The WAB Brighton Power Rankings: February 2020
February 2020’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 the Albion over the course of the month – and find out who Brighton’s best player in February was.
The fact that the individual who ranked number one only achieved a score of 67.87 tells you all you need to know about the Albion’s form last month.
Three draws against West Ham United, Watford and Sheffield United were followed by a demoralising derby day defeat to Crystal Palace. Ezequiel Schelotto top scored in that game despite the fact that he didn’t make it onto the pitch.
Sadly, we’ve had to discount that rating from the overall monthly marks as otherwise it would completely skew what is obviously a very accurate and scientific process.
But yeah, that’s the kind of February it was. A bloke who was an unused substitute being voted Brighton’s best player because he made a crying gesture at Wilfried Zaha. It might be nice in March if something happens on the actual pitch to cheer.
1) Lewis Dunk (67.87 points)
Albion captain Lewis Dunk tops our ranking for Brighton’s best player in February 2020. He was the highest rated player in the creditable 1-1 draw at Sheffield United and might have achieved an even higher mark had his second half volley been on target rather than flying agonisingly over the bar. He nearly notched against Palace too, only to see Neal Maupay of all people block his thumping header on the line.
2) Davy Propper (65.04)
The constant chopping and changing that we saw in terms of staring line up from Graham Potter in February has led to accusations that Brighton’s boss doesn’t know his best team – so the fact that Davy Propper is a player who is consistently on the team sheet shows how much he is rated by the management. It was another month of silky touches and clever passes from the Dutch midfielder.
3) Maty Ryan (59.75)
Maty Ryan came under fire for goals conceded away at West Ham, Sheffield United and at home to Palace. It says much though that despite those questions, he still managed to rank as Brighton’s third best player in February. The draw at Bramall Lane was his best game, with crucial second half saves from David McGoldrick, Oliver McBurnie and John Fleck helping to secure a point.
4) Aaron Mooy (58.91)
The shiny bonce playmaker hasn’t been anywhere near as effective since completing a permanent move to the Albion from Huddersfield Town. It was his sweet free kick that led to Maupay’s equaliser at Sheffield United but other than that, the Australian international had a quiet month by the high standards he’d set for himself in the first half of the campaign.
5) Glenn Murray (58.33)
Before the trip to West Ham, it had been five long months since Glenn Murray last started a game for Brighton. With a lack of clinicalness in front of goal becoming an increasing problem and no new striker arriving in the January transfer window, Potter finally decided to turn to Murray at the London Stadium and the veteran forward rewared that decision with the Albion’s equaliser. He continued to lead the line against Watford and Sheffield United before being dropped for the visit of Palace, with Potter seemingly unaware of the outrageous goal scoring record that Murray has against his former club.
6) Ezequiel Schelotto (51.87)
The second coming of Schelotto continues. Came off the bench at West Ham to spark the turnaround from 3-1 down and was promoted to the starting line up for the next two games in which he gave a good account of himself. Given that he is out of contract come the end of the season, the Greyhound is picking a very good time to show some of the best form of his Brighton career.
7) Leandro Trossard (51.20)
Those heady days of August when Leandro Trossard was being compared in some quarters to Eden Hazard seem long gone now. Injuries haven’t helped the little Belgian winger, nor has Potter’s decision to play him more central in recent months. At least he is now getting a run of games under his belt, but it would be nice to see him popping up in wider positions where he seems to cause most damage – as we saw with that beautiful outside of the boot ball into the box which Solly March should have buried in the first half against Palace.
8) Solly March (50.87)
That aforementioned miss should haunt March for a while, which is a shame as he actually had a very good February, being rated as Brighton’s best player against both West Ham and Watford. He was only on the pitch for 18 minutes at the London Stadium, but in that time was genuinely unplayable. That theme continued when the Hornets came to the Amex. March was the Albion’s biggest attacking threat against Palace too – which made Potter’s decision to haul him midway through the second half particularly baffling.
