Kaoru Mitoma voted WAB March 2022 Brighton Player of the Month

April 6, 2022May 10, 2022 WeAreBrighton.com 0 Comments

Take a bow, Kaoru Mitoma – the Japanese forward has written a piece of history in March 2022 by becoming the first ever man to be voted as WAB Brighton Player of the Month before he can even legally play in the Premier League.

Mitoma was signed in the summer 2021 transfer window for £2.5 million from J-League outfit Kawasaki Frontale. The 24-year-old was loaned instantly to Union Saint-Gilloise with the aim of playing games, scoring goals and earning points towards qualifying for a British Work Permit.

This is going swimmingly so far with Union currently topping the Jupiler League table. More importantly, Mitoma has made the breakthrough to the full Japan squad.

International football normally helps fast track a visa application, as Brighton saw with Alexis Mac Allister in January 2020.

And it is for his exploits for the Samurai Blue that Mitoma finds himself winning our March 2022 Brighton Player of the Month award – a sign of just how shit the Albion were in losing three games out of three and scoring only once.

Mitoma meanwhile scored twice in the final 10 minutes after coming off the bench for Japan in a World Cup qualifier against Australia, guaranteeing his nation their spot at Qatar 2022.

The reason that a lot of Albion fans took so much joy from this was because of the identity of the man in goal for the Socceroos – Maty Ryan.

For reasons we do not fully understand over here at WAB Towers, some Brighton supporters continue to have a real chip on their shoulder about Ryan.

This is despite him playing a huge part in establishing the Seagulls in the top flight. Over three seasons, he hardly putting a foot wrong before being displaced by Robert Sanchez.

Mitoma’s quickfire double meant that Ryan and Australia now face a playoff to secure their World Cup spot. Brighton fans meanwhile will be hoping that Mitoma is granted the right to play in England next season before he and Japan head to Qatar in November.

Watch his highlight reel from the J-League, Union or international football and you will see a player who wants to run at opponents and is not afraid to shoot.

That means one of two things; either Mitoma offers something completely different to anyone else in this Albion squad. Or more likely that once he does arrive at the Amex, Graham Potter will coach all that excitement out of him in favour of becoming another sideways passing robot.

It was tight at the top of the polls and just behind Mitoma in the March 2022 Brighton Player of the Month poll came Mike Dean, who achieved 25.94 percent of the vote compared to Mitoma’s 27.87 percent.

Dean made the shortlist for allowing Robert Sanchez to stay on the pitch despite kicking Luis Diaz in the head during the first half of Brighton 0-2 Liverpool at the Amex.

Quite how Dean came to the conclusion that was not a red card was completely baffling. Albion fans were grateful though; had Dean dismissed Sanchez, then Brighton would have had to play for over an hour against a rampant Liverpool side with only 10 men and Jason Steele in goal. It could have been a hammering.

Dean finishing in second place completes a remarkable turnaround for the referee. He had been public enemy number one after sending off Dale Stephens in the 2015-16 Championship promotion decider on the final day at Middlesbrough, a decision which delivered a significant blow to the Albion’s hopes of getting the three points they needed to secure a place in the Premier League.

Third place did at least go to a Brighton player. February 2022 Player of the Month Solly March secured 15.82 percent as the best of a very bad Albion bunch.