Aaron Mooy voted WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for December
Bald is beautiful, and none more so than when it comes to Aaron Mooy of Brighton. The on-loan Huddersfield Town midfielder has been voted as WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for December 2019.
Mooy racked up an astonishing 83.54% of the vote, the biggest winning margin of the season so far by some distance. Which was hardly surprising given that he was one of the only Brighton players to perform with any sort of consistency over the course of the month.
Mooy was the best player on the pitch in the 2-1 victory at Arsenal and the 2-0 win against Plucky Little Bournemouth. In that game with Eddie Howe’s Cherries, he notched his first goal for the club with a strike that was described by the BT Sports commentators as being Dennis Bergkamp-esque, earning him a nomination for Premier League Goal of the Month along the way.
The Australian international ran the show away at Crystal Palace and was the driving force behind the excellent performance against Tottenham Hotspur.
Brighton say they are relaxed about tying him down to a permanent deal, but the sooner they do that the better from our point of view.
If he keeps playing the way he is then it won’t be long until bigger and better clubs than the Albion start firing enquiries Huddersfield’s way.
Mooy’s performances aside, December was a strange month as the Albion veered from the sublime to the ridiculous with impressive speed. One week, we’d be beating the Gunners. The next, defending like clowns from Zippo’s Circus to draw with Wolves.
Another week we’d batter Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and follow that up with a 1-0 home defeat against Sheffield United. That loss to the Blades could have been even worse were it not for VAR.
VAR in fact saved Brighton’s bacon on five occasions in December, which was enough to see it voted into second place on 5.32%.
The video referee ruled out two goals for Chris Wilder’s side at the Amex. Arsenal had one chalked off at the Emirates, Harry Kane was ruled offside by those funny lines at Spurs and Bournemouth had an effort disallowed too.
While the most controversial VAR decision of the month went against the Albion when Dan Burn’s missing finger was deemed to be offside in the win against Bournemouth seven phases before we actually scored, VAR has undoubtedly benefited Brighton more in December than it has cost.
This represents the first time that a non-human entity has finished in the top three of a Player of the Month poll, joining Fulham’s Ryan Babel, Blackburn Rovers’ Rudy Gustede and referee Keith Hill in the Hall of Fame of non-Brighton individuals to be honoured.
Third spot went to Yves Bissouma, who secured 4.05% of the vote despite only starting three games. The Mali international came in for the suspended Dale Stephens at Palace, was dropped to the bench for Sheffield United but then returned for the Boxing Day trip to Spurs and the win over Bournemouth.
Having struggled for game time since he returned to full fitness in September after summer shoulder surgery, it will be interesting to see what happens with Bissouma going forward and whether Potter can help make the most of his undoubted talents.
Aaron Mooy – 83.54%
VAR – 5.32%
Yves Bissouma – 4.05%
Neal Maupay – 3.29%
Davy Propper – 3.28%
Lewis Dunk – 1.52%
