WAB’s Brighton Power Rankings: November 2019
November’s WAB Power Rankings have landed. Our complicated mathematical algorithm has taken your post-game Twitter player ratings and turned them into a score out of 100, helping us to rank every player who played for Brighton over the course of the month.
And let’s be honest, it wasn’t exactly a great month. Four games, one win, three defeats. That solitary success came against Norwich City who looked doomed to relegation based on what we saw at the Amex. The losses arrived in tough fixtures against Manchester United, Leicester City and Liverpool.
Who was hot and who was not? It’s time to find out.
1) Maty Ryan (76.04 points)
An outstanding month from Maty Ryan as he adds number one spot in the Power Rankings to winning our WeAreBrighton.com November Player of the Month vote. Didn’t have much to do in the win over Norwich but the subsequent three defeats all could have been far more embarrassing with a host of impressive stops from the Socceroo – as was reflected by the fact he was voted Man-of-the-Match against both United and Leicester.
2) Davy Propper (73.64)
No lesser judge than Marco van Basten compared Davy Propper to Barcelona’s €75m midfielder Frenkie de Jong in an interview during the international break. While van Basten may have been getting slightly carried away, there was no doubting Propper’s qualities throughout November which included being the Albion’s highest rated player away at Liverpool.
3) Dale Stephens (65.10)
Four relatively solid performances lift Dale Stephens from fourth last month to third this time around. He played his 200th game for the Albion in the Leicester game, captaining the side with Lewis Dunk suspended and is currently enjoying his best season as a Premier League player.
4) Martin Montoya (63.78)
Struggled away at Old Trafford as Graham Potter’s 4-2-2-2 formation was found out by United’s wide players but good performances in the Albion’s three other games were enough to push him into fourth spot. The score of 78.88 he achieved in the Norwich game was his highest of the season.
5) Leandro Trossard (63.68)
Started the month with a bang by producing a game-winning 30 minute cameo off the bench to score one and assist another in the Norwich win, earning a rating of 86.66 in the process. He hasn’t been quite as effective in the matches that he started against United and Leicester before finding himself back on the bench for the trip to Anfield.
6) Dan Burn (63.15)
One of Brighton’s stellar performers in the opening two months of the season, the switch to a flat back four has seen Dan Burn’s early season form desert him somewhat. That should hardly come as a surprise given that he is a 6’7 centre half being asked to play as an attacking left back.
7) Neal Maupay (59.68)
It was a goalless month for the Albion’s £20m record buy. That wasn’t due to a lack of effort however – he continues to impress his work rate, constantly harrowing opposition defences and popping up in the right places. He just needs to become a little more clinical in December.
8) Lewis Dunk (59.61)
Topped the player ratings for the Norwich game and ended up scoring against both Manchester United and Liverpool. In fact, with a little more composure in front of goal, he could have a hat-trick at Anfield. He slips down the rankings however having been suspended for the visit of Leicester.
9) Steve Alzate (49.65)
Potter continues to manage young Steve Alzate’s game time carefully in his first season of Premier League football. He was excellent in the middle of the park during the Norwich game before getting a little lost at United where he started in midfield before ending up out wide. Rested for the Leicester game after international duty and had to settle for a place on the bench at Liverpool.
10) Shane Duffy (48.02)
Last season’s Player of the Year was afforded a rare opportunity to remind everyone of the qualities he possesses as injury to Adam Webster and Dunk’s suspension saw him start two and receive significant game time in one of the other November fixtures. He even managed to pop up with a goal in the victory over Norwich.
11) Pascal Gross (45.65)
Brighton’s creator-in-chief wasn’t at his best in November, although he did still manage to claim an assist for Dunk’s goal at Old Trafford despite being dropped to the bench. He remained an unused substitute against Leicester, which explains why he has tumbled down the rankings from sixth spot in October.
12) Adam Webster (42.50)
Limped off with just half an hour played in the win over Norwich, it looked like he would be on the sidelines for some time. Instead, he returned within three weeks for the Leicester game although the fact he failed to post a score above 60 in the final two fixtures of the months perhaps suggests he came back too soon.
13) Aaron Connolly (36.59)
Like Webster, Aaron Connolly suffered with injury problems throughout November, missing the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifiers as well as the home game with Leicester. Ranked highly in the Norwich game but failed to really impress as a loan striker at Anfield.
14) Yves Bissouma (23.88)
Yves Bissouma became something of a forgotten man having missed the start of the campaign after undergoing surgery on a shoulder complaint in the summer. Made his first start of the season in the defeat to Liverpool a week after he’d been a used sub in the Leicester game.
15) Solly March (11.56)
A disappointing month for Solly March who had begun the season in such flying form. He played just once, coming off the bench at Old Trafford before undergoing surgery on a groin injury which will keep him out until the new year.
16) Glenn Murray (11.56)
Brighton’s second highest-ever scorer hasn’t started a Premier League game since August. His only chance to make an impression came against United where he was introduced as a half time substitute.
17) Ezequiel Schelotto (9.16)
One brief appearance from the bench for the Greyhound in the loss to Leicester. Quite why Potter thought throwing on a right back when we were chasing a game at home was a good idea we don’t know.
To play your part in helping formulate the WAB Power Rankings for December, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
