Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Matheus Cunha has hailed manager Gary O’Neil, insisting he is the best manager he’s worked under so far.
The forward has been speaking to DAZN Spain’s Fever Pitch programme regarding life at Molineux and the change from Julen Lopetegui to O’Neil in the summer.
The latter had appeared set for an extended stay with the club after successfully guiding them from relegation trouble last season and into mid-table after arriving in the middle of the season.
That did not prove to be the case, though, as Lopetegui departed on the eve of the new season following various meetings with the Wolves hierarchy and a disagreement over their plans for the direction of the club.
O’Neil arrived as his replacement and hasn’t looked back since, leading Wolves to 13th in the table and nine points from the bottom three 17 games into the season.
One of the players who have proven to be key to that is Matheus Cunha, who has five goals and three assists in 18 games so far.
That’s a vast improvement on his numbers under Lopetegui last season, but Cunha is grateful for the work done with him, even if he’s kicked on under O’Neil.
“Hard, the truth is that it was hard,” he said regarding Lopetegui’s departure.
“My relationship with Lopetegui was very good. A lot of who I am is also thanks to him who bet on me at a time when I was not as happy, as in love with football as I am now.
“So, I owe him a lot for seeing my potential, for helping me with his advice and his information. Thanks to all that I am where I am.
” When Gary arrived it was a little hard, because I was already thinking, now who is he? I don’t know if he knows me, what’s going to happen. And really, it’s a spectacle, he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had.”
