White Van Man 1 - Matheus Nunes 0
On the 30th September 2023 Matheus Nunes made the starting XI for Manchester City in their away game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Barracked by the home fans whenever he touched the ball, at half time he was removed from the fray by City Manager Pep Guardiola. Nunes is clearly a talented player or Guardiola would not have signed him. But that doesn’t mean his future is assured and his brief appearance at Molineux offers a short parable for our times.
A player’s relationship with his fans is a reciprocal one. In return for the hard-earned cash that many supporters expend for a seat in the stadium they expect a degree of loyalty and commitment to the cause. Nunes joined Wolves in August 2022 on a five-year contract and in his first season made 36 appearances. The highlight of his year was a wonder strike against Chelsea which sealed a vital home win in April this year that allowed Wolves to take a step closer to Premier League safety. But that aside his season was rather unremarkable. Yes, he could carry the ball at pace at opposition defenders and appeared to have a good engine, but he was poor at picking a pass and would often drift from a game. His relationship with the fans was therefore one of ambivalence. As somebody said “He’s barely been here five minutes. He’s got plenty to prove”.
However, as the 2023/24 season commenced, that ambivalence soon turned to anger when he went on strike to engineer a transfer to Manchester City - whose initial £47m bid Wolves had rejected. It was an act akin to flicking the V’s. Nunes was duly fined but money talks and on 1st September, for a reported fee of £53m, he signed a five-year contract with the reigning European and English Champions.
Thus it was that on the 30th September he found himself back at the Molineux, playing for his new club against the side that barely a month previously had been his “old” club. Odd then that the less restrained elements of the home support should give him such a miserable time. On every occasion that Nunes touched the ball he was roundly barracked with boos and verbal expletives.
There are those amongst the professional offence takers who think that such un-reconstituted abuse should be expunged from the game. It’s all about families now. White man with van not wanted. But that sentiment is wrong when white van man calls it right. They can spot a dilettante when they see one and Matheus Nunes was more than worthy of their ire. Better still their ire worked, when at half time Pep Guardiola spared him from further upset.
Which begs the question why pick him in the first place when it was odds that he would get a rough ride? And why at half time take him off because, despite the constant barracking, his first half performance was no better or worse than any of his teammates. Or has safe space ideology now crept into football.
I can imagine what Brian Clough might have said. “You’ve had a rough half lad but it’s a tough game and you’ve got the makings of being a good player. So, get out there, and show us your mettle”. Too harsh? I’m not so sure.
@Mark Brennand