Paul Scholes Urges Carrick to Resolve Cunha's Role at United
Paul Scholes has sounded the alarm for Michael Carrick, insisting Manchester United cannot keep stumbling on without a recognised centre-forward – and that Matheus Cunha is at the heart of the problem.
United laboured to a draw against Everton on Sunday, a flat stalemate that raised more questions than answers. Several players dipped well below the required level. Cunha, though, endured the toughest afternoon of the lot.
His display unravelled into a string of basic errors. Passes ran away from teammates. First touches bounced off him. His movement rarely matched the rhythm of United’s attacks. When chances did come, he failed to punish Everton. Almost everything that could go wrong, did.
The bigger issue? Nobody quite knows where he fits.
Last season, Carrick found a relatively stable role for the Brazilian on the left of the front line. He drifted in, linked play, and carried a certain swagger in his first campaign at Old Trafford. That version of Cunha looked sharp, inventive, confident.
This season, the picture has blurred. Marcus Rashford’s return has locked down that left flank. Carrick clearly wants Rashford starting wide, which has forced Cunha into unfamiliar territory.
At times he has led the line as a kind of false nine. On other occasions, Bruno Fernandes has stepped into that role, with Cunha sliding back into the No 10 position. The constant shuffling has left him looking unsure, almost stranded between positions, a player searching for an identity in a system that keeps moving underneath him.
Scholes has seen enough to be concerned.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, the former United midfielder didn’t hide his frustration.
"It's very difficult to watch a Man United team without a centre forward," he said. "Now, what Cunha is, I don't really know what Cunha is, what is he a number 10 or a wide player.
"But he's definitely not a number nine. And watching the United team without a number nine, it's a struggle."
That struggle was laid bare once Benjamin Sesko came off the bench at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Slovenian immediately offered what United had been missing: presence, clarity, a focal point. He occupied centre-backs, attacked crosses and gave United a reference in the box. His reward came with a towering header, meeting a superb Luke Shaw delivery to restore United’s lead and briefly lift the away end.
For a moment, it felt like a turning point. A centre-forward doing a centre-forward’s job.
Then, late drama. Ainsley Maitland-Niles stepped up in stoppage time and ripped through United’s fragile control with a stunning strike, crushing the travelling support and underlining just how brittle this team still is.
So Carrick walks into a crucial week with a very modern headache. Does he persist with Cunha in a role that doesn’t suit him, hoping form and fitness eventually click? Or does he lean into the clarity Sesko brings, even if it means a big call on a high-profile attacker?
That answer may arrive quickly. United open their Champions League campaign against Sabah on Thursday, and Carrick’s team sheet will say plenty about who he trusts to lead this attack when the stakes rise.
