Former Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards believes that Matheus Cunha is now integral for Julen Lopetegui.
Wanderers beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday, and Cunha put in one of his best displays to date.
He played up top with Diego Costa, and the pair did a great job together at Molineux.
It was Costa who led the line, with Cunha operating slightly off him to link play between the midfield and the striker.
Cunha may not have got on the scoresheet, but Chelsea found him difficult to keep tabs on and he worked his socks off in there.
There was one brilliant moment in the second-half where he wriggled free of a few Chelsea players to set Wolves off in the counter.
He played in Matheus Nunes, who unfortunately couldn’t quite get a shot away in the end.
But it was fantastic from Cunha, who has made a good impression since his arrival at Wolves despite only scoring one goal.
He is not prolific, but the way he is able to link play in the final third is very promising. It’ll only be a matter of time before Wolves starting scoring a bit more freely, if Cunha is allowed to be a regular starter.
In the eyes of Edwards he should be. The former Molineux midfielder reckons Cunha is integral for Lopetegui if he wants to keep on using the 4-4-2 system.
He said (Express & Star): “Wolves have not had a fit Matheus Cunha since the game at Fulham – he is pivotal to making this formation work. When you play him as an out-and-out number nine, he does so much work dropping deep, running channels, that when we do get the ball into the box, there is no-one in there.
“Whereas having him play off Diego Costa or Raul Jimenez just gives him that little bit more freedom and you can keep that central striker in the middle of the box. Costa did well on Saturday with his physicality, but Cunha was brilliant in that role where he can get on the half-turn and link play.
“I think he is integral to making that system work rather than playing a midfielder there.”
Matheus Cunha has proved he should be a regular starter for Wolves
At this point, Cunha has done enough to show that he should be a regular starter for Wolves.
The Brazilian may have only scored one goal, but Wolves look more threatening with him on the field.
And if Cunha is to be a regular in this team, then it should mean Wolves go 4-4-2 from here on in.
Because we have seen Cunha leading the line of his own and it doesn’t really work. But he looks much better playing off a main striker.
It would mean Lopetegui deploying just two midfielders. But that is perhaps just that way to go now.