When the final whistle blew for a vital win for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Matheus Cunha stood as still as he had been all night, bent his knees slightly, raised his fists to the sky and looked close to tears.
It is general that you do it wearing the captain’s armband.
The Brazil forward has become the leader of the pack at Molineux; Wolves’ beacon of hope, their inspiration, their go-to, big-game man.
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This is not to minimize the influence of Nelson’s Semedo, the guy selected to wear the armband and a player who sets an example on a basis in terms of polite approach, professionalism, and attitude.
But on days of good form, Cunha, 25, led, and on the night of the boxing class, the Wolves talisman led from the front, midfield and flanks in the deserved 2-2 victory. 0 over Manchester United.
Cunha will play in 3 positions at once: an artistic number 10, who provides passes to his colleagues, galloping wingers and marauding midfielders, a deep playmaker. To embarrass the united defenders with ambitious turns, elusive speed adjustments, and on some occasions outrageous drags. that the united actors of generations would have deployed, but that this harvest proves incapable of producing.
Its functionality included not only a purpose “ olimpico ”, altruistic in recent seconds to obtain the purpose season for Hwang Hee-chan in Marche and some brilliant moments of competition, also included a total burden of screams and gesture among colleagues of team. who did not take the publications he wanted.
Matheus Cunha’s corner goes straight and the Wolves Utd ? main man #plonprime #wolmun pic. twitter. com/h0t3lvhzxg
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024
And for U.S. readers:
? Use Network | #Wolmun pic. twitter. com/qah9ymv7pt
– NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 26, 2024
At one stage, he managed to admonish Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes in a single, sweeping hand gesture of a man possessed.
The only surprising thing is that when Delogo Dalot let in the first part with the most productive game attempt through Manchester United, it was José Sa who shot him.
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“He is an older player, a special player,” said the new main coach of the Wolves, Vitor Pereira, speaking in a press convention after the game after Cunha played the main role in helping the first chief of the wolves from Sammy Chung in 1977 to win its first two first level games.
“He can do things that can make a difference in the small details. We have painted in this turn but we can paint a lot and in the end nothing happens. But things can happen with this type of player.
“I’m discovering day by day, leaders inside the team. They are connected, they are in communication, they want to do something and they want to change things.”
The dark cloud looming threateningly on the horizon is the likelihood that Wolves, in the not-too-distant future, will face an extended spell without their main man.
The Football Association-convened independent regulatory panel has yet to meet to discuss Cunha’s punishment for his extraordinary loss of composure in the wake of the 2-1 defeat to Ipswich Town in the final game of Gary O’Neil’s reign.
But when this is the case, it is very likely that the wolves ahead see a significant prohibition. A minimum starting point turns out to be the 3 games that would have been lost if FIT officials had witnessed their initial confrontation with an Ipswich member and showed a red driver to drive.
There is a chance, however, that extra games will be added because of how the altercation became prolonged.
Therefore, Pereira’s challenge as a coach now is twofold. Ultimately, he has to come up with a plan to make Wolves function without a player who is the integral figure in their attacking plans – the guy through whom everything smart happens.
But in the short term, he will have to draw inspiration from the psyche of a player who seemed determined to propel Wolves up the standings before his temporary absence.
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“He knows he has lost some emotional control,” Pereira said about the Ipswich incident. “But he is an intelligent boy, a very intelligent person.
“And he has the strong personality to not stay in this moment, but to help the team in each and every game he plays. He played very well because in his mind he needs to help the team. He doesn’t think about himself yet about the team .
Cunha’s role in Pereira’s start to the Premier League has been enormous. He has scored in his last 3 league games, and only Henri Camara (five in April 2004) has played a longer run for Wolves in the Premier League.
And his ability means that in the not-so-distant future, Wolves will be forced to imagine life without him, with inevitable donations from wealthier clubs.
In the short term, they will face an unwanted taste of what they look like in the long term, and the fate of their season may count in components of their ability to cope.
But for now, fans, team-mates and Cunha’s new coach can enjoy the pleasure of sharing a stadium with a man hitting heights that few Wolves players in the Premier League era have reached.
(Cover photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)