Matheus Cunha | 2026/27 Performances

Godfather said:
Doesn't change the fact that these are his best positions. That he made more sense under Amorim's system is a different topic
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Oh I agree just another case of players bought for one manager and being lumped on the next. Not a bad problem to have because he's a good player but he's not a left winger or at least a traditional winger and he's never getting in the team in a position where are best player plays.
 
The reality is that our squad is still littered with too many Amorim players. Amorim specialists, that is. Players that would never have been bought to play in the roles they are playing in now. Mbeumo, Cunha and Dorgu are three of such players who are fixtures in our first team playing in sub-optimised roles, where we could really use specialists.

I know Cunha played as a centre forward today (nominally). But his best role is now redundant. There is a theory out there that we ‘fixed the attack’ last summer, but I long suspected we will need to fix it again to go up a level. I can’t see us winning major trophies with a front 3 where two are not really in their best roles, with Dorgu also in the mix who I would put in the same category.
 
Rozay said:
The reality is that our squad is still littered with too many Amorim players. Amorim specialists, that is. Players that would never have been bought to play in the roles they are playing in now. Mbeumo, Cunha and Dorgu are three of such players who are fixtures in our first team playing in sub-optimised roles, where we could really use specialists.

I know Cunha played as a centre forward today (nominally). But his best role is now redundant. There is a theory out there that we ‘fixed the attack’ last summer, but I long suspected we will need to fix it again to go up a level. I can’t see us winning major trophies with a front 3 where two are not really in their best roles, with Dorgu also in the mix who I would put in the same category.
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We were told our signings were to fit in with any manager and style however that doesn't seem to be the case
 
Lennon7 said:
He hasn’t, Mbeumo has. I reckon Cunha has played in the middle up top maybe twice, and he excelled there for Brazil recently.
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We can add this to the count of the too many times Cunha has played as a CF. It just doesn't work.

He's getting panned here now, but it's unfair. The fact he has played there doesn't mean he should. He's played best for us as an inside left forward.
 
dirkey said:
Gonna be an unpopular take, but I said to my friends about halfway through last season that we should sell this guy before his value drops too much because he's clearly not good enough to be a regular starter. Dreadful decision maker, absolutely dreadful, and his touch is very inconsistent.
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And he's extremely slow
 
Cunha was completely anonymous when used as the centre forward which I can cut him a little slack for but his diving was really starting to wind me up earlier. We barely got to grips with the game at all and it felt like the only thing he was doing was engineering contact and throwing himself to the ground.

Maybe there's a time and a place to try and buy a foul for the team but he would've been better served trying to keep the ball and get us up the pitch. I'm surprised he doesn't get booked for simulation more often because it's not particularly subtle when he does it.
 
I saw the line up and I was really hoping it was Dorgu on the right, Cunha on the left and Mbeumo center forward. But it was Cunha center forward and Dorgu on the left.
Cunha key attributes are balling carrying and ball striking from range.
Play him as a 10 or off the left. He's not a center forward and if he gives you sub optimal performance in the middle that's on the manager.
Carrick should go back to what worked last season. Start Dalot and Mainoo, center forward should be either Sesko or Mbeumo, Cunha back to the left wing.
If Amad is injured and Mbeumo is starting center forward play Dorgu there or throw in Shea Lacey. No fixing what's not broken.
 
For those saying Cunha and Mbeumo don't quite fit because they're not proper wingers. When we had Rooney, Tevez and Ronny leading the line. Only Ronny was the pure winger. Bottom line is, they were essentially forwards who could interchange and play anywhere across the front. And that's pretty much what we have now. I think too much is being made of 'they don't quite fit'

Our current forwards were bought for their versatility, any manager could come in and utilise them.
 
Not a winger, not a midfielder, not a striker. He's a problem. We need Rashford to be good, so that he'll be back up.
 
Didn't he start out as a striker and wasn't very good so got moved? I thought he was good for us under Cunha on the left, he's not a winger and he's not really a forward cutting in but he played well starting out there and I think that's basically the only role he should play for us. It's a problem that we had to move him because of the other options available.

