Seriously? Even better than. I honestly assumed Eze was still 23.
Matheus Cunha £62.5m release clause
- Thread starter dinostar77
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He’s physically in a different league to Mkhitaryan though and that alone makes him far more suitable.
re: the link up part, it seems just fine actually, why do you say that? For me it's his dribbling that will become ineffective against low blocks. His basic passing / IQ is fine and much better than the likes of Garnacho. He used to be a CF so that skillset is pretty mature.
Yep he's better than Rashford but Martial is still comfortably better than Cunha in terms of pure dribbling technique for me. Cunha uses his strength / body well in the dribble and almost bulldozes his way through things .. it all feels very un-brazilian.
Stats across leagues and more importantly different tactical systems entirely is always a shit show. This is a player coming in from the PL to play the exact role he is already good at. Not really concerned that he won't be able to replicate his Wolves form here. I do question how much he'll improve in a better side (if we ever get better) or if this is just a big fish small pond type situation.
Yeah definitely need something to lift spirits after today
Because watching him I see him miss-placing passes in the final third quite often
What I like about him in those situations is that he takes initiative and tries to make something happen by driving with the ball and doing quick give-and-go’s. His goal yesterday was an example of that. We’re sorely lacking that sort of dynamism at the moment. We’re trying to play around teams, no one is pushing and driving the opponent back (with the exception of Amad, and sometimes Mazrauoi of all players).
Very different from Rashford who can only run with the ball into space in transitions. Otherwise he’s mostly walking/passing back or when trying to take someone on, running the ball over the touchline.
Not as much as we currently do
He also fits into Amorim's system perfectly. Mkhitaryan also would have. He wasn't a winger but we used him as a wide player so that's why he didn't work out as much but Mkhi did have a lot of good periods of form where he showed his quality (and why he's still a regular at a major European side).
The 'good' thing is that I don't think we're anywhere near to dominating teams to push them back in their own half and neither are we good enough to shut down opposition attacks i.e they will attack us (because we are shite) and will give space.
If he looks blunt against a well defended box then I'd be wanting to see what the coach and his other team mates are doing first. With his 1 vs 1 ability, power, flair and shooting, we should be putting him in situations to isolate defenders and/or give him the ball around the opposition box so he can 'do' something. If we're not, then 'Cunha not breaking down a set defence' won't be the bigger issue I'm foreseeing.
He's more refined than Rashford imo with his dribbling and I think comes off as more reckless due to the nature of his position and Wolves' game. I think he's forceful with his dribbling penetration because he wants to get forward/progress the game in the middle, similar to how the street baller version of Zirkzee we've been seeing recently. I reckon he's able to pick and choose his moments.
My major issue is whether Amorim can coach the team to play better as a collective and will we see others contributing with their movement, ball playing ability and attacking? I worry everyone will just default the ball to Cunha and sit on their heels a little just like how we are with Bruno. The other issue is then cost (opportunity) and age/injuries but I'll remain positive on that for now.
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I didn’t say he was not better than what we have. That is not the bar, we currently have a bottom 4/5 attack in the league
Oh yeah the bar is on the floor right now
For £62m no thanks, he's not a £62m player, we could sign Gyokeres for that money.
He doesn't want to come here whereas Cunha does, jeez to not want him is just ridiculous but there you go
1. I'm not sure how you can know/project future improvement at this age. Most attackers don't improve from age 26+; and many start declining by 27-28. Cunha's only about 18 months younger than Rashford.
2. He overperformed by a fair amount last year: 11 non-pen goals on 8.7 xG. This year is well beyond that: 15 goals on 7.9 xG. He's either in the pantheon of finishers or his goals will drop a lot in subsequent seasons just due to regression to the mean.
3. I mean I'm not saying it's a deal breaker on its own, but to me any player getting suspended in any sport is a bad thing. YMMV.
4. The stat is definitely true. Whether it's as bad as it sounds, I'm not sure. Tbh he doesn't seem super lazy to me when watching him, but the Wolves guy on the Athletic podcast said various coaches had struggled to motivate him off-ball.
Idk, doesn't seem like a great mix of traits to me. He's been very, very good this season. But so had Rashford after 2022-2023, and he was even younger than Cunha is now at the time. There's more to signing players than "played well recently". He's already to the age where there won't be a ton of value by the end of the next contract, he's had only one really good season at a small club, and there's attitude/effort concerns. It should be fairly clear why some of us would be worried.
My only worry is actually getting the deal done, haven't got any concerns whatsoever about him
Those filthy scouse built a spine with players like this from premier league clubs we used to call inferior. 90% of our foreign signings never got up to speed of this league and the ones we signed from this league looked lost instead of stepping up. If they buy in to what we want to build and achieve then that's a start for me.
The unfortunate reality Is we are probably finishing the season exactly where we are today as I can't see us winning Europa or finishing in the top half.
But its still United, and now we have an actual future that doesn't revolve around recreating a past using methods from a different era. When, not if, it eventually clicks we need to cement our place at the forefront of the sport and be the example. We should not have to suffer a period like this because of absentee owners and fake wankers.
Loyalty is earned up to a point and being a kid from the academy should only get you so far. Rooney and Rio cared and understood more about the club then Pogba or Rashford and it showed. Keane was binned that could very well mirror a Bruno exit. We can't afford to be this ruthless right now but imagine a club this size, world class facilities, debt free and no political baggage like the other European giants.
