Alexis Mac Allister voted WAB January 2021 Brighton Player of the Month

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 WeAreBrighton.com 0 Comments

Like that old Guinness advert used to say, good things come to those who wait. Alexis Mac Allister has been living proof of that as January 2021 saw him establish himself as a Brighton first team regular a year after his arrival from Boca Juniors with stunning results.

For Mac Allister was the outstanding player in an outstanding month for the Albion. Eight points out of 15 were won and there was safe passage to the fifth round of the FA Cup after negotiating a a couple of potential banana skins against lower league opponents Newport County and Blackpool.

Mac Allister was always likely to need time to adapt to life in England. He was a 21-year-old moving away from home for the first time. Argentinians with much more experience than Mac Allister have struggled with the Premier League before – remember Juan Sebastian Veron and Angel Di Maria?

The Albion decided to turn the hype machine up to 11 upon his arrival which simply served to crank up the pressure and expectations. Thankfully, Graham Potter had other ideas and he has used Mac Allister sparingly over the past year, allowing him to adjust slowly and learn about what it takes to be a Premier League footballer.

Had Potter chucked Mac Allister in at the deep end and he struggled through those first months, it could have had a seriously detrimental impact on his career.

Potter therefore deserves a lot of credit for the way he has handled his young number 10, who now looks every bit the future star that Albion supporters hoped they would be getting when he was signed for £8 million back in January 2019.

Two years on and Mac Allister was doing things on the pitch that no other Brighton can do to win the January 2021 Player of the Month award.

Over the course of his six starts, he glided around with the ball, threaded forward passes through tight spaces with the sort of vision that few footballers have and was even willing to do alien things like shoot from outside the box.

To all intents and purposes, Mac Allister scored the winner against Blackpool when his distance drive hit Steve Alzate and went in. Alzate was controversially awarded the goal, terrible news if you happened to have £25 on Mac Allister to score anytime and had been dancing around your lounge at the thought of a pay out of over £100.

Mac Allister’s best January moment though was not the goal-that-was-not, but his role in the winner at Elland Road. Brighton beat The Leeds United 1-0 thanks to a wonderful passing move that was prime Barcelona.

The Argentinian was at the heart of it, driving into The Leeds United’s half and playing a perfect one-two with Leandro Trossard before rolling the ball across goal for Neal Maupay to tap into an empty net.

Mac Allister was not the only Brighton number 10 to shine in January 2021. Second place in Player of the Month went to Pascal Gross, who was deployed behind Mac Allister to great effect.

Gross’ deft flick began the move which provided the goal against The Leeds United and his assist in the 1-0 win over Spurs took him onto 18 in the Premier League; the only Germans with more are Mesut Ozil, Leroy Sane and Dietmar Hamann. That is not bad company to be in.

The Spurs game was probably Gross’ finest in a Brighton shirt. He was at the heart of everything Brighton did, ~~Cruyff Turning~~ Gross Turning away from countless Tottenham players in a performance that was more like a beautiful piece of art than a game of football.

The 9.33 he racked up in our WAB Player Ratings against Spurs was the second-highest score of the season after Tariq Lamptey’s unreal display at Newcastle United back in September. A fine way to round off a fine month.

Third place in January Player of the Month went to young Robert Sanchez, who has proven to be a revelation in goal since taking over from Maty Ryan in December.

Sanchez recorded three consecutive Premier League clean sheets against The Leeds United, Fulham and Tottenham and although he had very little to do in those first two matches, his reaction save from Carlos Vinícius’ snapshot in the win over Spurs was world class.

Where Sanchez has made a real difference is with his willingness to come and collect crosses into his box. Having a goalkeeper who can pluck the ball out of the air like he is taking candy from a baby relieves so much pressure on a defence that has struggled aerially this season, especially from set pieces.

It is little wonder that the guys at Fantasy Football Scout have spent most of January advising Fantasy Premier League players to put Sanchez in their FPL team. He has been superb.