Yves Bissouma voted as WAB Brighton Player of the Season 2020-21
Yves Bissouma has been voted as our WAB Brighton Player of the Season 2020-21, winning by an absolute landslide with over 54 percent of the vote.
Before the polls opened, this looked like it could have been one of the closest-run Player of the Year awards for some time. All six of the candidates would have been a deserved winner, so it says much about just how good Bissouma has been that he has wiped the floor with everyone.
From the moment he arrived from Lille for £15 million in the summer of 2018, Bissouma’s talent has never been in doubt. There were question marks however during his first 18 months at the Amex about his attitude and whether he could deliver Premier League-standard performances on a regular basis.
Cast your mind back to the second half of the 2018-19 season when Brighton were sliding alarmingly towards the relegation zone. In a 2-1 defeat at Leicester City in February, Bissouma had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes when he casually allowed the Foxes to wander easily through the Brighton midfield for what proved to be their winner, finished off by Jamie Vardy.
Worse was to come when Plucky Little Bournemouth won 5-0 at the Amex six weeks later and Bissouma strolled around like a man without a care in the world. Don’t worry mate, we are only suffering a heaviest home defeat for 45 years here.
The Yves Bissouma playing for Brighton this season is miles away from the one of two seasons ago. Something clicked just before the Spring 2020 lockdown when Graham Potter began entrusting Bissouma to start in what had been Dale Stephens’ role as the Albion’s defensive midfielder.
It has proven an inspired decision. This more mature version of Bissouma has never looked back, ending the 2019-20 campaign strongly and bringing that form into 2020-21 to be deserving of all the plaudits which have come his way.
Bissouma has been arguably the best holding midfielder in the Premier League this season, constantly winning back possession and turning defence into attack by putting Brighton quickly on the front foot.
He rarely gives the ball away and has a range of passing which means he can happily go short or long. If there is not a pass on, Bissouma has the ability to drive forward powerfully with the ball at his feet and as countless opponents have found out, it is bloody hard to dispossess him when he does so.
The only thing missing from Bissouma’s game is goals. He has scored just four goals from 95 appearances and all of those have been blockbusters from outside the area.
If Bissouma can start popping up in the penalty area to finish off chances, then he has everything needed to become one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world.
Frankly, it is astonishing that a man of his talents is even playing for Brighton. The biggest regret about the 2020-21 season taking place behind closed doors must be that Seagulls supporters have been denied the opportunity to marvel at Bissouma live and in person every week, as players like him come along rarely for a club the size of the Albion.
Sadly, it seems likely that by the time fans do return, Bissouma will have gone onto bigger and better things. Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain… the list of clubs he has been linked with is ridiculous.
Whoever is willing to stump up the £40 million minimum that Bissouma is worth will be getting themselves one hell of a player. And wherever Yves Bissouma ends up, Brighton fans everywhere will wish him the best and watch his future career with interest.
Yves Bissouma topping the charts meant that Lewis Dunk was unable to become only the second man after Liam Bridcutt to win back-to-back WAB Brighton Player of the Season gongs.
Dunk was a popular winner at last season’s WAB Awards, securing a massive 74.09 percent of the vote, miles ahead of runner up Dan Burn on 9.64 percent and Neal Maupay in third with 8.99 percent. Yes, Burn and Maupay really were considered the second and third best players in 2019-20.
That form led Dunk to be linked with a summer move to Chelsea, seemingly his last chance to secure a transfer to one of the big boys given his age and lack of sell on value.
Surprisingly, neither Chelsea or any of the other founding members of the European ‘Super’ League were willing to give Dunk a chance of winning silverware and further England recognition.
Their loss was Brighton’s gain, even if Dunk was a little below his normal high standards in the first few months of the campaign – perhaps as a result of the disappointment of not getting the move he deserves.
In the second half of the season though, Dunk was Brighton’s best player. The Albion had the second best defence in the top flight from January onwards and he was a huge part of that, leading the back line to shutouts against the likes of Spurs, Liverpool, Everton and, er, 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United.
It remains a travesty that he is not in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2020 (in 2021) – but as far as consolation prizes go, we reckon finishing runner up in the WAB Player of the Season vote is a pretty decent one.
Dunk took 22.25 percent of the vote, meaning that he and Bissouma sewed up three quarters between them. A relatively low total was needed to finish third then and that spot went to Robert Sanchez with 10.31 percent.
Sanchez’s place on the list is the most extraordinary of the lot. A year ago, he had just completed a pretty non-descript loan at Rochdale following an equally routine spell at Forest Green Rovers. At Brighton, he was fifth choice goalkeeper behind Maty Ryan, David Button, Jason Steele and Christian Walton.
Button was then sold, Walton got injured and when Ryan’s form dropped off a cliff, Sanchez suddenly found himself being thrown into the fire of the Premier League when installed as the Albion’s number one in December.
Many people wondered at the time whether Potter had been hitting the Christmas brandy a little too hard to chuck a goalkeeper untested beyond League One into a top flight relegation battle.
Six months later and Sanchez has 10 clean sheets from 27 Premier League matches, is at Euro 2020 (in 2021) with Spain and now has a bronze medal in the WAB Player of the Season award for his mantlepiece. That is some rise.
WeAreBrighton.com Brighton Player of the Season 2020-21 – The Results
Yves Bissouma – 54.27%
Lewis Dunk – 22.25%
Robert Sanchez – 10.31%
Joel Veltman – 6.37%
Pascal Gross – 4.61%
Solly March – 2.17%
Previous Winners: Lewis Dunk (2020), Shane Duffy (2019), Pascal Gross (2018), Anthony Knockaert (2017), Bruno (2016), Inigo Calderon (2015) Stephen Ward (2014), Liam Bridcutt (2013, 2012), Glenn Murray (2011), Andrew Crofts (2010).
