There’s nothing quite like an international break when it comes to Premier League players giving revealing interviews.
Matheus Cunha has become the latest to wait until he is back home to say how he really feels, falling into the Romelu Lukaku trap of forgetting that translators exist so every word he says will be picked up and analysed back on British shores.
While on international duty, Cunha gave a sit-down interview with Globo Esporte, one of his home country’s biggest sports programmes. In a 15-minute conversation, the Brazilian spoke of playing for his national team, of his new manager Carlo Ancelotti and of course Manchester United.
It’s not quite Cristiano Ronaldo levels of s**ting on your own doorstep but Cunha was perhaps a little more revealing than he meant to be. After two months, Cunha admitted he felt like he had been at United for a lot longer because “of the club’s current situation”. He spoke of the pressure he felt to start getting results as quickly as possible because he is “a big signing”. At one point he even referred to himself in the third person.
Cunha’s interview revealed that the catastrophic aura surrounding the club from fans and pundits is seeping through to the players. If Fergie’s United used to give players an air of invincibility, Amorim – and those who came before him – seem to instill a sense of crisis.
With one billion fans across the world, the biggest challenge for any player moving to United is the weight of expectation and the pressure that comes with that. Usually a manager’s job would be to protect players but when he himself is facing daily questions about his tenure, it is understandable that the players get caught in the crossfire.
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That environment is hardly conducive to success and there is a growing list of players who leave and begin playing like they aren’t carrying an Indiana Jones-style boulder on their back. Scott McTominay has become a deity in Naples. Antony looked a lot more like an £86million footballer at Betis than he did at United. Marcus Rashford seems to have remembered that football can be quite fun and not a massive burden now that he is in Barcelona. Even Rasmus Hojlund looks like a striker.
Joining United has become one of the smarter career moves if only for the immediate boost you get on exit and it is easy to see a scenario where Cunha becomes another example,
The Brazilian is undoubtedly talented and undeniably kept Wolves in the Premier League last season, but he has been signed to a system where he has no obvious place.
At Wolves, the team was built around him, allowing him to line up on the team sheet as a centre-forward but not really play like one. In Amorim’s 3-4-2-1, there is no obvious space to do that.
The Portuguese boss is not the first manager to fall in love with Mason Mount, which means his starting spot is pretty much locked down. Benjamin Sesko has scored twice since he started leading the line and Bryan Mbeumo is more suited to a wide-right role than Cunha.
Cunha may well be a £62.5million signing that has no obvious place in the team. The player himself commented on this, bringing up his youth spell as a midfielder before 4-3-3 took over the game and he suddenly had to become a number nine.
“I came to the national team with this stereotype of a number 9 shirt,” Cunha said.
“I played my entire base as a midfielder, and when I became a professional, I encountered the world of 4-3-3. You have to adapt: either play centre-forward, winger, or ‘eight’.
“They eliminated the midfielder position, and you have to adapt.
“But I see it positively, as it has given me experience, many more positions, and even more so in short-term tournaments with the national team.
“Having a versatile player is a huge help for any coach.”
While it’s true that versatility is a positive trait, it can also make it hard to nail down a position. Amorim began the season with Cunha as the centre forward but pulled him deeper after the signing of Sesko, and there is every chance that for United’s next game away at Liverpool, Cunha is again on the bench as he was for the win over Sunderland.
Cunha started up front for Brazil in the first game of this international break and although he did not score, he did provide an assist. After his time with Brazil is over, he heads back to the doom and gloom of United and if it feels like a long time after two months, just imagine how long it will feel come the end of a most likely underwhelming season.
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