Football League World
·29 October 2024
Football League World
·29 October 2024
FLW's Hull City fan pundit believes new signing Joao Pedro should be given a chance in the starting line-up ahead of Chris Bedia.
This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
It has been a mixed start to the season for Hull City in the Championship.
Hull narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season as they finished seventh in the table, and they made the surprise decision to sack head coach Liam Rosenior in May, replacing him with Tim Walter.
The Tigers lost a number of key players this summer, including the likes of Jacob Greaves, Jean Michael Seri, Ozan Tufan and Jaden Philogene, as well as influential loanees such as Tyler Morton, Fabio Carvalho and Liam Delap, and they brought in 17 new signings during the course of the transfer window.
Hull failed to win any of their first five league games of the season, and while they have improved significantly since then, they are now without a win in four matches after being held to a 1-1 draw by Derby County at Pride Park on Saturday.
Walter's men currently sit 15th in the table, but they are only five points from the play-off places ahead of the game against bottom side Portsmouth at the MKM Stadium this weekend.
When asked which player he believes should be starting more regularly, FLW's Hull City fan pundit Ryan Frankish said that Walter should give new signing Joao Pedro a chance in the team ahead of Chris Bedia.
Bedia joined the Tigers on loan from Union Berlin in the summer, and he has scored two goals in his first 10 appearances for the club, but he has not found the back of the net in his last four outings.
Pedro arrived at the MKM Stadium on a free transfer in September after his departure from Fenerbahce, but he has started just once for Hull so far, and Ryan believes it is the right time for Walter to make a change up front.
"It's a bit of a funny one with someone who should or shouldn't be starting because, at the minute, there's so much rotation as Tim Walter seems like he doesn't really have his best XI yet," Ryan said.
"I'd argue maybe Joao Pedro should be at the point where he's starting every game, because he's obviously got lots of experience in Serie A, and it just seems like at this point in time that's what we need, rather than Chris Bedia.
"Bedia does hold the ball up well, but we probably could have put Derby to the sword in the first half with the balls that we were putting through to cut their defence open.
"Bedia just doesn't have that know how.
"I'd probably say that either Joao Pedro should be starting or maybe even Mason Burstow should be getting a chance over Chris Bedia, just for something new.
"We seem to be breaking the lines, but then just not capitalising on that."
It is difficult to disagree with Ryan that Walter does not yet know his best starting line-up, and that is understandable given that much of Hull's transfer business was done in the final weeks of the window.
In fact, the Tigers were still signing players on free transfers after the window had closed, so it may take Walter time to figure out his preferred team.
Walter has remained loyal to Bedia for much of the season, and he has shown glimpses of his ability during the early stages of his time at the MKM Stadium, but he does need to start scoring more frequently, particularly with increased competition following Pedro's arrival.
Pedro scored just three goals in 45 games during his loan spell at Gremio last season, so it remains to be seen whether he will be able to perform at Championship level, but his overall career record is decent, and Walter will be tempted to give him a chance if Bedia's goalscoring problems continue.