As the final whistle blew on a momentous Wolverhampton Wanderers victory, Matheus Cunha stood as still as he had all evening, bent his knees a little, raised his fists slightly to the heavens and looked close to tears.
The general is to do it with Captain’s bracelet.
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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It is not to minimize the influence of Nelson Semedo, the guy has selected to use the bracelet and a player who provides the example in terms of education, professionalism and attitude approach.
But the days of the game are Cunha, 25, leading, and on the night of boxing day, the talisman of the wolves led forward, the medium and wings the deserved 2-0 victory opposite to Manchester United.
Cunha seemed to play 3 positions at once: an artistic number 10, who offers passes to his fellow attackers, galloping with backs and marauding midfielders, a deep playmaker who drops into the box to regain ownership and start moves, and a quick foot. Winger in a position to play. To embarrass United’s defenders with bold turns, evasive speed adjustments and, on occasion, outrageous setbacks that United players of past generations would have yet deployed that this crop proves incapable of producing.
His performance included not just an ‘olimpico’ goal, a selfless assist in the final seconds to get Hwang Hee-chan’s goalscoring season up and running and some brilliant moments of skill, it also featured a whole load of shouting and gesticulating at team-mates who were not taking up the positions he wanted.
Matheus Cunha’s corner swings and the wolves lead Guy utd ? #dive#wolmun pic. twitter. com/h0t3lvhzxg
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@Primevideosport) December 26, 2024
And for American readers:
? U. S. Network | #Wolmun pic. twitter. com/qah9ymv7pt
— NBC Sports Soccer (@nbcsportssoccer) December 26, 2024
At one point, he controlled to reproduce Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes with a single wave from the hand of a possessed boy.
The only thing to wonder is that when Diogo Dalot let him fly in the first half with Manchester United’s most productive play attempt, José Sa collected it.
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“He’s a great player, a special player,” new Wolves manager Vitor Pereira said in the post-match press conference, after Cunha played the lead role in assisting Wolves’ first owner since Sammy Chung in 1977 to win the first two top-flight matches.
“He can do things that can make a difference in the small details. We worked on this corner but you can work a lot and in the end, nothing happens. But with this kind of player, things can happen.
“I notice leaders within the team every day and every day. They’re connected, they’re communicating, they need to do anything, and they need to make a difference.
The dark cloud hanging over the horizon is the likelihood that wolves, in the not-too-distant future, will face a prolonged era without their number one man.
The independent regulatory committee convened by the football deal has yet to meet to discuss Cunha’s punishment for his habitual loss of composure following a 2-1 loss to Ipswich Town in the final game of Gary O’Neil’s reign.
But when it does, it is likely that the Wolves forward will be handed a significant ban. A minimum starting point would appear to be the three matches he would have missed had the match officials witnessed his initial clash with an Ipswich staff member and shown him a red card for violent conduct.
However, more games may be added due to the extent of the altercation.
Pereira’s formative challenge is, therefore, double. In the background, you will have to devise a plan to make the Wolves work without a player who has the integral figure in their attack plans: the guy through which everything works without problems.
But in the short term, he must tap into the psyche of a player who yesterday seemed hellbent on propelling Wolves up the table before his temporary absence.
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“He knows he’s lost a bit of his emotions,” Pereira said of the Ipswich incident. “But he’s a smart guy, a very smart person.
“And he has the strong personality of not staying at that time, but to help the team with Fit that plays. He went very well because in his mind, he needs to help the team. He does not think of himself, but thinks of the team.
Cunha’s role in the Pereira flyer started in the Premier League has been huge. He has scored in his last 3 league games, with only Henri Camara (with five in April 2004) playing a longer run for Wolves in the Premier League.
And his talent means that in the not-too-distant future, Wolves will be forced to contemplate life without him altogether, with big-money offers from wealthier clubs inevitable.
In the short term, they will face an unwanted taste for how this looks in the long term, and the fate of their season may count in part on 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.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)