The ratings are the bane of any match-covering football journalist because invariably they are ‘wrong’ or ‘too generous’ or ‘too harsh’ and entirely subjective. But even in the digital-era of football reporting, the ratings remain as popular as ever with readers and fans, either because everyone loves to shout at a journalist or because they love to weigh their estimations up against those that come out of the press box.
This year, as they do every year, the ratings averaged out for each individual Leeds United player painted a picture of who most consistently stood out in games across the season. As a ranking system it’s far from perfect because a player who shines in cameos off the bench does not have the same task as a player who is solid but unspectacular as a starter. A player can pick up an 8 out of 10 against an already-relegated opposition at home while another can be a solid, valuable 7 out of 10 away from home in a hard-fought draw against elite opposition. Contributions are all important, everyone does their bit and plays their part.
When the full picture emerges those at the top tend to be the players who were in the running for the end-of-season awards. Perhaps how best to view an average rating is to consider them outside of any squad-wide ranking or comparison and just put the number next to the name. Some of them feel very right. A few might be a tad generous or a tad the other way. In any case, a 6 out of 10 performance across a Premier League season isn’t bad - anything close to a 7 is really very impressive. And as luck would have it, the man ranked first - albeit on the merit of a couple of decimal places in what is otherwise a three-way tie for first - is the man who did pick up all the awards.
What the ratings also show is that Leeds’ summer 2025 recruitment was absolutely vital to their success on the pitch this season. Just look at the ratings of some of the new signings, who bedded in so quickly in a new country and in the world’s toughest proving ground. So here are the averages. All of them entirely correct.
1. Facundo Buonanotte - 4
A January loan move that seemed so sensible, appealing and promising yet never delivered on the pitch. Only Daniel Farke, Buonanotte and a few others at Thorp Arch will ever be able to explain why but in the end Leeds did not need the attacker to stay up. He made a couple of poor cameos and was dreadful against Birmingham, hence the average. | Getty Images
2. The refs - 5
We had Darren England with a 9/10 performance when Chelsea visited and we had Jarred Gillett at -1 at Spurs. In between there was just about everything else, but all too often the referees did not impress. Standards must be raised - VAR is not doing that. | Getty Images
3. Sam Byram - 5
The veteran defender played just twice in the Premier League and twice in the FA Cup and none of those substitute cameos were long enough to earn a rating. He did start once, in the Carabao Cup and that - a 5 - was his only rating of the season. | Getty Images
4. Joel Piroe - 5.7
The striker found gametime hard to come by but when he did get chances he struggled to make the most of them in general and in front of the net. A one-goal season has never happened for him before and will likely never happen again. | Getty Images
5. Dan James - 5.8
A season ravaged by injury issues. Never really got going or found any rhythm. Just 629 minutes, no goals and no assists. That tells you how different his campaign was to the title-winning season. | Getty Images
6. Jack Harrison - 5.9
The winger was used off the bench by Daniel Farke and used sometimes in a more defensive role but he was unable to shine. Leeds allowed him to go on loan for gametime at Fiorentina in January. | Getty Images