9) Dan Burn (46.83)
Big Dan Burn made a quick recovery from a fractured collarbone, returning after only one month out when the original prognosis had been eight weeks on the sideline. Admittedly, he looked a little rusty in his first game back against Watford but went onto give solid efforts as a left wing back at Sheffield United and a traditional left back in the defeat to Palace.
10) Neal Maupay (46.83)
Nothing could separate Maupay and Burn in the scoring, so the Frenchman has to settle for 10th spot based on the fact that Burn started more games in February. This was the first time that Maupay had been dropped in his Brighton career, but he responded to the setback like all good strikers do with a goal after being recalled to the starting line up. That equaliser against Sheffield United took him onto eight for the season and he really should have added to the total when Palace came to the Amex, only to miss a couple of good opportunities.
11) Adam Webster (41.37)
No glaring mistakes from the £18 million signing from Bristol City in February but all the time that the Seagulls continue to struggle, questions will be asked about whether he is the best player to be partnering Dunk in Brighton’s relegation battle. Away from defending, he continues to carry a threat at the other end of the pitch and claimed an assist for Maupay’s equaliser at Sheffield United with a towering downwards header from Mooy’s pinpoint free kick.
12) Yves Bissouma (35.08)
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Potter started Yves Bissouma as one of his holding midfielders for the trip to Bramall Lane. An early booking did little to dispel those fears, but from that point on the Mali international gave one of his most mature displays as a Brighton player. He took that form into the Palace game, in which he topped the player ratings of those who actually made it onto the pitch.
13) Martin Montoya (28.00)
Just the two starts for Martin Montoya in February. He was part of a defence that leaked three at West Ham and then returned for the Palace game. In fairness, he managed to keep Zaha relatively quiet but there were some questions marks over the attention he paid to Christian Benteke in the build up to Jordan Ayew’s winner.
14) Pascal Gross (27.70)
The stats say that Pascal Gross remains one of the best chance creators per minutes on the pitch outside of the Premier League’s big six this season. He scored and claimed an assist away at West Ham, had a quieter game against Watford and has since been unceremoniously dropped. It seems odd for a side desperate for goals to disregard their most creative player at a crucial time in the season.
15) Bernardo (14.37)
Another player to have been harshly treated last month was Bernardo, whose only appearance of the month came in the draw at West Ham. He topped our WAB January 2020 Power Rankings as Brighton’s best player of the month, hardly putting a foot wrong while Burn was out injured – yet as soon as Burn was fit again in February, Bernardo was straight back onto the bench.
16) Dale Stephens (13.75)
Just the one appearance in February for Dale Stephens against West Ham before injury ruled him out of the Watford game. Potter preferred to use Bissouma in the holding role for the Sheffield United and Palace game, a decision which pleased the many Stephens detractors out there.
17) Alireza Jahanbakhsh (13.25)
A couple of cameo performances off the bench was all we saw of Alrieza Jahanbakhsh. One of those was important as it was his low cross into the box which caused Watford’s Adrian Mariappa to score a wonderful and inexplicable own goal at the Amex.
18) Steve Alzate (12.5)
Potter’s use of Steve Alzate gets more bizarre by the month. Alzate started every game in January, finishing second in our WAB Power Rankings in the process. It looked like a breakthrough month for the Colombian international, and yet in February his only meaningful game time came as a substitute in the draw with Watford. It’s very clear that he is a player of considerable talents, so why is Potter so erratic in terms of using him?
19) Aaron Connolly (10.00)
A more understandable selection decision is Potter’s reduction in the amount of action being seen by Aaron Connolly. He didn’t start once in February and remains without a goal since that barnstorming full debut brace against Tottenham Hotspur in October – which just goes to prove how difficult the step up from Development Squad football to the Premier League really is.
To play your part in helping formulate the WAB Power Rankings for March, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
