@Wolves) May 2, 2024

Disciplinary problems are a concern, as Cunha saw the red mist and was sent off against Bournemouth in the FA Cup. He was also suspended after an altercation with a member of staff after a game against Ipswich. Whether United can control those outbursts and integrate him into a harmonised dressing room, will be crucial considerations away from the cameras.

On the pitch, however, this is a move that makes sense. There is flair to Cunha’s game. He is forward-thinking, flashy and happy to say: “fine, I’ll do it myself”. He also trusts himself from distance, when outnumbered, and on his weaker foot.

United need a player high on confidence who is willing to step up alongside Fernandes to stamp some authority on a stuttering attack, and there aren’t many others in the Premier League as self-assured as him.

(Top photo: Matheus Cunha by Julian Finney via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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