"He's a bit like Eric" - Manchester United star compared to Old Trafford legend after early struggles

Manchester United will play Champions League football next season for the first time in three years.

Since replacing Ruben Amorim in January, with the Red Devils sitting in sixth-place, Michael Carrick has completely transformed the feeling around Old Trafford. Man United will now likely finish third, having won 11 of their last 14 Premier League fixtures.

Despite a string of disappointing performances earlier in the season, a number of Manchester United players have seen a vast improvement in their form under Carrick, which has contributed to the success the club legend has achieved in such a short space of time.

One of those is summer signing Matheus Cunha, who signed from Wolves for £62.5m in August last year.

Off the back of a stellar campaign with the Midlands club, having scored 15 goals and registered six assists in 33 Premier League outings, the Brazilian arrived at Old Trafford with a lot of expectation on his shoulders.

But Cunha managed just four goals and one assist in the league under Amorim, leading to many labelling him a flop. Since Carrick’s arrival, Cunha has five goals and three assists. While that doesn’t seem like much of an improvement in the early part of the season, his overall performances for the Red Devils have begun to really catch the eye.

And for one ex-Manchester United star, it’s Cunha’s passion, emotion and desire to play for the badge which has really shone through during this period.

Paul Parker has even gone as far as to say the forward’s passion and winning attitude reminds him of a legend Eric Cantona, in his prime.

Parker, speaking via the home of free spins, said: “Cunha is very emotional in the way he plays, but he showed how much he wanted to be at the club the moment he got the opportunity.

“Cunha has proven that every time you see him. Sometimes he’s been booked because of it.

“He’s a bit like Eric [Cantona] when he makes a mistake, he tries to sort it out straight away. Whenever he is tackled, he always wants a foul when he’s on the floor, and he’s very emotional. But his first thought then is to get up and it’s almost like he wants to kick somebody, which was very much like Eric.

“When Eric knocked a bad pass, we used to see Eric try and go to win the ball back, but there were nine outfield players just begging, ‘please don’t go and make a tackle, Eric, please don’t!’ But that was Eric just trying to make up for a poor touch or a wrong decision or wrong execution, because he didn’t believe in making mistakes and allowing other players to go and make good of it.

“He wanted to do it himself and Cunha is like Cantona in that sense.”

And Parker goes on to explain that it’s that kind of playing style which is beginning to endear the Brazilian to the hearts of the Manchester United faithful.

“Every fan has seen what he’s about and they know him, and that’s why he’s already adored by a lot of the Manchester United fans, because of that work ethic, and they know his love of wearing the jersey, the way he smiles,” Parker added.

“Any other time a player scores a goal, he’s always one of the first ones there and you see the big grin on this face, and he gets very emotional.

“You saw the emotion when Casemiro scored, it was almost like man meets woman! He gave him a hug and had his eyes closed, but love is love!”