Wolves ended their 2023/24 campaign with a defeat to Liverpool, with one player noticed to look frustrated throughout.
It was always going to be a difficult season for Wolves in the Premier League, as the Old Gold approached the campaign in trialling circumstances.
Julen Lopetegui left his post just days before the opener, seeing Gary O’Neil take charge of the small squad after a summer of offloading players to generate profit.
Still, the Englishman did a stellar job at keeping the Midlands club in the top flight, as well as recording a five-point improvement on the 2022/23 tally and a 14th-place finish.
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One of the reasons for the manager’s success in his first term at Molineux was his ability to get the best out of his players, with the likes of Matheus Cunha and Nelson Semedo playing their best football under the boss.
That being said, the final-day defeat to Liverpool was a bad day at the office for the improved duo, with one notable area of the Brazilian’s game not appreciated by journalist Liam Keen.
Matheus Cunha’s body language questioned against Liverpool
While Cunha has been one of O’Neil’s shining lights this season, the forward has not shown his earlier levels in the final few games of the run-in, an opinion shared by Keen.
The Wolves expert explained one thing that frustrated him about the £44m signing’s outing at Anfield when speaking on the E&S Wolves Podcast in reaction to the final day.
“He’s [Cunha] had a poor three or four games at the end of the season, just been off it.
“His body language has looked a bit poor, looks frustrated, throwing his hands up, and winging a little bit.”
The journalist even went as far as to form a comparison between the 24-year-old and Wolves outsider Goncalo Guedes, explaining the similarities in the pair’s displeasing body language.
“That’s the kind of stuff I hate when I see players doing that, I absolutely battered Goncalo Guedes for doing that, so I have to be fair.”
Matheus Cunha is important to Gary O’Neil’s system
Having recorded an impressive 19 goal contributions in 32 appearances in the Premier League this season, the Brazil international made a significant improvement on his mere two contributions in his first term at Molineux.
When Cunha arrived in January 2023, there was a lot of expectation for him to live up to his eventual £44m price tag, with his quality seemingly unlocked by O’Neil’s understanding of the player.
Next campaign will be interesting for the forward, who will look to both improve on his numbers and help Wolves to move further up the table, with talks of a European finish uttered earlier this year.
While Cunha’s performances have been electrifying at times, Wolves fans will certainly want to see his recently unpleasant body language expelled, with there plenty of work to be done to improve even further.