IT is safe to say that Manchester United failed to live up to their supporters’ expectations last season.
They finished in 15th place on just 42 points, lost the Europa League final to Tottenham to leave them trophy-less and without European football next term.
The club have backed new boss Ruben Amorim despite the historically bad results.
That backing does appear to have extended to the transfer market as well.
Brazil star Matheus Cunha is already confirmed to be on board at Old Trafford in a £62.5million arrival from Wolves.
Meanwhile, club captain Bruno Fernandes has opted to stay despite a mega £700,000-a-week offer to join Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal.
How exactly Cunha will be used by Man Utd still remains to be seen.
He has played as a striker at points for Wolves but he is not the type to make regular runs behind the defensive line, preferring to drop deeper in order to receive and link play.
That means he is arguably more effective in behind a main striker, which could create an overlap of profiles with the likes of Fernandes.
Below we break down the tactical fit of Cunha at Man Utd under Amorim.
Intelligent movement around the penalty area
It is interesting to note that towards the end of the season we saw Wolves typically play the same tactical shape as Man Utd did under Amorim.
Their 3-4-2-1 shape saw Cunha used either as a 9 or as one of the two attacking midfielders behind the main striker.
In these positions Cunha’s intelligence and movement in the final third and around the penalty area helped Wolves create a lot of threat.
He is very strong when it comes to finding little pockets of space to drop into and attack around the opposition defensive structure.
The Brazilian is also difficult to deal with defensively because when defending deep opposition players will typically be concentrating on being tight and defending the space between the ball and the goal.
Cunha takes advantage of this with sharp movements to outplay defenders and create shooting opportunities.
We believe Cunha would be able to play in a similar kind of role to Fernandes as both are extremely intelligent in the attacking phase of the game.
This would mean, however, that Man Utd would still need to add a new forward to play ahead of him, assuming they decide Rasmus Hojlund is not the long term solution.
This could be an issue solved in the near future with the signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford.
The type of runs Mbeumo makes would be perfect to stretch the length of the pitch and offer passing options or decoys for Cunha to benefit from.
Indeed, the runs Mbeumo makes are extremely close to those of Mohamed Salah at Liverpool and could benefit both Cunha and Fernandes greatly.
With Fernandes being more comfortable as a passer and creator from deeper areas, we should see Cunha acting as the link between the Portugal star and the forward.
Given Fernandes is well known as one of the most aggressive and creative passers in the league he will enjoy having a player like Cunha alongside him to find space in tight areas.
While Cunha is not an out and out striker, his movement and intelligence of positioning around the area will create real threat.
Not just a finisher
Cunha impressed in front of goal last season as he finished with 15 league goals, while he was also able to provide a creative threat for his team
But Cunha has long been seen as more of a creative attacker than a true goalscorer, such as when he was at Hertha Berlin or Atletico Madrid.
The same is true in deeper positions, especially in transition, when Cunha was capable of getting on the ball and play the final line breaking ball to release team-mates.
He was extremely versatile with his positioning as he occupied pockets across the width of the penalty area.
In terms of his on pitch relationship with Fernandes, it will be interesting to see how Cunha interacts with him given their respective preferred creative operating areas.
The 30-year-old is less of a runner and more of a passer which could create disconnects with Cunha due to a lack of vertical runners around him.
With that said, the two should be able to connect deeper with Cunha being the player to make the more aggressive vertical run off the back of that connection.
The issue Man Utd may have is they will essentially have two advanced midfielders without an effective focal point striker to play off of and make the ball stick.
It is all very well for Amorim to add creativity and dangerous passing to their attacking unit.
But they need to ensure that they have the players ahead of the ball that can make the runs to take advantage of those passes.
Decision making and intelligence
Cunha is a player who can become decisive for the Red Devils both in scoring goals and creating chances, and that is down to his supreme intelligence and strong decision making.
This is what makes him such a versatile attacker, and it would therefore be somewhat wasteful to play him as the main striker.
He is far better when allowed to play deeper and underneath a more physical and aggressive striker.
Essentially, Man Utd should be looking to use a striker who can threaten space behind the defensive line.
This should force the opposition defensive line deeper and then we would see Cunha, and Bruno, with more space that they could play in underneath the striker.
The ability of a player to consistently make correct choices in terms of the timing and direction of his runs is something that is hugely underlooked.
Especially given the pace of the modern game and the intensity of the Premier League.
The fact, Cunha always seems to give team-mates what they need at the right time will be hugely beneficial to Man Utd in terms of helping them to unlock opposition teams.
Conclusion
In our opinion signing a player like Cunha off the back of a terrible season will be a real boost for the Red Devils and their fans.
What is critical though, is Cunha is then surrounded with more signings in key areas to give him the support to make the most of his attacking and creative abilities.
Given Man Utd are already looking to add Mbeumo to their ranks, it would suggest an awareness they need to add more options in the attacking third.
It will still be a long summer ahead for Man Utd’s recruitment team.
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