WAB’s Brighton Power Rankings: October 2019
Welcome to the newest feature on WeAreBrighton.com – the WAB Power Rankings. Each month, we’re going to attempt to rank every Albion player’s performances using a complicated mathematical algorithm to give them a score out of 100.
Okay, it isn’t actually that complicated. Over on Twitter, we’ve been asking for your player ratings out of 10 after every game.
All of those rankings have been poured into Excel, that little Paperclip has done the maths (Rachel Riley was sadly unavailable) and so we’re able to grade the Seagulls’ efforts based on the scores that WAB readers have given them.
This in turn offers a much more scientific look at who has been the Albion’s best performer than our Player of the Month polls as, rather than asking supporters to pick their best performer at the end of the month, it’s based on post-game analysis in the aftermath of every fixture .
That’s the theory anyway – and it should stop the sort of farcical scenes we saw when Ryan Babel, a man who doesn’t even play for Brighton, was the overwhelming winner of our April 2019 award for scoring the goal which effectively sent Cardiff City down instead of us last season.
So without further ado, here are the WAB Power Rankings for October.
1) Lewis Dunk (77.55 points)
What more does Lewis Dunk have to do to catch the eye of Gareth Southgate? The Albion captain was in imperious form in October, even claiming a superb assist for Aaron Connolly’s second goal against Tottenham Hotspur in a game in which he marked Harry Kane out of proceedings.
2) Neal Maupay (74.64)
Brighton’s record signing took his tally to the season for four with two goals in October. The first was a real poacher’s finish against Spurs after Hugo Lloris’ calamitous error and the second was a coolly dispatched penalty past Jordan Pickford in the win over Everton. He was the second highest-ranked Albion player in that game.
3) Maty Ryan (74.44)
There have been some pretty vocal critics of Maty Ryan so far this season, but his third place in the rankings proves that he continues to deliver consistently good performances. His goal was under significant pressure for large parts of the Everton game and he made some crucial saves in the defeat at Aston Villa.
4) Dale Stephens (74.38)
Another consistent performer was Dale Stephens. He was just 0.06 points away from a top three finish having thrived in the new 4-2-2-2 formation that Graham Potter deployed throughout October.
5) Adam Webster (72.16)
Scored his first Brighton goal away at Villa Park and he ended that game in the Midlands as the Albion’s highest ranked player. That was enough to push him into the dizzy heights of fifth in this month’s chart, having achieved average scores against Spurs and Everton.
6) Pascal Gross (71.96)
The German playmaker was involved in three goals in October. He scored a fantastic free kick against Everton, delivered a perfect delivery onto the head of Webster away at Villa and swung over the cross which Lloris fumbled for Maupay’s opener against Spurs.
7) Aaron Connolly (71.08)
The Irish forward marked his full Premier League debut in style, scoring a brilliant brace against Spurs. That saw him achieve the highest match rating of October by some distance. Unfortunately, being the sacrificial lamb in Potter’s half time tactical reshuffle following Aaron Mooy’s red card at Villa has severely affected his overall score to leave him seventh in the chart.
8) Dan Burn (68.17)
Following his barnstorming start to the campaign, Big Dan Burn hasn’t looked anywhere near as comfortable at left back as he did on the left side of a back three. Enjoyed a particularly torrid time of it against Everton’s Theo Walcott.
9) Martin Montoya (62.67)
Just like Burn on the left, Martin Montoya had his own struggles on the right and was the lowest ranked player in that Everton game – a sign perhaps that while 4-2-2-2 might be leading to an upturn in results at home, it’s leaving the Albion’s full backs woefully exposed.
10) Steve Alzate (50.19)
The young midfielder gave two hugely encouraging performances against Spurs and Everton, being the third highest scoring player in the win over the Toffees. All that makes Potter’s decision to drop him away at Villa appear even harsher than it did at the time.
11) Davy Propper (45.58)
Having missed the Spurs game through injury, the handsome Dutchman was instantly restored to the starting line up against Villa in place of Alzate. He finished third in the player ratings that day but struggled to make an impact against Everton, which is why he finds himself so far down the rankings.
12) Aaron Mooy (38.71)
Brighton’s second-best player against Spurs followed up that performance by getting sent off after less than 30 minutes at Villa. A mixed bag for the Aussie.
13) Leandro Trossard (26.66)
Played for just 24 minutes all month and yet that was enough for him to top the ratings for the Everton win. Based on that cameo, had he been fit and firing for the whole of October then he’d probably have beaten Dunk to top spot.
14) Shane Duffy (62.30)
After being dropped for the first time in his Albion career at the end of August, last season’s Player of the Year had another frustrating month with his only game time coming as a 70th minute replacement for Montoya against Villa.
15) Solly March (19.74)
Like Duffy, Solly March’s only minutes came at Villa Park. His hopes of making an impression weren’t helped by the fact that he ended the game as a lone striker, a role that he can’t have fulfilled many – or more likely, any – other times in his career.
16) Ezequiel Schelotto (18.88)
Bottom spot for the Greyhound but that he is even on the list is something of an achievement given what he’s been through in the past 18 months. His Brighton career looked all but over after Chris Hughton cast him aside a year ago and he then did his ACL on loan at Chievo in January. Good to have you back, Galgo.
To play your part in helping formulate the WAB Power Rankings for November, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
