The WAB Brighton Player Power Rankings: January 2021
After a couple of months of misery, things finally came together in January 2021 for Brighton & Hove Albion with every player doing their part to deliver the best month of the season so far.
The Seagulls picked up eight Premier League points out of a possible 15, losing just once. There was a lot to like about that defeat too as the Albion pushed Manchester City close in a 1-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium, probably the toughest match that Pep Guardiola’s rampant City had all month.
Brighton also made good progress in the FA Cup, safely negotiating a couple of potential banana skins against Newport County and Blackpool to reach the fifth round of the competition.
Graham Potter gave some of his fringe players a chance in those games, meaning we have a bumper list of 22 players to rate for their efforts in January. Here is how they scored in the WAB Power Rankings.
1) Lewis Dunk (73.73 points)
When Lewis Dunk plays well, the Albion play well. That old adage has never been truer than in January 2021 when the Brighton captain was scored as the best Albion player. His two best moments were outrageous goal line blocks in the final seconds from Newport’s Kevin Ellison and Fulham’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, without which Brighton would have suffered embarrassing defeats. Also popped up with the equaliser in the comeback draw against Wolves.
2) Adam Webster (71.30)
Brighton rounded off January 2021 with three consecutive Premier League clean sheets so it is no surprise to see Dunk’s defensive partner Adam Webster coming in as the second best player of the month. Rock solid at one end of the pitch and neither The Leeds United nor Spurs could find a way to stop him foraging forward with the ball at his feet to set up numerous attacks. He is fast turning into a modern-day Franz Beckenbauer.
3) Solly March (67.80)
The left wing back finished third in the Power Rankings despite being rested against Manchester City and Blackpool. Scored in the FA Cup third round game at Newport, showed how much the defensive side of his game has improved at The Leeds United and gave Spurs a torrid evening as Brighton shocked Jose Mourinho’s top four chasers 1-0 at the Amex.
4) Alexis Mac Allister (62.63)
January 2021 will forever be remembered as the month when Alexis Mac Allister established himself as a Brighton first team regular. He was voted as our WAB Player of the Month and scored over 8 in the player ratings in the victories over The Leeds United and Spurs. His part in the winner at Elland Road was beautiful.
5) Neal Maupay (62.32)
Continues to divide opinion as he mixes scoring goals with missing gilt-edged opportunities. Notched twice in January against Wolves and The Leeds United with his hardworking performance against Marcelo Bielsa’s media darlings earning him his highest player rating of the season so far.
6) Leandro Trossard (60.07)
Potter’s decision to adopt a slightly more pragmatic style of football has led to Leandro Trossard rediscovering some of his old sparkle. To finish sixth in the WAB Power Rankings is quite an achievement given his first appearance of the month at Newport saw him register a rating of 3.68 as he gave away the ball 24 times from 59 touches in 57 minutes. In contrast, he scored 8.43 against Spurs in a game in which he hit the winner.
7) Joel Veltman (59.96)
Tariq Lamptey’s continued absence through injury could have been a complete disaster for Brighton. That it has not been is down to the excellence of Joel Veltman. Very little got past him defensively and he posed a real threat going forward to The Leeds United and Spurs.
8) Yves Bissouma (59.84)
Missed the trip to Manchester City through suspension and had to settle for a place on the bench at The Leeds United. His January highlight came with a stunning strike against Blackpool from 30 yards which was good enough to be voted as the best goal in the FA Cup fourth round.
9) Ben White (59.61)
Flitted between defence and midfield again. There was wonderful irony that his best performance as a Brighton player so far came at The Leeds United when he ran the game from the middle of the park. Those Peacocks fans were not lying when they spent the whole summer saying that White loved playing at Elland Road.
10) Robert Sanchez (49.69)
Three consecutive clean sheets equalled Brighton’s club-record for successive shutouts set by Maty Ryan back in October 2018. The most surprising aspect of that run was that Sanchez made only one save of any real note during it, turning Carlos Vinícius’ snapshot around the near post at full stretch in the win over Spurs.
11) Pascal Gross (49.98)
Restored to the starting line up for the trip to The Leeds United after a month on the bench. There has been no looking back since then with his score of 9.18 against Spurs the second-highest individual player rating of the season after Lamptey’s 9.33 in the 3-0 victory over Newcastle United from September.
12) Dan Burn (40.12)
A strange month for Big Dan Burn. He posted the worst score of any player all season for scoring an own goal and giving away a penalty in the first half against Wolves. Bounced back well from that disaster to impress at Manchester City before playing a very underrated role in the clean sheet against The Leeds United.
13) Davy Propper (37.75)
Reminded everyone that he is still a class operator when given an opportunity. Topped the player ratings for the Wolves game despite only being introduced as a half time substitute as Brighton won 2-0 with him on the pitch. Teed up March for the Brighton goal at Newport but ended the month out of the squad again through injury.
14) Percy Tau (35.96)
In the name of Percy Tau, amen! The Lion of Judah finally pulled on a Brighton shirt two-and-a-half years after signing, giving a couple of encouraging performances against Newport and Manchester City. Struggled against Blackpool and the suspicion is that he will need some time to adapt to the Premier League. Not that our new-found South African supporters understand that; Trossard has subsequently become Public Enemy Number One among the Bafana Bafana faithful for not passing to Tau enough.
15) Andi Zeqiri (24.48)
Started both the FA Cup matches. A world class save from Newport goalkeeper Tom King prevented him opening his account for the Albion at Rodney Parade. Less effective against Blackpool.
16) Adam Lallana (18.13)
Another injury hit month meant he was restricted to just two outings. Played his part in the Wolves comeback as a second half substitute at the start of January and added a clever head and a sense of calm in possession when introduced late on against Spurs to help the Albion see out the win.
17) Aaron Connolly (17.61)
Scored the opener against Wolves only to limp off with a problem. Returned from the bench against Spurs with a very impressive new bleach and fade haircut. Less impressive was his finishing as he spurned an easy opportunity to secure the three points with a casual effort into an open goal which allowed Toby Alderweireld to recover and block.
18) Bernardo (17.14)
This will be Bernardo’s final appearance in the WAB Power Rankings for this season as he was shipped off on loan to Red Bull Salzburg before the transfer window shut. He departed having played his best football in a Brighton shirt for some time, looking like the player that had so much promise during the winter of 2018 in his only January 2021 start at Manchester City.
19) Christian Walton (9.92)
Made his first Brighton start since May 2015 in the win over Blackpool. One save from a free kick was decent enough and with Ryan’s departure to Arsenal, he now appears to be number two to Sanchez.
20) Jason Steele (8.83)
A game they will be talking about for years in his sole January appearance at Newport. Cocked up a backpass in the first half with near-disastrous consequences, completely missed a cross in the final seconds which gifted the hosts their equaliser and meant another 30 minutes of football before saving four penalties in the subsequent shoot out. Absolutely ridiculous.
21) Steve Alzate (8.18)
Just the one outing for the Colombian international. That came against Blackpool in a game where he did very little other than get hit by a Mac Allister shot, resulting in a deflection strong enough to see him credited with his first Brighton goal.
22) Alireza Jahanbakhsh (5.92)
We learnt that he is not a right wing back after an ineffective showing at Newport. Has not been seen since due to illness or injury, can’t remember which.
The WAB Power Rankings are formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
