West Ham 1-1 Brighton: Wieffer King of pre-Christmas ratings

Mats Wieffer scoring his first Brighton goal and topping the player ratings in 1-1 draw at West Ham United is a prime example of why you should never write off a footballer until you have six to 12 months of solid evidence.

The Dutch midfielder struggled initially with the pace and ferociousness of the Premier League. And that was before you even took into account him cocking up that four-on-one against Wolves back in October as the Albion squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2.

But since that dire afternoon at the Amex, he has got better with every game. His performance at the London Stadium was the undoubted highlight of what was otherwise a disappointing result as Brighton failed to take the chances, culminating in more dropped points against poor opponents in the bottom seven of the league table.

Typically, Wieffer left the action injured immediately after scoring. He may well have hurt himself knee sliding to celebrate his goal.

Maybe the email sent out by the club warning supporters over ‘surging’ and bad behaviour when celebrating the ball hitting the back of the net would have been better directed at the players?

Here are your West Ham 1-1 Brighton player ratings.

Bart Verbruggen – 6.00

Might have done better with the West Ham equaliser when he parried a Jarrod Bowen shot back into the danger zone for Mohammed Kudus to head into the empty net. Any blame for the goal was, however, removed with a brilliant full length save to deny the Hammers a late winner.

Joel Veltman – 6.00

Christmas came early for Albion fans everywhere with Veltman returning to the starting XI after injury. Defence looked tighter with him in it having shipped nine goals in four games in his absence.

Jan Paul van Hecke – 6.00

Enduring a bit of a bad run of form which you can trace back to his tantrum after being substituted away at Fulham. His poor clearing header set the wheels in motion for the Hammers goal. It is always nice though to see an Albion defender wearing a headband in tribute to Steve Foster – even if, in the case of Van Hecke, this was enforced after Carlos Baleba kicked him in the head.

Lewis Dunk – 6.33

Dunk needed at least a semi-convincing performance to quieten the clamour for Igor Julio to take his spot in the starting XI. Defensively, he gave that. He also played a big role in Wieffer’s goal by challenging Luaksz Fabianski from a Pervis Estupinan cross into the box.

Pervis Estupinan – 5.56

Let Kudus head home virtually unchallenged despite being stood right next to the one-time Brighton transfer target after Verbruggen parried. Struggled with Bowen for the most part and should probably consider himself lucky not to have been shown a red card for a terrible late tackle.

Carlos Baleba – 6.67

Buzzed around effectively with what looked like new-found freedom from the assurance of having Wieffer alongside him. Played a couple of delightful passes.

MATS WIEFFER – 7.67

Feyenoord fans could scarcely believe their club had sold Wieffer for just £25 million and those claims looked justified as he topped the West Ham 1-1 Brighton ratings. The goal came from superb technique, calmly volleying into an empty net. That the home side equalised within six minutes of Wieffer departing tells you how important was the job he did screening the back four.

Brajan Gruda – 5.44

Has had to wait patiently for a full Premier League debut. Some encouraging moments on the right but it is an open question as to whether this is his best position.

Georginio Rutter – 5.11

Him and Joao Pedro playing centrally in the same starting XI is yet to work. Both want to sit in the 10 role and occupy the same spaces, leaving Brighton with no focal point in attack and giving opposition defences the chance to push 10 yards further up the pitch.

Kaoru Mitoma – 5.89

Generally lively. Produced one quite incredible first touch during the first half and an equally incredible miss in the second, failing to get enough contact on a Yankubu Minteh ball flashed across the face of goal.

Joao Pedro – 5.67

Always looked capable of playing as a number nine under Roberto De Zerbi. For whatever reason, it is yet to work with Fabian Hurzeler at the helm. Second game in a row he disappeared down the tunnel without clapping the Albion support. If that is the sort of thing which gets your goat.

Yasin Ayari – 5.22

Needs to work on his finishing. Missed a good chance in the final 10 minutes, as he had at Arsenal in August when putting a shot too close to David Raya with the entire goal to aim at.

Julio Enciso – 6.22

Perhaps unfortunate not to start after his performance from the bench six days earlier against Palace. Another lively showing, suggesting Brighton should probably keep him rather than sell or loan in January.

Yankubu Minteh – 6.11

The Albion fashioned all their scoring opportunities with Minteh on the pitch and he was heavily involved in most. If Mitoma had managed to do something as simple as tap a cross six yards out into an empty goal, he would have an assist to his name.

Tariq Lamptey – 5.78

Not far away from claiming a late winner when Aaron Wan-Bissaka bravely cleared off the line.

Evan Ferguson – 5.11

Offered a focal point to the attack which had been sorely missing, giving the West Ham centre backs something to think about. Missed two chances which is presumably why you lot have scored him so low but his presence opened up space for others in that frantic final 10. With Danny Welbeck set to miss the Brentford game injured, Ferguson should start against the Bees.

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.