Freddie Draper
Freddie presented a slightly different question, because his development has involved working through periods of inconsistency. We have all seen early career games where he conceded unnecessary free-kicks, struggled to impose himself or didn’t quite turn his physical attributes into the performance we hoped for. The caveat, of course, is youth, but we’ve watched his development, warts and all, and something like that is never quite a straight-line thing.
In the second half of last season, however, he began to look like a much more complete centre-forward. The ability was becoming easier to recognise consistently, and there were matches where defenders simply couldn’t get to grips with him. He was outstanding in performances against Bradford and Luton, which showed how effectively he could dominate a defence. He was knocking players about, but there was intelligence behind it, with a better understanding of how to use his body and make his strength count. That was the version of Freddie I hoped we would see in the Championship. The uncertainty was whether he could immediately reproduce it against defenders who were better equipped to deal with him.
He has successfully climbed levels before, moving from the League of Ireland into League Two and then establishing himself in League One. However, that latter adjustment took time before we regularly saw the player he could become, and another settling-in period would have been understandable. Instead, he has carried the improvement straight into the Championship, which I think has been excellent. I also wonder whether working alongside James Collins helped him develop that understanding of how to use his body.
What has pleased me is that the progress we saw last season appears to have continued despite the greater challenge. Freddie looks capable of making defenders uncomfortable, giving us a presence up front and doing the work required within our system. There will still be difficult afternoons, because development rarely happens without the odd setback. Nevertheless, I had wondered how long this particular step might take, and his opening performances have been a very positive answer.
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