Overall the likes of Cunha, Tielemans and Bruno, who all didn't play well, are less of a concern as they are good players who aren't fully up to speed yet than the likes of Shaw, Dorgu and Santos who just weren't good enough.
 
Love Cunha but the dude was still in holiday mode yesterday
 
The World Cup I think is what convinced people, including me, that he could play as a striker. But I recall him playing there with Amorim and was quite average. Wolves fans also always reiterated that he couldn’t play there.

For all the conundrum regarding his position, he’s already played well for us on the left and was our best attacker during that period
 
He’s not a striker, he’s a failed striker who successfully reinvented himself as a very left sided attacker yet we seem convinced he can ‘do a job’ as a striker. Square pegs in round holes hasn’t worked for the last 13 years and will continue to not work.
 
Just keep him on the left, rotating him with rashford. Make Dorgu a left back, sign an actual striker
 
I feel sorry for him. He was brought in to play a specialist role as a wide CAM in Amorim's weird system, and now that that went to shit he's a square peg that we don't know how to use. This is why you target versatile players who can do well in multiple systems.
 
Cunha plays well for us from the left, he's scored most of his goals from that position. It's really simple as that - he's fast enough to get away from most and is a good dribble, he's just not a touchline hugging speedster type.
 
2 man midfield said:
Just keep him on the left, rotating him with rashford. Make Dorgu a left back, sign an actual striker
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And there lies the problem with what we did by hiring Amorim. Dorgu and Cunha were both considered flexible enough to play in a four at the back system, but we could have used the Dorgu money to buy an actual left back and the Cunha money to sign a more traditional left forward or striker. We’ve actually been left with two players who probably aren’t good enough for this system.
 
In general I think there’ll be a lot of reactions to a disappointing defeat but it’s worth taking a breath to consider a lot of these players are undercooked because of the World Cup. To be frank we’ve largely seen that across the opening day with a lot of teams. Dorgu is 21 and has lots of potential, but he’s going to be hit and miss right now. Cunha has had very little pre-season. Same with Sesko and Bruno. Amad out injured. The only attacker we have that had a full preseason is Mbeumo.

At this stage of the campaign it’s about establishing a rhythm and chemistry and getting everyone firing on all cylinders. Results over performances. Losing opening day is a blow but we just have to immediately focus on getting back on track in the next game. Drawing conclusions about quality of players at this stage is a short term, knee jerk reaction. Understandable, but a sense of calm has to prevail.
 
Shouldn’t play up front. Would also look a lot better on the left with a proper LB behind him. Similar applies to Mbeumo on the right
 
His best season at Wolves was as a wide forward cutting in with Ait Nouri providing the overlap to draw the opponents right back away from him, so he can attack the right sided center back 1v1.

This doesn’t work for us because Shaw doesn’t run forward anymore, and plays way too safe.

I’m sure with a new overlapping left back we will start to see the best of Cunha.

He is definitely not a number 9 though.
 
somewhat amusing reading how Cunha is now considered not good enough around these parts. He's just a fantastic footballer, has flair, immense work rate, great technical ability, special ability to create something out of nothing. Also had a crap game.
 
I think he’d be a much better playing with an overlapping LB behind him.

At the moment when he comes infield we have nobody bombing past him to create width.
 
red_de_pologne said:
somewhat amusing reading how Cunha is now considered not good enough around these parts. He's just a fantastic footballer, has flair, immense work rate, great technical ability, special ability to create something out of nothing. Also had a crap game.
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He works hard, I'll agree. Great technical ability? I don't agree. He can dribble. But it's not exactly twinkle toes style dribbling. It's more about driving at people. His touch is pretty bad. He can score goals out of nothing but he's not great at creating chances for others out of nothing. We paid too much for him. He's not great.
 
dirkey said:
Based on what though? Out of interest. What do you see in him that makes him a top player?
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I think he’s got a spark and a swagger, he’s good on the ball under pressure and for me has a touch of class and quality that not many others in our squad do.

