Jair Cunha has been forced to wait patiently for a chance to shine at Nottingham Forest, and Vitor Pereira handed him a rare start vs Fenerbahce.
The centre-back started in the Premier League against Newcastle in Ange Postecoglou’s penultimate game in charge and largely did a good job.Postecoglou also started him against Swansea in the Carabao Cup, with his only other appearance coming against Wrexham in the FA Cup, where once again he did well.
Cunha couldn’t get a look in under Sean Dyche, and under his management, Forest had a prolonged period without Murillo, which opened the door for another centre-back.Now, on the back of the showing against Fenerbahce, Dyche looks very foolish indeed
Jair Cunha sparkles with Fenerbahce display
This might have just been a coming-of-age performance for Cunha against Fenerbahce as he coped extremely well with the quality thrown up by the opposition.
Cunha is only 20, and he will have been dreaming of getting the chance to play in Europe, with his first appearance in the Europa League proving a special night.
Although Forest lost the game and Cunha gave away a seemingly harsh penalty, he was calm, composed and assured throughout the game, showcasing what he’s capable of.
Cunha cleared the ball well and also looked good when the opposition ran at him, showing bursts of pace that Morato can only dream of making.
At 20-years-old, he’s not perfect, and nobody is clamouring for him to replace Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic any time soon in the team’s best eleven.However, there was enough on show last night to suggest that when one of those players misses out, he’s a more capable understudy than Morato has proved this season.
Handling of Cunha is another Dyche blemish
It’s hard to imagine Dyche getting another job in the Premier League any time soon, and certainly not one at a club anywhere near the size of Forest.
His mismanagement of certain players was truly pathetic, with Cunha near the top of that list.When Murillo missed out for a month in December, it might have been the perfect time for the Brazil under-21 international to earn a chance to play regular Premier League football.
Instead, Dyche persisted with the underperforming Morato, and as a great man once said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
Once Morato had endured a few dodgy performances, Cunha should have been the next man up and on last night’s display, the Brazilian has made a mockery of Dyche’s management.