Dave Edwards has said that Matheus Cunha was ‘terrific’ in terms of his ball carrying on Saturday against Sheffield United, but criticised his and Wolves’ finishing.
Wanderers’ unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end with a 2-1 defeat against the Blades at Bramall Lane.
Cameron Archer gave the hosts the lead, but Jean-Ricner Bellegarde scored a brilliant equaliser late on. Wolves fans thought a point was in the offing, but there would be time for yet another awful refereeing decision.
Right at the death, Fabio Silva was adjudged to have fouled George Baldock and a penalty was awarded. The decision – which has been widely slammed – was upheld by VAR, much to the frustration of the Wolves fans and Gary O’Neil.
So it was a bitterly disappointing afternoon. But Dave Edwards did pick out Matheus Cunha as a Wolves player he felt had a really good game…
Dave Edwards praises Matheus Cunha after his performance for Wolves against Sheffield United
Wolves were good in the first-half at Bramall Lane. They played the ball around nicely and fashioned a number of chances.
One man Edwards felt had a pretty good outing was Cunha. He praised the Brazilian’s ball-carrying but felt he and Wolves as a collective just lacked a cutting edge in the final third.
He said: “Wolves look so dangerous on the counter-attack and Matheus Cunha, who changed his position slightly, was terrific with the positions he was getting into and how he carried the ball.
“But he had the first chance, which he blazed over when he should have hit the target. You had the Hwang Hee-chan effort that didn’t quite end up at Rayan Ait-Nouri comfortably and Sasa Kalajdzic had a tap-in behind him.”
Cunha would be top-class if he could finish
There are few finer sights at Wolves than when Cunha is in full flow with the ball. Sometimes it is like watching Adama Traore, although Cunha is not quite as fast as his former teammate.
The £60,000-a-week star is absolutely fantastic at taking the ball from deeper positions and getting Wolves into the final third. His balance, strength and footwork are all really impressive traits.
The only thing missing from Cunha’s game is his ability to finish clinically. As an attacking player, it is a real shame he doesn’t have that in his locker.
If he did, then Cunha would go from being a great player to a top-class one.
Seemingly, this is why Gary O’Neil is keen to sign a new striker in January. It has been suggested that he wants to do this so Cunha can have more of a free role, which would perhaps make better use of his ball-carrying.