Matheus Cunha has been Wolves’ best player by a distance this season but, that doesn’t exempt the Brazilian from criticism.
Wolves suffered a 2-1 loss to Fulham at Molineux on Tuesday night, seeing the Old Gold unable to build on the three points collected against Bournemouth.
It was a wake-up call for Vitor Pereira’s side, who failed to move further away from the bottom three in a fixture that was there to be exploited.
Even Fulham boss Marco Silva questioned Wolves’ second-half performance, as the hosts’ performance level dipped quite considerably after the interval.
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Stark difference in Matheus Cunha’s first and second-half performance spotted
Several Wolves players were not up to standard against Fulham, with Jose Sa slammed for his role in the match-winner.
After conceding a minute into the game, Pereira’s side let history repeat itself after the interval, conceding once again just minutes after the restart.
While Sa’s eye for detail was questioned, it wasn’t only the goalkeeper who had his performance placed under the microscope after the defeat.
Speaking after the loss, Express and Star reporter Liam Keen shared his verdict on Matheus Cunha’s performance.
Keen was unimpressed with the change in Cunha’s performance after the interval, stating that despite being ‘very good’ in the opening half, the Brazilian’s level dropped in the second.
“When you’ve got your best player, your most influential player in Matheus Cunha, who was very good in the first half, walking around with his head down, giving the ball away.
“[His] crosses hitting the first man, not really tracking back. The players respond to that and no one really gives a toss, it was a really poor second half.”
The journalist accused Cunha’s dip in quality of setting the wrong tone for those around him, which subtly played into Pereira’s comments regarding how the Wolves squad need to be less reliant on their star teammate.
Cunha’s performance against Fulham in numbers
“We cannot build a team around a player,” Pereira said to the media after the defeat with regard to Cunha’s importance in the squad.
After the Brazilian’s five star performance against Bournemouth, there were glimpses of what he can offer the Old Gold on his day but, some elements were missing when Fulham came to town.
| Matheus Cunha vs Fulham |
| 67 touches |
| 69% pass completion |
| 1 key pass |
| 0/9 crosses completed |
| 3 shots on target |
| 26x possession lost |
| 9 duel wins |
As seen above, Cunha lost possession 26 times and had an off-day in terms of his distribution, failing to complete a cross and regular passes.
Still, the 25-year-old showed how dangerous he can be by threatening Fulham with three shots on target, all met by Bernd Leno.
Cunha’s influence on the squad can be both positive and negative but, to echo Pereira’s thoughts, those around the Brazilian cannot rely solely on his ability.