The 2020/21 campaign was Ryan Schofield’s breakthrough season at Huddersfield Town.
An injury to Ben Hamer in November 2020 presented him with an opportunity to make a name for himself to become the new permanent number one. Being thrown in the deep end as a young goalkeeper may not of been the best way for him to develop, many suggesting he needed to be bedded in to the first-team but with limited options Carlos Corberan didn’t have much choice. Plus Schofield may argue he was ready after his loan spells previously.
At the beginning of his first substantial run of games, he managed to keep four clean sheets in his first six with him time and time again making fantastic saves to keep Huddersfield Town in matches. Having not had much protection from his defenders in the previous season this provides an example of just how good Schofield can be.
As the season went on however, he was starting to struggle. Costly mistakes led to criticism from fans which affected seemingly hit his confidence, while injuries to key men in midfield and defence compounded the issue. And yet, it would be unfair to pin all the blame on the former Notts County loanee, who also made some crucial saves.
When the season started we began with a Carabao Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday, with Nicholls really making a big impression and his heroics in the penalty shootout was outstanding to send the Terriers through to the next round. But unfortunately he tested positive for COVID-19 afterwards which let Schofield back in.
This was Schofield’s chance to prove himself but unfortunately, he struggled to find any kind of form making some costly mistakes and looked very shaky with his confidence seemingly very low. Having signed Nicholls he was ready to push Schofield which he did. Originally when signing him it was thought Nicholls would be played in cup competitions only, and be very much a bit part player.
Now Schofield finds himself on the bench once more and, at his age, he needs to be playing regular games. He is unlikely to get that game time at Huddersfield so the best option now would be to send him out on loan to get some more experience and rebuild his confidence. He certainly has a place at Huddersfield in the long term, but for now he needs to find form elsewhere.
