Brighton 1-5 Everton: Subs the only positives in low player ratings
A telling sign of how bad the Albion were in their heaviest home defeat for three years comes from the Brighton 1-5 Everton player ratings, where the four highest scoring Seagulls were substitutes.
Solly March led the way followed by Evan Ferguson, Julio Enciso and Billy Gilmour. March, Ferguson and Enciso were all half time introductions, part of a quadruple change made at the break by Roberto De Zerbi with the Seagulls trailing 3-0.
Gilmour only took over from the injured March for the final 12 minutes, making his fourth place both impressive whilst at the same time being even more damning of the rest of his teammates.
De Zerbi’s mass switch of personnel during half time suggested the head coach had got his starting XI wrong. Fortunately for everyone’s favourite Italian, WAB are yet to stretch to manager ratings.
There seems little point in picking over the bones too much, so we will just crack on with the Brighton 1-5 Everton ratings – with a special thanks to those who contributed witty comments alongside their scores. Gallows humour is the best type of humour, don’t you think?
Jason Steele – 3.42
Four days after topping the player ratings for his clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Manchester United and being touted for England, there were calls for De Zerbi to recall Robert Sanchez. Such is the life of a goalkeeper. Should have done better with Everton’s fourth and fifth, although the own goal was probably down to misfortune more than an error.
Pascal Gross – 4.25
Rafa Benitez devised a game plan when Everton won 2-0 at the Amex last season which involved exploiting the flanks and Sean Dyche followed suit this time around. Too often Gross was caught forward and that allowed the in-form Dwight McNeil to run riot on his way to two goals and two assists.
Adam Webster – 3.92
Hauled at half time as part of De Zerbi’s attempts to get Brighton back into the game. Was completely unaware of Abdoulaye Doucoure arriving into the box to open the scoring after 34 seconds and that set the tone for his 45 minutes on the pitch.
Lewis Dunk – 3.92
A night to forget for the Albion captain as he was totally outplayed by Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Everton striker was able to turn Dunk far too easily and escape into 30 yards of open space to set up the first goal. Dunk was then made to look equally foolish when McNeil skipped past his attempted sliding tackle for the fourth.
Pervis Estupinan – 4.33
Witnessing the problems Everton were causing on the break down the opposite flank, Estupinan checked some of his natural attacking tendencies. This was just as well as he had a tough time dealing with Alex Iwobi.
Alexis Mac Allister – 5.83
The highest scoring member of the starting XI in the Brighton 1-5 Everton player ratings. Best of a bad bunch in the first half and was at the heart of most of the Albion’s good opportunities after the break. Hit the bar with a header and then scored his 10th goal of the campaign when Kaoru Mitoma’s pull back into the box fortuitously hit him in the back of the head to deflect beyond Jordan Pickford.
Moises Caicedo – 5.00
For perhaps the first time this season, Caicedo found himself overrun in midfield. That is a credit to Dyche and Everton as much as it was to do with a poor Albion performance.
Facundo Buonanotte – 3.42
His tendency to drift into central positions left the middle of the park congested and denied Brighton the width March provides. Never looked like he wanted to get forward, frequently opting for a safe pass backwards and lost possession on a couple of occasions after being outmuscled.
Deniz Undav – 3.33
Undav and Danny Welbeck switching between leading the line and dropping in as a 10 worked gloriously in the 6-0 win over Wolves. Less so here, with Undav totally ineffective and replaced at half time. Such a shame as the previous two games had seen him developing confidence after a difficult debut season in English football so far.
Kaoru Mitoma – 5.42
Mitoma was the only player who looked capable of making anything happen for Brighton in the first half before fading after the break. Some Albion fans believe his dribbling thesis has been worked out by Premier League full backs. More likely is that he is just knackered.
Danny Welbeck – 3.50
Might have done better with an early header in what proved to be his only sight of goal. Even his hold up play which is normally exemplary was off and it was no surprise he was substituted for Ferguson at the break.
Levi Colwill – 5.17
Did a better job on Calvert-Lewin in the second half than Dunk had managed when taking over marking duties following his introduction as left sided centre back.
SOLLY MARCH – 7.17
Gave Brighton more width and turned them into a far greater attacking threat after replacing Buonanotte. His withdrawal with what looked like a serious hamstring injury was the cherry on top of a dreadful evening, especially if it means his outstanding campaign is at a premature end.
Julio Enciso – 6.42
The Toffees defence had much more to think about with Enciso scheming at number 10. Another decent display in what is proving to be a breakthrough period for the 19-year-old.
Evan Ferguson – 6.83
Without the brilliance of Pickford, he would have had two goals. The difference Ferguson made in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch just highlights what an important player he is to Brighton despite being only 18.
Billy Gilmour – 5.92
Outscored 12 of his Albion teammates in just 12 minutes work. A special mention to the Albion fan who added to his scoring of Gilmour the caveat: “I had left the ground before he came on”.
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.
