Brighton Player Ratings March 2024
Two players who delivered the goods at opposite ends of the pitch were the star turns in the March 2024 Brighton Player Ratings.
Leading the way was Bart Verbruggen, who became the first Albion goalkeeper to record back-to-back clean sheets this season with his shutouts in the 1-0 wins over Nottingham Forest and Roma.
In doing so, Verbruggen appears to have finally ended Roberto De Zerbi’s much-maligned policy of rotating between the Dutchman and Jason Steele.
Just 0.02 points behind Verbruggen came Danny Welbeck. Dat Guy was the only Brighton player to score a goal in March, banging in the winner against Roma before going onto give the Seagulls a shock lead after 85 seconds away at Liverpool.
The Albion’s only other goal of the month was provided by Forest defender Andrew Omobamidele heading into his own net, without which Brighton would have failed to beat the struggling Tricky Trees at the Amex.
That was indicative of a disappointing month in which the Albion were eliminated from the Europa League and their Premier League form sketchy enough to leave qualification for another crack at Europe in doubt.
Here are your March 2024 Brighton Player Ratings.
Bart Verbruggen – 7.00
His consecutive clean sheets came after Jason Steele had conceded seven times in two matches against Fulham and Roma. Verbruggen then followed up with some excellent saves in defeat at Liverpool, as well as impressing on international duty for the Netherlands against Germany.
Danny Welbeck – 6.98
Welbz is Dat Guy. Two high-quality goals against very good opponents in Roma and Liverpool, the latter coming on his 100th appearance for the Albion. With his contract set to expire in the summer, Brighton need to get Welbeck tied down to a new deal ASAP.
Carlos Baleba – 6.79
Having shown flashes of potential so far this season, March felt like something of a breakthrough month for Baleba as he soared into third spot in the Brighton player ratings. The best Albion player on the pitch in the Forest win and also impressed against Liverpool, just as he had in the 2-2 draw against the Redmen earlier in the season.
Tariq Lamptey – 6.57
With both Pervis Estupinan and Joel Veltman struggling a bit for form, Lamptey propelled himself to first choice full back in March. He was arguably the only Brighton player to come out of the 4-0 defeat in Rome with any credit and went onto play reasonably well in the return leg.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 6.48
Van Hecke was voted March 2024 WAB Brighton Player of the Month but only sits fifth in the player ratings list. Moonlighted as a midfielder in the 3-0 loss to Fulham but his best performance of the month came when keeping Darwin Nunez quiet at Anfield.
Lewis Dunk – 6.33
There is something about Craven Cottage which seemingly turns Dunk to jelly. No doubt he was sick of the sight of Romelu Lukaku by the end of the month as well, the powerful forward having given Dunk a torrid time in both the Albion’s defeat in Rome and England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium at Wembley.
Pascal Gross – 6.31
We already know that when Gross is out of form, Brighton tend to be out of form. March though really hammered home that fact, Der Kaiser only registering one assist when his corner led Forest’s Omobamidele to score that lovely own goal.
Adam Lallana – 6.23
Involvement in four matches out of five made March one of the most active months of Lallana’s 2023-24 season. Brought a calm head and control to the Roma home game whilst his introduction against Forest helped Brighton see out the three points in unusually gritty fashion.
Simon Adingra – 6.15
Looked increasingly tired as the month wore on. Not really surprising given he has been overworked as one of the only fit wingers available to De Zerbi and went off to win an international tournament in the middle of the campaign.
Jakub Moder – 6.13
One of the biggest question marks over Moder since his return from injury is where exactly he fits into the current Albion setup. If March was anything to go by, the answer to that is playing as a number 10. Gave a fine performance against Forest which included putting Omobamidele under pressure for the own goal and then claimed the assist for Welbeck’s stunner at Liverpool.
Joel Veltman – 6.05
Not his best month as part of the backline who shipped three against Fulham and then being slightly culpable when Luis Diaz equalised for Liverpool. On the plus side, helped Brighton to a clean sheet in the Forest victory.
Facundo Buonanotte – 5.99
Found himself back on the bench for most of March after several months of improving performances. His sole start came in Rome, where he was one of the better players. Not that it is saying much.
Ansu Fati – 5.81
Time is fast running out for Fati to justify the rumoured weekly wage upwards of £160,000 which Brighton have been paying him in the 2023-24 season. His best performances have been saved for the Europa League and that was again the case in March with him looking more comfortable against Roma than he did in any Premier League fixture.
Julio Enciso – 5.77
Enciso was on the end of some wild criticism for a bloke coming off the back of a six month layoff with a meniscus injury, especially after the Roma away leg. He needs time and patience to rediscover form after such a long time out.
Pervis Estupinan – 5.52
Looks a very different player from the swashbuckling left back who took the Premier League by storm last season, convincing in neither defence or attack. Roma at home was a rare recent bright spot.
Igor Julio – 5.42
It has been pretty obvious since De Zerbi started experimenting with a back three that Igor is the defender most ill-suited to such a formation. Exhibit 213 came in the Stadio Olimpico on what proved to be his only start of March.
Evan Ferguson – 5.34
The goal drought goes on but whereas before Ferguson was at least getting into good positions for sights of goals, now he is not even involved having chances. Brighton do at least stand a good chance of keeping him into next season now, which will be a good thing as he surely rediscovers some form by then…
Billy Gilmour – 5.02
A combination of Premier League suspension followed by injury meant Gilmour only played both games against Roma in March. Overrun in midfield in the away fixture before an improved showing in the home match.
Jason Steele – 3.48
The bizarre thing about the seven goals Steele conceded in his two appearances were that he could not actually do much about any of them. There can be no doubt, however, that the defence looks tighter with Verbruggen playing regularly and that should mean Steele having to settle for number two duties for the foreseeable future.
Adam Webster – 2.55
Responsible for Fulham’s opening goal as the Albion were hammered at Craven Cottage and not seen since. A good servant for Brighton but one whom the Albion seem to have outgrown.
The March 2024 Brighton Player Ratings have been formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
