Wolves are back in Premier League action tomorrow night against Fulham, and Marco Silva today took questions from reporters ahead of the game.
Wolves are looking to build on their win over Bournemouth on Saturday, which took the club five points clear of the relegation zone.
Illia Zabarnyi got himself a red card for a challenge on Rayan Ait-Nouri, which allowed Wolves to get a foothold and score shortly after.
The likes of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy felt Zabarnyi’s red card was harsh, but Wolves made their one-man advantage count.
And the man who scored the all-important goal was Matheus Cunha, a player who is simply so important to Wolves.
Today, Fulham manager Marco Silva was asked about the Wolves talisman’s qualities and gave a very respectful and classy answer.
Marco Silva talks up Wolves’ quality in response to Matheus Cunha question
Cunha is currently on a four-game scoring run.
Against Bournemouth, he got his 13th of the season, and he is rapidly hunting down Raul Jimenez’s record Premier League haul of 17 for Wolves he got in 2019/20.
It’s clear he is the main man at Wolves these days, and someone all neutrals look out for.
Perhaps inevitably, he was the subject of a question put to Silva today at his press conference – but while the Portuguese acknowledged his quality, he was keen to offer his admiration for Wolves as a collective.
He said: “He’s a top player. We, of course, when looking for Wolves, we don’t look just for Matheus, definitely, because it’s not fair with them, because they have a lot of international players around the squad and the XI.
“Three of them international Brazilian football players. Two wing-backs that are internationals and top quality players, too, and more quality players around the place.
“It is not fair [to only talk about Cunha], but we have to be realistic as well, that he’s a player who in any moment of the game can be decisive, can score, can assist.
“He’s been, not just now, he’s been in a great moment, is being decisive for them, and he can always have an impact on a matchday.
“He has always the quality and the confidence to decide moments very well.
“As a collective, we have to control well that situation. It’s not like we are going to be just looking for him because it’s going to be a mistake, because they have other players that can be decisive.”
What is Matheus Cunha’s goalscoring record vs Fulham?
This was a classy response from Silva, who clearly feels it would be a grave error to pay Cunha too much attention.
The quality of other players in this Wolves team isn’t lost on him, and fair play to him for acknowledging that.
| Matheus Cunha record vs Fulham |
| Appearances – 3 |
| Goals – 3 |
| Assists – 1 |
| Wins – 1 |
| Draws – 1 |
| Losses – 1 |
But Wolves fans will certainly hope Cunha can continue his fine form against Fulham, but how has the Brazilian fared against the Cottagers since he came to England?
Well encouragingly, Cunha has faced Fulham three times so far, and scored three goals.
Two of those came in the reverse fixture this season against Craven Cottage, and he also got an assist in that 4-1 win.
Cunha also scored for Wolves in the 3-2 defeat to Fulham last season at Craven Cottage.