Smudge3920 wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 9:15 pm
yep spill everything
....and welcome
That could be a long post then
So yeah, he's mostly played as a left winger or as a second striker for us, but he's definitely more of a free roaming player. Don't expect someone who'll hug the sideline and send in lots of crosses.
2020 really started off well for him. He was the standout player for the Selecao Olympic team, scoring 5 goals during the qualifying tournament in January. He then arrived at his new club in Berlin and continued to score one goal after another.
This is probably the part where I have to point out that Hertha has been a pretty dysfunctional team for the past 2 seasons, the typical club that gets an investor, buys a bunch of overpriced players and then flirts with relegation because the pieces don't fit.
Cunha immediately took a central role and made sure the team secured a mid-table spot. He scored 12 times in his first 21 games and I was convinced that he'd have a Firmino-like career, getting to play for the national team and then joining a bigger club.
But then something went wrong. I'm still not sure what it is. He got called up for the national team but didn't play, he was dealing with a groin injury, the team started losing way too many games, he missed a rather embarassing penalty....all these little things seemed to add up and he somehow found it increasingly difficult to find the back of the net. He's now scored a single goal in the past 17 matches.
It's not that that he's been particularly poor either. Whoscored still has him ranked as the 9th best Bundesliga player this season and he's definitely the player opposing teams have to gameplan for. But you can tell he's overthinking things, he's frustrated cause he's trying to save the season by himself and it's not working and unfortunately he's developed some Neymar-esque antics every time he gets fouled.
All this has led some fans to argue that he might be hindering the team's development and might be be better off elsewhere. I disagree, I just think he needs better players to play with and a stable environment. I'm also unsure if he actually wants out. There have been several articles linking him with other clubs but he seems to be rather happy in Berlin. His wife gave birth last year too so there's a bit of an emotional connection to the city.
As far as asking price goes Hertha is currently one of the richer teams in Germany but that of course wouldn't help if the player wants out. Anyone getting him right now might be buying low but of course that implies that his amazing run last year was the norm and not an outlier.
To make matters even more complicated Hertha is getting a new sporting director next season and they also may switch coaches. So it's a bit difficult to predict what's gonna happen.