Appreciate I appear to be in the minority here.
 
simonhch said:
In general I think there’ll be a lot of reactions to a disappointing defeat but it’s worth taking a breath to consider a lot of these players are undercooked because of the World Cup. To be frank we’ve largely seen that across the opening day with a lot of teams. Dorgu is 21 and has lots of potential, but he’s going to be hit and miss right now. Cunha has had very little pre-season. Same with Sesko and Bruno. Amad out injured. The only attacker we have that had a full preseason is Mbeumo.

At this stage of the campaign it’s about establishing a rhythm and chemistry and getting everyone firing on all cylinders. Results over performances. Losing opening day is a blow but we just have to immediately focus on getting back on track in the next game. Drawing conclusions about quality of players at this stage is a short term, knee jerk reaction. Understandable, but a sense of calm has to prevail.
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Yes
red_de_pologne said:
somewhat amusing reading how Cunha is now considered not good enough around these parts. He's just a fantastic footballer, has flair, immense work rate, great technical ability, special ability to create something out of nothing. Also had a crap game.
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And yes again.

Also, as a few posters and I have mentioned, it's extremely unfair to judge him playing as a CF. Never his position.
 
Play a 3-man midfield and use him as a left-sided attacker. He was good last season in the few games when he was asked to hold the width and roam less. If we expect him to play as a left winger or centre-forward in this formation, it will be a total waste.
 
M Bison said:
I think he’s got a spark and a swagger, he’s good on the ball under pressure and for me has a touch of class and quality that not many others in our squad do.

Appreciate I appear to be in the minority here.
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I think he has the balls to be a united player, so I agree with the swagger comment. And I like the fight he has in him.

I hope he comes Good.
 
If you're going to play him at 9, you do it in a game like Anfield, Emirates or Etihad and make him a false one.

In this team, he is LW for me.
 
red_de_pologne said:
somewhat amusing reading how Cunha is now considered not good enough around these parts. He's just a fantastic footballer, has flair, immense work rate, great technical ability, special ability to create something out of nothing. Also had a crap game.
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Same thing happened last season. We repeatedly heard how he wasn’t a LW every game after Carrick joined only for him to be the best performing wide player in the team in the second half of the season. He was scoring and creating from the left with basically no support from Shaw.

I feel like there’s a vocal minority that forget all the good he does any time he has a bad game. He’s our best had a shite game and is clearly not match ready, there’s nothing more to it.

He’s our best dribbler, ball carrier and striker of the ball from range. Also a good passer of the ball. How many players in our team could make the pass he did to Mbeumo for Sesko’s goal against Everton.
 
red_de_pologne said:
somewhat amusing reading how Cunha is now considered not good enough around these parts. He's just a fantastic footballer, has flair, immense work rate, great technical ability, special ability to create something out of nothing. Also had a crap game.
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He's a decent player who is inconsistent in his technique. Tends to step up in big games, tends to be sloppy against smaller teams. Regularly frustrating.
 
The closest I see to his skillset is a Moussa Dembelle type role, he's elite at driving from deep and ball carrying but hes not a striker and not a winger. which makes him backup/alternative option to Bruno for me.
 
He’s simply not a striker. Play him at LW or not at all. Why Carrick still doesnt get this is beyond me
 
Butty19 said:
He’s not a striker, he’s a failed striker who successfully reinvented himself as a very left sided attacker yet we seem convinced he can ‘do a job’ as a striker. Square pegs in round holes hasn’t worked for the last 13 years and will continue to not work.
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I don't think he's a striker in the PL, maybe in a lower league he can be but right now he's basically a worse version of Havertz when he's in that role
 
Glorio said:
Cunha plays well for us from the left, he's scored most of his goals from that position. It's really simple as that - he's fast enough to get away from most and is a good dribble, he's just not a touchline hugging speedster type.
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Play him on the left or not at all. Give him a proper LB and I'm sure he will come good. But as a striker (or second striker with Bruno also on the pitch), it makes zero sense.
On top, he was clearly not fit enough to start the game.
 
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