Fulham 3-0 Brighton: Van Hecke tops ratings in new role

When the Albion starting XI was announced for the trip to Craven Cottage, it appeared as though Roberto De Zerbi had been hitting the grappa a little too early. But if the Fulham 3-0 Brighton player ratings are anything to go by, one of his more bizarre selection decisions actually worked.

Jan Paul van Hecke was the only Seagull to score a six or above, having found himself pushed into midfield from his usual centre back berth.

Some wondered before kick off whether De Zerbi was attempting to send a message to Tony Bloom. The Albion head coach has not been shy in stating his opinion that Brighton needed to sign a central midfielder in the January transfer window.

With Billy Gilmour suspended, Jakub Moder coming back from long-term injury and Pascal Gross rested with one eye on Thursday night in Rome, was De Zerbi selecting Van Hecke out-of-position for point proving reasons?

If he was, then De Zerbi may have inadvertently stumbled across an in-house solution to his lack of midfielders problem.

Van Hecke ended up being one of the few positives from defeat to the Cottagers, adding another feather to a bow impressive enough to have calls increasing by the week for him to be included in the Dutch squad for Euro 2024.

Aside from Van Hecke, the rest of De Zerbi’s selection gambles did not pay off. The concept of rotating goalkeepers came in for more criticism, a back three once again delivered a shaky defensive showing and continued faith in Adam Webster and Pervis Estupinan proved misplaced.

It all makes for a pretty sorry set of Fulham 3-0 Brighton player ratings. Which we can all forget about when De Zerbi’s resting and rotation at Craven Cottage proves to be a stroke of genius in terms of getting a result against Roma, right?

Jason Steele – 5.00
Judging by some of the reaction on social media, you could have been forgiven for thinking Steele was at fault for all three goals and slapped national treasure Judie Dench around the face for good measure. In reality, there was nothing he could do to prevent Fulham running riot.

Joel Veltman – 5.63
Mr 7/10 was more like Mr 5.5/10 which kind of summed the Albion up. Didn’t anything wrong but didn’t really do anything right either.

Lewis Dunk – 5.75
Let Rodrigo Muniz get across him too easily to head home a Harry Wilson cross for the second goal. Did okay otherwise in the hour he spent on the pitch before De Zerbi hauled him with one eye very much on Rome.

Adam Webster – 4.25
The other Brighton player to be panned on social media following the 3-0 defeat to Fulham, although him scoring bottom of the player ratings suggests some of the criticism was at least warranted. Attempted side header to Pervis Estupinan gifted the Cottagers possession for their opener and he was then led on something of a merry dance by Wilson when attempting to retrieve the situation.

Tariq Lamptey – 4.88
Five consecutive Premier League starts now for Lamptey was about the only good thing you could say of his contribution. Was not really helped in that regard by a lack of service before being substituted at the break.

JAN PAUL VAN HECKE – 6.00
Did enough to suggest he could be a square peg in round hole midfield solution again in the future. It seems to be a recurring theme that whenever the Albion are quite crap, he thrives in the ratings as one of the better players. A good trait to have, being able to maintain performance levels when everyone around you is flailing.

Carlos Baleba – 5.75
To pick up a yellow card after seven minutes is pretty impressive – and underlines why De Zerbi does not trust Baleba to play regular minutes quite yet. The way he carried the ball forward and broke up Fulham attacks though underlines his rich potential. He could be some player in two to three years time for Brighton.

Pervis Estupinan – 4.88
Webster copped most of the blame for the opening goal as the boo boys’ current favourite but Estupinan was at least 25 percent responsible. No idea what has happened to him in recent weeks but it isn’t good.

Adam Lallana – 5.75
Having spent much of the past three months on the bench, Lallana gave a timely reminder of what he can still offer whilst retirement talk is in the air. Created some of the best chances Brighton mustered when teeing up Evan Ferguson for a one-on-one and picking out Julio Enciso with a fine cross.

Julio Enciso – 5.75
A lively figure on his first start since August following surgery on a meniscus injury. Provided a couple of rare bright spots in the first half, although De Zerbi should probably remind the Paraguayan he does not necessarily need to try and do everything himself.

Evan Ferguson – 4.88
Poked a Lallana flick just wide of goal and then put a one-on-one a little too close to Bernd Leno which the offside flag would have ruled it out anyway. The goal drought extends to a 19th game but at least he is getting in shooting positions rather than being totally anonymous.

Simon Adingra – 5.38
Struggled to threaten the Fulham defence too much aside from a couple of probing runs following his half time introduction.

Ansu Fati – 4.88
Another who has attracted the ire of the boo boys in recent weeks. Not terrible but certainly not living up to the sky high expectations surrounding a Barcelona wonderkid who the Albion have apparently broken their wage structure to sign for one year. His best performances this season have admittedly come in Europe, suggesting he may not be suited to the Premier League. Proving that point in Rome would be particularly welcome.

Facundo Buonanotte – 5.50
Decent cameo in which he came closer than any other Albion player to scoring with an effort which struck the post.

Pascal Gross – 5.63
Racks up the fifth highest score in the Fulham 3-0 Brighton ratings for his work as a substitute. Just don’t mention the fact it was a Gross Turn which went wrong that led to the Cottagers scoring their third…

Jakub Moder – 5.13
The game had long since been over by the time Moder made his bow.

The WAB Player Ratings are formulated using marks out of 10 given by Brighton fans via Twitter. To have your scores included, follow We Are Brighton on Twitter and look out for the player rating thread after each game.