The Good, The Bad, and The Average #10: NUFC player ratings vs. Brighton (h) [PL8]

Our toys aren't quite out of the pram yet, but they're teetering on the edge. 2024/25 is shaping up to be another frustrating season for Newcastle fans and is so far one in which we seem to pick up points when playing poorly and leave empty-handed when playing well.

We started this match like a house on fire, but some poor finishing from Alexander Isak meant we somehow went into the interval trailing to a Danny Welbeck goal. Things only got worse from there, sadly, with Anthony Gordon particularly profligate after the break.

In the end, this was our first defeat at St James' since January—which is remarkable given the injury issues we faced last season—but while we were unlucky, it's hardly like Brighton winning was a daylight robbery. We remain unconvinced by our current tactical approach.

Not many performed above their average level today, sadly, while we suffered another woeful refereeing performance, our set pieces were garbage, and our substitutes barely impacted the contest. Here's how we rated everyone from Nick Pope through to Peter Bankes.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Good

We've been fairly critical of Sandro Tonali's displays since his £55M arrival from A.C. Milan last summer, but this was a glimpse of what he can bring. He looked bang up for the game from the first whistle and seemed to be everywhere in the first half, with multiple interceptions and tackles keeping the pressure on Brighton. There were some boos in the ground when he came off for Willock.

Dan Burn almost pipped the Italian to our MOTM award with his second-half display, with the big man bailing out his colleagues a few times with vital blocks and tackles. His only really poor moment in the contest came late on when he switched off from a free-kick to let Mats Wieffer in for a one-on-one. Otherwise, this was another dependable display from Burn in the left centre-back slot.

Outside of him, Lewis Hall was another who caught the eye with his contribution. He had 100 touches—more than anyone else—and his long passing in particular was strong. He made one good chance for Alexander Isak with an especially delicious raker and, like Burn, only had one bad moment defensively when missing his header to allow Ferdi Kadıoğlu a good opening.

Nick Pope was perhaps a bit flat-footed for Welbeck's goal, but he was equal to the other three shots the visitors managed to get on target. His most impressive save came from Karou Mitoma after a Tino Livramento error, while he also denied Wieffer one-on-one after Burn's solitary rick.

Even though Bruno Guimarães' long-range passing was pretty shambolic, his short game was better than it has been for a while. He set Isak away with a nice through ball for our first big chance and was involved in most of our better moves, but he needs to have many more than 63 touches in games like this when we're so dominant in terms of possession.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Bad

Peter Bankes had a pretty good game the last time he had the whistle for one of our matches (Fulham away) but was atrocious here. All it took was a gentle breeze for Brighton to earn a free-kick, while the bar seemed much higher for our players to receive the same. It was like playing against 11 Brunos at times because of how easily he was fooled into blowing his whistle.

Questions are beginning to be asked of Eddie Howe from some quarters of the fanbase. While we remain staunch supporters of the head coach, his tactical rigidity is becoming a cause for concern. We've been terrible at attacking set pieces for a long while now, too, which is a huge edge for teams like Arsenal who have dedicated coaches running them.

Jacob Murphy looked like a competition winner at times here. His most notable contribution in the first half was his inadvertent block of Isak's goalbound effort. In his 65 minutes of action, he managed just one key pass, failed to connect with either of his attempted crosses and won one of the five ground duels he competed in. We desperately need a new winger.

While it was lovely to see him back in the side, Alexander Isak had an absolute shocker in front of goal. He wasted a huge chance in the 16th minute when missing the ball, failed to convert a one-on-one when sent clear by Bruno, and seemed strangely hesitant to get a shot away on more than one occasion otherwise. He did make a decent chance for Gordon, however, and was more involved than usual.

Tino Livramento has been a big disappointment so far this season after being excellent last year. He doesn't offer enough going forward and though his defending is typically sound, he should've done more to stop their goal and made a shocking error late on here to almost gift Mitoma one. With Kieran Trippier out, he needs to step things up and take much more responsibility.

Joe Willock and Miguel Almirón were each given enough time to impact this game but neither contributed anything of note. Willock seems to be playing within himself after his latest injury, while at this stage we all know Almirón is an incredibly limited footballer. There's hope for Willock, but Miggy shouldn't still be here.

Sean Longstaff and Will Osula weren't given nearly enough time to contribute. Longy's two late set pieces were infuriatingly poor and Osula didn't even manage to get a touch of the ball.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Average

Joelinton was better defensively than he has been since the opening day of the campaign but he struggles to offer enough going forward in matches like this. The fact he was essentially playing as a second left-winger didn't help, as he was often occupying the same space as Gordon, and leaving the middle open.

At the back, Fabian Schär continues to have an up-and-down season. Some of his passing is ace, but he was primarily to blame for Welbeck's winner. He wasn't tight enough to the forward from the initial free-kick and then got done with the one-two. His long through ball to Gordon in the second half was unreal, mind.

Speaking of Anthony Gordon, he was largely excellent in everything except his finishing, which let him down once again. He led our press superbly and gave Joël Veltman huge problems when one-on-one but he can't head the ball for Toffee (pun intended). We also have Almirón levels of faith in him when he's through on goal and his strike today was laughable.

Harvey Barnes was the only one of the substitutes to play anything near his normal level and while he hasn't been great in the last few matches it's a travesty that we can't find a starting spot for him when we're struggling so badly for goals in open play. The decision to spend big on him looks worse and worse with time.

Finally, Brighton & Hove Albion. The Seagulls have the hex on us. You won't see too many teams heading into half-time winning after taking such a battering this season. It's hard not to admire them and their approach, though. They also appear to have two more gems in Carlos Baleba and Jack Hinshelwood, the buggers...

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Breakdown

Our starters had an average of 5.9 and the substitutes a measly 4.8. Still, if Isak and Gordon had their shooting boots on we're sure it would've looked so, so different...

The XI

Nick Pope – 7

Tino Livramento – 5

Fabian Schär – 6

Dan Burn – 7

Lewis Hall – 7

Sandro Tonali – 7 ⭐️

Bruno Guimarães (c) – 7

Joelinton – 6

Jacob Murphy – 3

Alexander Isak – 4

Anthony Gordon – 6

The Subs

Harvey Barnes – 6

Joe Willock – 4

Miguel Almirón – 4

Sean Longstaff – 5

Will Osula – 5

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 5

The Opposition

Brighton & Hove Albion – 6

The Ref

Peter Bankes – 3

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Next

Ah, just what we need. A trip to Stamford Bridge for a game with Chelsea. It's a 2 p.m. kick-off on Sunday (27th) and will be shown live on Sky.

While we'd take progression in the Carabao Cup over three points at a bogey ground, we could really do with taking something from this game.

Howay the lads!