Hull City fans during the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and Blackburn Rovers at the MKM Stadium, Hull. Picture by Matt Wilkinson/Focus Images Ltd 07814 960751 29/12/2023
Hull City could solve midfield answer with Bayer Leverkusen gem
Hull City’s inconsistent beginning to the campaign continued on Sunday afternoon at the hands of Sunderland.
As much as the encounter at the MKM Stadium wasn’t without its fair share of controversial flashpoints, the Tigers can take some heart from their performance, matching the league leaders for the majority of what was, in truth, a low-key encounter.
In the opening two months of his tenure at the club, Tim Walter hasn’t been afraid to ring the changes across his matchday squads – a theme which continued after a large proportion of his squad were involved in a 2-0 friendly success over Corendon Alanyaspor on 11th October.
And, it would be fair to say that after a period of aclimatising to the rigours of English football, Colombian midfielder, Gustavo Puerta, has started his City career by making a notable impression on supporters.
Gustavo Puerta got off to a solid Championship start in Sunderland encounter
Featuring 10 times for Bayer Leverkusen in a season which saw them crowned Bundesliga and DFB Pokal champions as well as UEFA Europa League runners-up to Atalanta in May, showcases the high potential at the South American’s disposal.
It could have seemed like a baptism of fire to some, that Walter opted to select Puerta over the likes of Oscar Zambrano and Regan Slater against the Black Cats, who had been free-flowing going forward, whilst boasting a midfield which possesses a vast number of differing skill-sets when looking at the likes of Luke O’Nien, Jobe Bellingham, Chris Rigg and Dan Neil.
Hull’s key dilemma pre-international break was how exposed the midfield trio of Zambrano and Slater alongside Marvin Mehlem had been in the 4-0 drubbing at Norwich, with a similar pattern playing out in parts of the 3-1 victory at QPR earlier in the month.
