Man Utd have made a poor start to the season, but Matheus Cunha believes the Reds can turn it around.
Matheus Cunha at Craven Cottage.(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
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Matheus Cunha believes Manchester United can take inspiration from the second half of last season to turn this campaign around.
United had a kind start to the new Premier League season, but they have taken just five points from games against Hull City, Ipswich Town, Everton, Manchester City and Fulham.
That means United have picked up their joint-lowest points tally after five games of a Premier League season. The Reds also picked up a tally of five at the start of 2014/2015 - Louis van Gaal's first season in charge.
The pressure on Michael Carrick has increased over the last few weeks. Although Carrick retains the board's unequivocal backing, United must improve and secure results when top-flight football resumes after the international break.
United were poor at Craven Cottage, going 1-0 down against the team that began the afternoon bottom of the top-flight, but they rescued a point thanks to Cunha's deflected effort in the 89th minute.
Cunha spoke to a handful of reporters after the final whistle, and he used last season as an example of how United can improve, noting they got better under Carrick in the second half of the campaign.
The Brazilian said "something good" can come if United can immediately make the same kind of improvements they did in the second half of the season.
"Yeah, that will come. To be honest, that will come," he said when asked whether it will take a while for the team to get up to speed.
"Last season was my first season here, and then maybe it was more crazy than this one. There was a lot of noise around us, a season without Champions League, and now we're in. And we won our first game in the Champions League.
"And maybe people (last season) were saying 'Oh, United will go to the Championship' or something like this. And then at the end of the day, we finished third, you know? I feel like inside of us, we still have a lot of trust, we know what we do, all the belief is inside. But of course, I think it's like only the beginning.
"And then we know we need to improve earlier, because last season we improved later, and then we finished third. So imagine if we improve earlier this season, something good can come."
Cunha feels the international break has come at a bad time for him personally. "Yeah, for me it's hard, but to be honest, I'm so anxious to play the next one [game]. And then we have a big break now," he said.
"Of course, when you don't win, you feel this kind of feeling to let's play the next one to win and feel everything good. But yeah, maybe it's the moment to be calm, to put the ideas in the right way, to come back.
"And then of course that could be a big month, and then yeah, I hope this kind of things will be like everything exciting. And then we can win more things, and everyone will be calm, show how we work for the shirt."