Matheus Cunha has a maverick quality that gets into the heads of his opponents, says Manchester United’s head coach Ruben Amorim.
Cunha has rapidly become a fans’ favourite since joining United from Wolves for £62.5million in the summer, even earning comparisons with Old Trafford legend Eric Cantona.
Although the Brazilian has only scored once in 10 games for Amorim’s side, his willingness to get on the ball and get under the skin of other teams has endeared him to United supporters.
Amorim has also been impressed by the 26-year-old’s ability to unsettle opponents, saying: ‘Cunha is a maverick who does things that. It’s hard to find in some players because he plays with the ball, but he has an aura about him that can do something to the opponent’s heads, and that is really important.’
The United boss is also delighted with one of his other big summer signings, £71m forward Bryan Mbeumo, who has contributed five goals and an assist so far.
Speaking to the Men In Blazers Media Network, he added: ‘It’s the mentality of these two players. Bryan is really direct and we missed that last year. You can see in the fourth goal that we scored against Brighton, he can sense when the ball is going to our defender and he is already running into position. The small things that people don’t see are massive to turn us into a more dangerous team.’
Amorim also paid tribute to Harry Maguire who has revived his Old Trafford career to the extent that the club may consider extending his contract before the end of the year when he will able to open talks with foreign clubs.
Amorim believes Maguire has been particularly effective in a season that has seen more importance than ever placed on set-pieces.
‘When people talk about Harry, it’s his mentality to overcome all these problems that he had, especially with the England fans,’ said Amorim.
‘You can help the other guys to understand that things will change and you will survive. You will not die. You can overcome any situation.
‘But for me, I would like to start with his quality as a player. He’s a very, very good player that, like any other player, needs confidence. He is really really good on the ball. He is so strong defending set-pieces and really strong attacking set-pieces. As you can see, our league in this moment is a lot of about set-pieces.
‘I just try to use the best footballer that Harry Maguire is and then also to bring the mentality that he showed us during years to overcome very difficult situations.’
Watch Ruben Amorim’s interview with Men In Blazers at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-FZKssfwdQ
