Brighton Player Ratings December 2024: Baleba best of bad bunch

The Brighton December 2024 Player Ratings are here and guess what? They are pretty crap with no player managing higher than 6.47 racked up by top scorer Carlos Baleba.

Tellingly, the next three in the rankings all missed matches. Joel Veltman started only twice, Mats Wieffer just once. Matt O’Riley meanwhile was in and out of the starting XI.

December 2024 was one one of those months where to do well in the Brighton player ratings, it was beneficial to avoid playing as much as possible.

This should hardly come as a surprise. Six Premier League games, four of which were against teams in the bottom half of the table.

A Seagulls side who started out sitting pretty in fourth were meant to strength their position in the race for Europe. Some were even talking Champions League.

Brighton being Brighton, the reality proved rather different. The Albion lost to Fulham. Threw away a two goal lead to draw at Leicester City.

Were humiliated 3-1 by a Crystal Palace side Brighton were supposed to be light years ahead of. Drew with West Ham, Brentford and Aston Villa.

At least a point from Villa Park was a creditable result, coming from behind with 10 minutes remaining to draw 2-2 against hosts thriving in the Champions League this season.

But overall, four points from a possible 18 was a pretty ghastly return for Brighton from December 2024 – and here are those player ratings.

1) Carlos Baleba – 6.46

Voted WAB Brighton Player of the Month for December 2024 and completes the double by topping the player ratings. Arguably the only Albion player to give anything like a consistent set of performances with his excellent goal in the 3-1 defeat at Fulham being a highlight. How long can the Seagulls keep him at the Amex?

2) Joel Veltman – 6.27

Brighton conceded 10 goals in four December games without Veltman compared to just one in the two matches he played – including a first clean sheet in nine weeks with the shutout against Brentford. That tells you everything you need to know.

3) Mats Wieffer – 6.17

A strong showing from the bench at Leicester was followed by his best display for Brighton so far against West Ham, where he scored his first goal for the club. In what could act as a summary of the Albion’s season, he went off injured 30 seconds later and has not been seen since.

4) Matt O’Riley – 6.08

One of the more outlandish Albion related claims seen in the past month is that O’Riley and Baleba could become the best central midfield partnership in Brighton history. Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister might want a word with whoever said that. O’Riley clearly has a long way to go in matching either of those alumni, but he managed a decent December when making it onto the pitch.

5) Kaoru Mitoma – 5.78

Like Pervis Estupinan defending behind him, Mitoma looked a little jaded by the end of December. Hurzeler actually managed the situation quite well. Using the Japanese Bullet Train as an impact sub against Villa proved pivotal in helping Brighton return from the second city with a point.

6) Jan Paul van Hecke – 5.68

Bit of a poor month compared to the high standards he has set over the past year. All of which seemed to stem from Hurzeler switching to a back three at Fulham. Van Hecke subsequently found himself covering both the right sided centre back and right back areas due to receiving no defensive help from Simon Adingra, followed by a meltdown when he was substituted.

7) Bart Verbruggen – 5.55

Verbruggen made so many points-winning saves between August and November that it was always likely Brighton would start to struggle if his performances dropped off. And that is exactly what happened in December.

8) Brajan Gruda – 5.52

Made a belated full Premier League debut against Brentford and kept his place for the trip to Villa. Limited impact muddied the waters about whether his best position is out wide or as a 10.

9) Tariq Lamptey – 5.50

Did his utmost to convince Brighton he is worth a new contract with his current deal expiring in the summer. Magnificent strikes earned points against Leicester and Villa, helping Lamptey achieve the unusual fest of having two nominations in the Premier League Goal of the Month competition.

10) Joao Pedro – 5.49

Spent most of December looking disinterested other than when frequently gesturing at the Amex crowd to themselves be more interested and make noise. Pedro did though rescue what would have otherwise been a poor month for him individually with a much more lively display at Villa, setting up both Brighton goals.

11) Yankubu Minteh – 5.33

Wildly inconsistent but that is to be expected from a young winger. Netted a lovely goal at Leicester which would have proven the winner had the Albion not collapsed in such alarming fashion.

12) Pervis Estupinan – 5.32

Became progressively more knackered as December went on having been forced to play every game because of a lack of other left back options until eventually missing the Villa game. Lovely assist at Leicester for the Lamptey goal.

13) Solly March – 5.27

Brief cameo at right back against Brentford ended up being one of the highlights of December as March returned from a career threatening ACL injury requiring two surgeriess and 14 months out.

14) Lewis Dunk – 5.26

Despite Igor being voted WAB Brighton November 2024 Player of the Month, Dunk was controversially restored into the starting XI almost immediately upon his return from a calf injury. Struggled massively initially but did get better as December went on, culminating in a magnificent 70 yard pass up the pitch to set up the opening goal at Villa.

15) Georginio Rutter – 5.03

After such an impressive start to his Albion career, Rutter’s form tailed off in December. Appeared like he was both in need of a rest and missing Danny Welbeck. He and Pedro look too similar players, wanting to occupy the same spaces when one plays as a nine and the other in the 10 role in the same starting XI.

16) Yasin Ayari – 4.90

Here we are, four months into a season which most expected Ayari to spend out on loan, with £50 million of new midfield signings kind of fit and avaible. And yet he is still justifiably starting games. There is a lot to like about that.

17) Simon Adingra – 4.83

Think most Albion fans have by now realised that Adingra is a different beast playing down the left compared to the right. December was hopefully the month when Hurzeler got the message. Adingra was woeful at Fulham on the right but a real threat in a scoring performance against Villa on the left.

18) Evan Ferguson – 4.62

His goal at the end of October was meant to be the turning point sparking a return to form. But Ferguson has not really kicked on from there, partly because Hurzeler doesn’t appear to trust him. Started at Leicester and came off the bench on a couple of other occasions before disappearing with a mystery problem.

19) Danny Welbeck – 4.33

Underlined his status as the Albion’s most important player this season by missing all of December bar a brief cameo as a substitute at Leicester. The Albion have not won a single Premier League game without him.

20) Igor Julio – 4.29

Igor, Igor, Igor! Jettisoned for Dunk despite doing nothing wrong whilst standing in for the injured Albion captain. There was a certain amount of irony that Igor then made a terrible mistake to gift Leicester their equaliser at the King Power after coming off the bench.

21) Jakub Moder – 4.25

Introduced in the closing stages of the draw at Villa for his only action of December. A January departure looks inevitable with Feyenoord said to be interested in Moder.

The December 2024 Brighton Player Ratings have been formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part, make sure to follow us on Twitter or BlueSky and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.