Pascal Gross voted WAB Brighton Player of the Season 2022-23
A record breaking campaign meant one of the most competitive WAB Brighton Player of the Season awards ever – but in the end, there could be no more deserving winner than Pascal Gross.
Whilst the likes of Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Kaoru Mitoma made most of the headlines and turned the heads of some of the biggest clubs in Europe, the contribution of Gross in helping the Albion into Europe for the first time seems to have gone almost unnoticed outside of Sussex.
Seagulls supporters in contrast are only too aware of the starring role Der Kaiser has played. He secured just over a quarter of the vote to finish six percent ahead of Caicedo in second. Lewis Dunk in third was 11 percent behind Gross.
There are several reasons why Gross deserves his place in the record books as Player of the Season in the most successful campaign in Brighton history.
From a pure numbers point of view, 2022-23 was Gross’ best year as a Seagull. 10 goals beat his previous high of nine in 2017-18, when he was also voted Player of the Season.
His 10 assists meanwhile ties his contribution from 2020-21. Gross made just five starts in the first half of that season as the Albion set a club record for worst start to a top flight campaign, winning just two of their opening 18 matches under Graham Potter.
The Seagulls’ form picked up markedly from mid-January onwards when Potter restored Der Kaiser to the starting XI. That was no coincidence; Potter had made the huge error of undervaluing Gross.
In both those 2017-18 and 2020-21 campaigns, Brighton would have been relegated without Pascal Gross. He has done more than anyone else to keep the Albion in the Premier League, help the club become established in the top flight and now qualify for Europe.
What makes the numbers put up by Gross in 2022-23 more impressive is that he has spent a fair amount of the season playing at right back.
A few eyebrows were raised when Roberto De Zerbi deployed Gross in that role for the first time when Glow Up Graham Potter and his fellow snakes slithered back to the Amex with Chelsea.
One 4-1 Albion victory later including Gross popping up with the final goal to complete the humiliation justified De Zerbi’s bold call.
Right back. Left back. Holding midfield. Number 10. It has mattered not where De Zerbi has asked Gross to play, he has consistently delivered.
So much so that De Zerbi has hailed Gross as one of the best players he has ever worked with on multiple occasions.
As Pascal Gross prepared to make his 200th Brighton appearance back in March, De Zerbi said: “To explain the importance of Pascal, I can tell you he is one of the best players I have had in my career. He is a fantastic player. He can play everywhere on the pitch.”
“He is fantastic in terms of attitude and passion. He is very clever to understand difficult situations and I am lucky to have him in my team. He is a leader like Lewis Dunk, like Adam Lallana, like Danny Welbeck. They are different types of leader but they are always positive guys.”
Closely behind Gross in the vote was Caicedo in his first full season of Premier League football. The Ecuador international midfielder is widely expected to leave Brighton this summer, with both Chelsea and Arsenal ready to launch big money bids.
Those two clubs tried to sign Caicedo in January. Chelsea first offered £55 million for Caicedo, which seemed a little strange seeing as Potter had publicly valued him at £100 million just four months earlier prior to abandoning the good ship Albion.
Arsenal then came in with £70 million which Brighton rejected. Caicedo’s agent responded by posting a statement on his client’s Instagram account, begging for the Albion to sell.
Caicedo was subsequently put on gardening leave and told to stay away until the January transfer window had slammed shut.
Many disappointed Gunners fans predicted that keeping an unhappy player would prove to be Brighton’s downfall; Caicedo would down tools and disrupt the squad, causing the Albion to fail in their bid for European qualification whilst Arsenal went onto win the Premier League title.
How wrong could you be? Rather than sulking, Caicedo’s performances went from great to world class through February, March, April and May.
The overall impact he has had on the team since his league debut speaks for itself. The Albion had lost six consecutive matches and drawn 0-0 with Norwich City before Caicedo came into the side at Arsenal in April 2021.
Brighton won 2-1 at the Emirates that day, since when they have not looked back. It has been an incredible 14 months of football from the Albion with Caicedo a huge part of it.
There is not much to say about the man who finished third in the vote after Gross and Caicedo. Dunk was so good in 2022-23 that even Gareth Southgate could no longer ignore the Brighton captain, recalling him to the England squad for the first time in almost five years.
Dunk’s defensive ability has never been in doubt. What De Zerbi and his style of football have done is give Dunk the opportunity to prove he is amongst the greatest ball-playing centre backs in the world.
In 2022-23, Dunk enjoyed the best success rate of English defenders in the Premier League for long passes, progressive passes and switching play. His pass accuracy meanwhile was an astonishing 90.04 percent, second to only John Stones.
Dunk has also had to cope with switching roles regularly. When partnered by Levi Colwill, Dunk plays as the right sided centre back. With Adam Webster in the team, he switches to the left.
The ability to flit from either side – sometimes even in the same game when De Zerbi has shuffled his defence through substitutions – is a trait which deserves far more credit than it gets.
WeAreBrighton.com Brighton Player of the Season 2022-23 – The Results
- Pascal Gross – 25.08%
- Moises Caicedo – 19.89%
- Lewis Dunk – 14.15%
- Solly March – 13.26%
- Kaoru Mitoma – 11.73%
- Pervis Estupiunan – 9.94%
- Alexis Mac Allister – 5.91%
Previous Winners: Marc Cucurella (2022) Yves Bissouma (2021), 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).
