Aaron Connolly voted WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for October 2019
At the start of October, Aaron Connolly was still waiting to make his full league debut for the Albion. Fast forward four weeks and three Premier League matches and he’s been voted as our WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month.
Connolly burst onto the scene in October’s opening fixture when out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur came to the Amex. On a remarkable afternoon, the defence that finished runners up in the Champions League last season had no answer as a 19-year-old striker from Galway ran riot.
We’re not ones to get carried away, but it was like watching a young Wayne Rooney. Connolly was fearless, strong and demonstrated a keen eye for goal as he scored twice to help the Albion to their most convincing win so far against one of the Big Six.
Connolly’s first goal was a real poachers effort as he reacted quickest to fire a loose ball past Paulo Gazzaniga. That came after the Spurs goalkeeper had saved Connolly’s initial effort, a cheeky little back heel.
Connolly’s second goal saw him latch onto a brilliant forward pass, taking the shot on early and firing across Paulo Gazzaniga into the opposite corner.
It was the sort of finish that peak-Rooney would have been proud of and good enough for Connolly to be nominated for the Premier League Goal of the Month.
A senior debut for the Republic of Ireland followed, making Connolly the youngest striker to play for the Boys in Green since Robbie Keane.
Connolly hasn’t scored since Spurs were vanquished, but he’s continued to give some live wire performances. It looks like we’ve got a real talent on our hands.
Second place went to Dale Stephens, who had easily his best month as a Premier League player. Stephens has long been seen as the Albion’s water carrier, a player who does all the unglamorous yet necessary work and as a result doesn’t always get the credit he deserves.
Under Graham Potter though, he seems to be undergoing something of a reinvention. Stephens has spent October playing as one of two deep lying central midfielders in the Albion manager’s new 4-2-2-2 formation, a role which allows him to show off his creative side as well as the ball-winning abilities that we all know he possesses.
The results have been impressive. Stephens ran the show against Aston Villa – despite the fact that we had to play for over an hour with 10 men – and it was his perfectly weighted through ball that set Dan Burn on his way in the lead up to the winner against Everton.
Third place went to Pascal Gross, who was by far and away the Albion’s most creative player throughout October. The German claimed assists against Spurs and Villa and scored a fantastic free kick against Everton in a return to the sort of form which saw him dominate at the 2017-18 End of Season Awards.
It remains a genuine mystery as to how some Brighton fans still don’t rate Gross. His position in the top three hopefully suggests that is changing.
Aaron Connolly – 28.11%
Dale Stephens – 19.22%
Pascal Gross – 14.23%
Steve Alzate – 13.52%
Dan Burn – 13.17&
Neal Maupay – 11.74%
