The Good, The Bad, and The Average #1: NUFC player ratings vs. Southampton (h) [PL1]

Welcome to a brand-new season of player ratings from the gang here at NUFCFEED! And welcome to a brand-new style of player rating article, as we bring you ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Average’.

We’re a bit slow off the mark with this one as we were at the game and then on the beers (and burgers, shoutout to Meat Stack’s latest monthly special!) yesterday, but we were sober as judges during the 90 minutes, we promise.

We’ve since watched all the highlights we can find, read numerous match reports, and checked out all the major stats sites to bring you what we believe are the most accurate, well-researched NUFC player ratings in the business.

As well as a new style for this season, we’ll also be rating Eddie Howe to see how our head coach stacks up from a tactical and team management perspective on a game-by-game basis.

Finally, we’re also going to be dishing out a score to whichever hapless match official we’re assigned, with Craig Pawson getting the boys in black/blue/orange/yellow off to a truly rotten start.

So, without any further ado, let’s dive into ‘The Good’ to get 2024/25 off to a positive start…

Owen Humphreys | PA Images

The Good

We have to begin with Joelinton, don’t we? Though labelling his performance as merely being ‘good’ is rather harsh! He was a titan and seemed to take it upon himself to drag us to victory after the red card, following some words of encouragement from Jason Tindall on the sideline. What a touch and finish for his goal it was too, he’s always better in front of goal when he doesn’t have time to think.

Nosso novo capitão, Bruno Guimarães—NUFCFEED’s highest-rated player last season—backed his compatriot up ably in the midfield, winning some vital (and soft) free kicks in the dying seconds to see us over the line. He also made a game-leading six tackles and won a game-leading 12 duels.

It’s hard to separate Dan Burn and Emil Krafth, too, with the big man from Blyth again excellent at centre-back where he just looks far more comfortable. Krafth was thrown into a difficult situation and performed as reliably as ever, putting his body on the line numerous times.

Nick Pope, Tino Livramento, Sean Longstaff, Alexander Isak, and Lloyd Kelly all put in good shifts as well. Pope’s handling was top-drawer, with his kicking better than usual, with Livramento defending strongly up against constant overloads down his side after the sending-off.

Longstaff got through the fabled ‘power of work’ and made the most satisfying tackle of the afternoon, while Isak ran himself into the ground and got the vital assist for the winning goal. Kelly shored things up at the back in the last 25 minutes and can be very pleased with his debut.

Finally, we have to credit gaffer Eddie Howe here as well. Although the first half-hour wasn’t at all impressive, his decision to stay brave and play 4-3-2 with ten men paid off. The display was reminiscent of his first half-season at the club and we’ll take a grubby 1-0 any day of the week.

Lee Smith | Action Images

The Bad

We have to start with the arrogant, preening Craig Pawson here. The decision to send off Schär aside, he had no control over the game and allowed the Saints players to take liberties. Downes and Smallbone committed eight fouls between them without receiving a yellow card. The red card only came because the referee failed to stop the game quickly enough for a foul on Guimarães, too.

Unfortunately, Anthony Gordon was a low point on an otherwise remarkable afternoon at St James’, with a performance that either displayed a lack of match sharpness, a lack of motivation, or a little bit of both. Nothing he tried came off and his body language was disappointing at times, with numerous moans at his teammates and flaps of the arms.

Fabian Schär put us in deep trouble with his crazy decision to go head-to-head with 'Chilean' cheat Brereton-Diaz, though we’ll never accept that he should have been given an early bath. That moment aside, he looked flat-footed on a couple of occasions, though his passing was typically good.

This wasn’t a great advert for Lewis Hall’s credentials as our starting left-back this season either. The 19-year-old was sloppy in possession, struggled in one-on-one situations against his winger, and picked up an early yellow card. That sliding clearance off the line was a thing of beauty, though.

Lee Smith | Action Images

The Average

Southampton themselves take the crown in this section. They were competitive and played some tidy football in deep positions—McCarthy’s hilarious pre-assist for Joelinton aside—but no team with Armstong, Aribo, and Brereton Diaz as a front three is going to score enough goals to stay in this division.

Jacob Murphy didn’t have much time to impact the game in his 30-minute ‘cameo’—as dubbed by Callum Wilson when welcoming the winger back to the changing room after the win—and was sacrificed for Krafth following Schär’s dismissal. Harvey Barnes had even fewer minutes with 25 but lost the ball four times from five touches.

The Breakdown

Finally, for fans of the classic style, here’s our full list of ratings from Pope through to Pawson:

The XI

Nick Pope – 7

Tino Livramento – 7

Fabian Schär – 4

Dan Burn – 8

Lewis Hall – 5

Sean Longstaff – 7

Bruno Guimarães (c) – 8

Joelinton – 9 ⭐

Jacob Murphy – 6

Alexander Isak – 7

Anthony Gordon – 4

The Subs

Emil Krafth – 8

Harvey Barnes – 6

Lloyd Kelly – 7

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 7

The Opposition

Southampton – 5

The Ref

Craig Pawson – 2

See you next time for Bournemouth (A), one of our least favourite hunting grounds in the Premier League!