Opinion: Cunha the Redeemer feels perfect at United

We all knew it as soon as Bruno Fernandes donned the shirt for the first time. As our captain reached the 300-appearance mark, another player in the same category scored his first goal. Matheus Cunha at United feels perfect.

The goal against Brighton brought the headlines, the analysis on Sky and Match of the Day, and made him the centre of praise on the radio and in the newspapers, but we as United fans knew it already. Anfield was the culmination of a growing love for our new no.10, whether he’s scoring or not.

You need a certain grit to shine on Merseyside in a United v Liverpool game. Cunha showed it. He’s a fighter who plays with flair, and he’s the type of character who brings others along with him, just as well as he carries the ball. When you rate United players, we often ask, ‘can they pass the Anfield test?’ as Sir Alex Ferguson used to allude to. Cunha can, and did. He showed flicks and tricks, deft chest control, as well as strong hold-up play and a certain arrogant swagger in those tense final minutes that drew the ire of the home crowd and players. Those moments build a love for a new player, a love that was evident back at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.

‘BRAZILIAN MIRACLE’ read one flag in the Stretford End, underneath a depiction of Matheus as Rio de Janeiro’s famous Christ the Redeemer.

Well, there are good signs that Cunha will be United’s redeemer, dictionary defined as a bringer of goodness or someone who restores honour.

The pressure on him individually had grown before Brighton. Headlines were starting to be carved around his wait for a first United goal, but he showed little sign of that pressure getting to him. It’s one of the things that we’ve loved so far. I cast my mind back to the summer when he’d first arrived. I sat in the press conference room at Chicago’s Soldier Field when he conducted his first chat with external media.

“I really think the pressure at this club is a privilege,” he said. It’s a sentiment he’s repeated several times, and you see it in his play. As Ruben Amorim said, “he feels more confident if the game is harder, he wants the responsibility.”

He just so evidently loves playing, an evergreen endearing quality for supporters. It’s an infectious smile and style that his team-mates noticed from his first day. Casemiro told us in summer that Cunha “transmits a lot of joy.”

The Brazilian pair shared a lovely moment in front of the East Stand on Saturday, with a beaming Cunha jumping into his mate’s arms to celebrate.

It’s the kind of goal we’ve hoped for, the kind he scored repeatedly for Wolves. His former manager there, Gary O’Neil, said Matheus “became an expert in finishing from this part of the pitch.” They got the ball to him there as often as possible, and he did the business, just as he did on Saturday, with a perfect first touch to get the ball out of his feet and allow him to wrap that right boot around it, squeezing it just outside the out-stretched Brighton defender’s leg, but just inside the right post. This finish, with little space and in an Old Trafford atmosphere turning febrile due to a succession of decisions going against the Reds, showed Cunha’s composure and class.

For those of us lucky enough to watch the team train, it’s little surprise. Cunha’s finishing in these areas is a joke. When we asked Ruben about how he’d settled in — off camera — during our pre-season tour in the USA, he just laughed. His exact quote isn’t printable, but it included the word ‘baller’.

On camera, Ruben told us: "People say that he came here because of the money, that is a lie.” He was strong on that, and wanted everyone to know it. With Cunha, I don’t think it’s ever been in doubt. From the moment he signed, his deep affection for the club has shone through. It’s why as fans we were so happy to see him get that goal, and at Old Trafford in an important victory, too.

But it wasn’t just the goal, just as his Anfield performance didn’t need one to be admired. It’s the combination of work ethic and flair. It’s a certain spirit that draws a certain response. The noise around me in the Stretford End as Cunha tracked back to produce a crucial challenge on Brighton’s Mats Wieffer showed how much that quality is loved. By us, and by Ruben, too.

“Cunha did a great job defending and was completely different from the first games,” he said, post-match.

Cunha’s performance reminded me of something else Amorim had said to us, back in summer.

"Sometimes we have to look at the past, what was the reason for all the success. Of course, the football changed, the world changed, but there are some things that we can get from that. I think that is the spirit of the players. When I'm going to Old Trafford and we show a good performance, I feel the excitement of everybody. The fans deserve to have guys like Matheus and Bruno that can lift that place.”

Hence the immediate love for Cunha, the banner, and the huge cheers.

Next week, or next month, or next season, Matheus might have a down moment. But United fans will always back a player who gives their all and plays with swagger, so that love will endure.

As the Reds in the Stretford End relished a 3-0 lead on Saturday, the chant of Cunha’s United hero — Wayne Rooney — rang around. Matheus mentioned him on his first day at the club, when we first noticed that now familiar broad smile, with him sitting inside Old Trafford for his signing interview.

“He was then the no.10, I remember it on his shirt, and everyone loved the skills of the player in this shirt, but he always brought more,” Cunha said.

“He goes to the grass to take the ball; this kind of energy inside of him was a big example.”

It’s evident in Cunha’s play now; the Brazilian ‘joga bonito’ but with a streak of Rooney’s Croxteth grit. It’s a similarity that our all-time top scorer recognised some months ago.

“He’s exactly what Man United need,” Rooney said on his podcast. “You need someone with a bit of character. That protects your other players because when you have players who have that character and bit of edge, the other players who haven’t got that follow that, it brings more out of them as well.”

We saw Rooney do that for years. The Stretford End still sings his name. Now a flag in that famous part of Old Trafford depicts Cunha as our redeemer. ‘Brazilian miracle,’ it says, but Cunha is no miracle, really. He’s just a player who loves the game, thrives off pressure and is living his dream. What a joy that is to watch.

GET OLD TRAFFORD TICKETS NOW

If you want to see Cunha play, get your tickets for our upcoming Old Trafford games before Christmas. Tickets are still available for our Monday 24 November clash with Everton (here) and AFC Bournemouth's visit to the Theatre of Dreams on Monday 15 December (here).