I'm sick of the back patting after a fluky result in a quarter final. I'm sick of shouting "C'mon lads" after we string 5 passes together. I want us to stop being a laughing stock of our own making. If everyone else can do it then surely we can.
Cunha looks comfortable in English football and looks hungry. We have to start somewhere and he and Delap wouldn't be as awful as we currently are
The unfortunate reality Is we are probably finishing the season exactly where we are today as I can't see us winning Europa or finishing in the top half.
But its still United, and now we have an actual future that doesn't revolve around recreating a past using methods from a different era. When, not if, it eventually clicks we need to cement our place at the forefront of the sport and be the example. We should not have to suffer a period like this because of absentee owners and fake wankers.
Loyalty is earned up to a point and being a kid from the academy should only get you so far. Rooney and Rio cared and understood more about the club then Pogba or Rashford and it showed. Keane was binned that could very well mirror a Bruno exit. We can't afford to be this ruthless right now but imagine a club this size, world class facilities, debt free and no political baggage like the other European giants.
I'm sick of the back patting after a fluky result in a quarter final. I'm sick of shouting "C'mon lads" after we string 5 passes together. I want us to stop being a laughing stock of our own making. If everyone else can do it then surely we can.
Cunha looks comfortable in English football and looks hungry. We have to start somewhere and he and Delap wouldn't be as awful as we currently are
Delap should have been a useful bonus signing to supplement goals,however instead this club has hung their hat on him to be the main source of them. Regarding this deal I would be absolutely delighted if we managed to get it over line but still nervous of that.
I can't, but there are plenty of examples of attackers that improved around 25-26 and later on; Salah, Mané, Robben, Ribéry, Dembélé, Lewandowski, Cantona, Drogba, Raphinha, Suárez are some examples, and I would add Modric and Bruno in that list too if we're including attacking midfielders, especially when you look at his performances this season under Amorim. Cunha is improving and playing better now than before, and there is nothing to suggest that he is about to regress, so not sure why that is a worry you have. He is still 25, same age Liverpool bought Salah from Roma. If we're going to worry about signing players in their peak/about to hit their peak, I don't think we will ever win anything.
Overperformed, or simply scored more goals than his xG statistic would say? Because if you're "overperforming" for 70 games across two seasons, it's not overperforming. It's his level. He might score fewer goals for us, he might score more. You seem to be forgetting that he is playing for a weak Wolverhampton who are poor offensively and pretty much carrying the team by himself.
I don't agree with your worry, but I can understand it. I just don't think it's worth worrying over, when he is a Premier League proven attacker that scores goals and has good numbers. Add the fact that he has an acceptable release clause, plays in a position we need to upgrade, and he is probably the best option we could get for that price. I would also choose Wirtz over him, but he isn't coming to us, and he would likely cost north of £100m.
As bad as that is - I would be a lot more worried if we didn't create chances.....as I have said before, if we had 1 striker who scored 15-20 goals this season - we would be close to a C.L spot
Cunha is an attacking mid that likes to transport the ball forward or start attacks from deeper positions with good vision and passing. He is not really a playmaker but a lot closer to a Bruno than a striker. Gyökeres is an out an out striker. Two very different types of players.
xG calculations must need some recalibration.
Yeah, I don't see quite why people are such doom and gloom. We are a bit of a mess but we are creating chances. We just need to be finishing them. If you consider how vital it is for morale and performance to be winning games, I really don't think that it takes too many additions this summer to have us competing for top 4/6 again next season. Things can turn around quickly.
You realise players need to want to join a club, right?
Not really. Those stats match up closely to the eye test.
I think he is. Wolves paid a massive fee themselves and he’s only improved 62m is a decent price in this market
I think Gyokeres is nailed on for Arsenal sadly
Excited by this. He's a very good player. Instantly improve our attacking play and getting it done early is brilliant.
Hope this falls through. Shouldn't you be chasing Osimhen instead?
you’re not very nice!
Hoping we get this over the line soon. Would be an absolutely brilliant signing and it would be a massive relief that he is already very well adjusted to the league. After all the disappointed we have had in that regard, can't wait for someone to come and hit the ground running, while instantly improving our attacking game.
Can't wait for a combination of amad and Cunha as our 10s with Bruno feeding quality assists through the midfield. All we would then need is a quality no. 9 to put away those chances (not Delap please)
Can't wait for a combination of amad and Cunha as our 10s with Bruno feeding quality assists through the midfield. All we would then need is a quality no. 9 to put away those chances (not Delap please)
They. Are. Worried.
100% true. He takes risks. Sometimes loses the ball. Most of these contributors are aces in Football Manager. Humans confuse and frustrate them something awful.
Poster’s tag line says it all
It's the sort of signing we've seen rivals make time and time again and we're spitting feathers asking why we weren't in for him. Not the cheapest, but we know what he can do in the league and chances are he's on an upwards trajectory.
He’d be an outstanding signing and our number 10 options suddenly don’t look so bad:
Cunha
Amad
Garnacho
Zirkzee
Mount
Assuming Bruno is now moving to CM.
My worry is the wingbacks. You can see the way we spread the ball wide how important it is for them to carry up the flanks. And all our options are shit at it, bad Amad.
Bit harsh on Amad that. Not his fault he got injured.
BarBit harsh on Amad that. Not his fault he got injured.
For the love of god take Mount off this list, he's a dreadful number 10 (and woeful at 6 and 8 for that matter) and should be nowhere near our starting line up next season. I'm hoping and praying we can get him out on loan if not a permanent deal.