Vote for your April 2022 WAB Brighton Player of the Month
What a difference four weeks can make. The shortlist for our March 2022 WAB Brighton Player of the Month award contained a referee, a striker on loan in Germany and a bloke who cannot work in the UK legally because the Albion were so poor – April has turned out to be very different.
Three wins, two draws and one defeat from six matches would represent an excellent return under any normal circumstances.
What makes April 2022 so impressive is that Brighton faced a treacherous looking fixture list, and yet every player who has pulled on the stripes during the month has excelled.
Arsenal and Spurs both suffered dents to their hopes of Champions League football when the Albion won 2-1 and 1-0 in North London in the space of seven days.
Wolves had the meanest defence in the Premier League outside of the top three before Brighton went to Molineux.
In one of the best away performances of the campaign, the Albion struck three unanswered goals past the Old Gold in 90 minutes of total dominance.
Losing away at champions Manchester City was not exactly a surprise and Pep Guardiola’s Abu Dhabi Sportswashers needed to rely on two heavily deflected goals on their way to a 3-0 success.
The only blemish on the month was Brighton’s continuing inability to win games at the Amex. Norwich City were arguably the worst team to visit Sussex in the Premier League era and yet they left with a point from a 0-0 draw.
There were at least Albion goals to cheer when Southampton came to town. Having not scored since mid-January, Brighton sauntered into a 2-0 lead which they subsequently threw away to draw 2-2.
On another day, that might have been a really disappointing result. Most Seagulls supporters though left the Amex giddy with joy at finally seeing a home goal.
The improved football and results made narrowing a shortlist down to six players for the April 2022 Brighton Player of the Month difficult.
Not that we are complaining; it is a much nicer challenge to have than trying to justify how Kaoru Mitoma wins the March award despite not having played a single minute of football for Brighton in his life. Or how the previously-hated Mike Dean comes second.
The candidates for WeAreBrighton.com April 2022 Brighton Player of the Month
Moises Caicedo
There was a lot of hype when Brighton signed Moises Caicedo for £4.5 million last January. 15 months later and we found out it was justified. The 20-year-old has been an absolute revelation in midfield since Graham Potter handed him his Premier League debut in the win at Arsenal. Claimed a clever assist that day at the Emirates and has been a whirlwind of one touch flicks into space, clever passes and dispossessing opponents ever since.
Marc Cucurella
The sale of Dan Burn has seen Cucurella used more as a third centre back rather than a left wing back since January. Initially, that appeared to clip his attacking intent as he learnt to play a new position on the job in the bear pit of the Premier League. Clearly, he has now settled into the role as in April, we saw him comfortable enough to rampage up the pitch in the same swashbuckling manner that was his trademark through the first three months of his Albion career. Summed up by good crosses into the box from advanced positions, leading to Danny Welbeck’s goal against Southampton and Yves Bissouma scoring at Wolves.
Enock Mwepu
Made his first start following three months out injured when Brighton won at Arsenal. The difference that The Computer makes was fully evidenced that day. An outrageous touch and pass teed up Trossard for the opener before Mwepu timed a run to perfection, meeting Caicedo’s pull back with a clinical first time effort to double the lead. He made such an impression that day that Antonio Conte decided the best approach to dealing with him the following week would be to try and get him sent off.
Leandro Trossard
Three goals from five appearances in April gives Trossard an outside chance of overhauling Neal Maupay to finish the campaign as the Albion’s top scorer. Potter copying how Belgium use The Vampire of Genk by playing him wide on the left has led to the best run of form of Trossard’s Brighton career. When he is playing like this, tying him down to a new deal rather than being forced to sell in the summer becomes more important than Yves Bissouma signing a contract.
Joel Veltman
Brighton’s 2021-22 season will be remembered for good runs of form and bad runs of form. One of the few players who has remained remarkably consistent despite those peaks and troughs is Veltman. His best set of performances have come in April, most notably against Norwich when he was the Albion’s best defender at one end and arguably their biggest attacking threat at the other. Only an outrageous save from fellow Dutchman Tim Krul prevented Veltman ending the Albion’s long wait for an Amex win.
Danny Welbeck
The Albion scored one goal in seven matches through February and March. It is no coincidence that barren run ceased once Welbeck was in the starting XI and up to full fitness. Stretched both the Arsenal and Spurs defences with his clever runs and hold up play. Scored against Southampton and played a major role in forcing the Saints into scoring an own goal. He then claimed two assists at Wolves. Brighton’s best striker and certainly worth giving another year to.
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