Fulham 3-1 Brighton: Baleba best of bad bunch in player ratings
Brighton suffered what is now their annual defeat at Fulham, going down 3-1 and leaving us with what is now an annual set of awful player ratings from Craven Cottage.
Only Carlos Baleba, Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma scored over six. Fabian Hurzeler meanwhile was given a 3.5 by one Albion fan who decided to submit a head coach rating as well.
The Youngest Permanent Manager in Premier League History should probably be grateful more of you did not do that. From team selection to formation to substitutions, Hurzeler suffered a bad night at the office.
Having said after the 1-1 draw with Southampton that Brighton would not switch to a back three to fit Lewis Dunk back into the team, Brighton switched to a back three to fit Lewis Dunk back into the team.
And it was all downhill from there, really. Jan Paul van Hecke and Igor Julio were nowhere near as assured as in recent weeks. Simon Adingra is very much not a right wing back.
Resting Georginio Rutter was a mistake. There were too many central midfield players crammed into the line up for it to work.
I could go on. But that is not what we are here for. These are your Fulham 3-1 Brighton player ratings.
Bart Verbruggen – 4.83
Gifted Fulham their opening goal when passing straight to Alex Iwobi. Verbruggen recovered to play reasonably well but it was such a catastrophic mistake after only four minutes that it earns the Dutchman his lowest score of the season.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 5.33
Adingra doing so little defending meant Van Hecke effectively became a right back at times. Hauled with 20 minutes to play as Hurzeler sought to prevent him picking up a second yellow card. That was followed by Van Hecke booting the dugout in frustration.
Lewis Dunk – 5.17
First start for the Albion captain in over six weeks after a small calf injury. Hurzeler had neither the resolve to leave Dunk on the bench or drop Igor. A poor piece of decision making which needs to be rectified for Leicester away on Sunday.
Igor Julio – 5.67
Highest scoring Albion defender in the Fulham 3-1 Brighton ratings. Could have been better on the ball but that probably came from him trying to cope with playing in a back three.
Simon Adingra – 4.17
18 months into his Brighton career and we very much know Adingra is a left winger. Starting him at right wing back was just bizarre and unsurprisingly led to a poor display.
CARLOS BALEBA – 6.67
A crisp strike gave Baleba a lovely goal followed by an even lovelier celebration. Testament to the game he had that Fulham’s only answer appeared to be trying to kick him off the pitch.
Mats Wieffer – 5.67
His best match so far in a Brighton shirt, which tells you a lot about his start to life in England. Was a bit weird reading comments saying Wieffer was part of the reason the Albion lost. He was a long, long way from being an issue.
Pervis Estupinan – 5.83
Hugged the touchline at left wing back whilst Mitoma played more central ahead of him. Bizarrely seemed to be less attack-minded than when playing as an orthodox left back.
Matt O’Riley – 5.33
Looked okay on the ball and tried to thread through some dangerous passes. Unfortunate with the own goal as the corner should have been dealt with before it hit him in the back and deflected in.
Kaoru Mitoma – 6.17
Created the best first half opportunity for Brighton. Had Adingra shot anywhere but straight at Bernd Leno, Mitoma would have come away with an assist to his name.
Joao Pedro – 6.33
Tested Leno with a powerful drive on the 10 minute mark. His touch back to Baleba to layoff for the goal was delightful.
Tariq Lamptey – 5.00
Replaced Van Hecke as Brighton switched to a back four late in the day. Did not do much.
Yankubu Minteh – 5.00
Good to see him back from injury.
Evan Ferguson – 4.67
Does not bode well if Ferguson is still sitting on the bench even when Danny Welbeck is out. A January loan move starts to look more sensible by the week.
Georginio Rutter – 4.83
Rested to the bench and struggled to make an impact when he came on. A decision which will be vindicated I suppose if a refreshed Rutter stars in a win at Leicester.
Brajan Gruda – 4.83
Really needs to start a Premier League game soon so we can actually see what he is made of.
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.
