Vote for your December 2024 WAB Brighton Player of the Month

January 6, 2025January 6, 2025 WeAreBrighton.com 0 Comments

Six matches. Only one against clubs who finished last season in the top eight of the Premier League. December 2024 was meant to see Brighton strengthen their bid for European football – but as our Player of the Month shortlist reveals, things did not quite go according to plan.

And when we say quite, what we actually mean is zero wins. Only five points from a possible 18. Another 2-0 lead squandered.

Amex draws with two opponents who arrived with the worst away records in the Premier League. And the ultimate misery, a comprehensive home defeat to Crystal Palace.

Things felt so bad in the aftermath of the Palace loss that some fans emailed Paul Barber OBE to complain. Barber subsequently wrote a piece in the matchday programme for the visit of Brentford criticising those “doom and gloom” supporters.

The Albion then went and drew 0-0 against the Bees, leading to audible boos at the full time whistle. It was a far cry from November, when Fabian Hurzeler was nominated for Manager of the Month, the Albion sat fourth in the Premier League and the there was talk of title challenges and Champions League football.

How else can we sum it all up? Well, the shortlist for WAB Brighton December 2024 Player of the Month award features two right backs in Joel Veltman and Tariq Lamptey.

A bloke who only started one game in Mats Wieffer. And Julio Enciso, whose nomination is based upon sheer entertainment rather than anything match winning from his two-and-a-half appearances.

Our November 2024 Player of the Month cannot defend his crown either. Igor Julio was controversially dropped to make way immediate way for Albion captain Lewis Dunk upon his return from injury. Even though Igor had not done a thing wrong through Dunk’s absence.

Grim.

The candidates for WeAreBrighton.com December 2024 Brighton Player of the Month

Carlos Baleba

Arguably the most consistent Brighton player through December 2024, not that it is saying much. Scored a lovely goal in the 3-1 defeat against Fulham and was dominant enough in midfield at Villa Park to ensure there was no repeat of Unai Emery’s side carving through the Albion as happened in that horror show last season.

Julio Enciso

Deserves to be December Player of the Month for that first half performance against Brentford alone. Eight shots. Zero goals. An overhead kick sliced out nearly for a throw. And wheeling away to celebrate the moment one of those shots left his boot, only for it to fly 30 yards wide. Pure box office entertainment.

Tariq Lamptey

Doing his best to convince Brighton to offer a new contract with his current deal set to expire in the summer. Spectacular strikes at both Leicester and Villa gave Lamptey two nominations for Premier League Goal of the Month. Which almost made up for the ball sailing over his head when Palace came to the Amex.

Yankubu Minteh

Looked a real danger at times through December. Netted the second goal at Leicester, which would have confirmed victory had the Albion not suffered a complete meltdown in the final five minutes to concede twice in quick succession. Lively at West Ham too, most notably when teeing up Kaoru Mitoma for a tap in from three yards. Mitoma missed.

Joel Veltman

10 goals shipped in four December games without Veltman. One goal shipped in two December games with Veltman. Tells you everything you need to know about his importance to Brighton.

Mats Wieffer

Wieffer gave his best performance in an Albion shirt to date off the bench at Leicester. Went better two weeks later with a fine display against West Ham, including his first Brighton goal. Guess what happened next? He came off injured 60 seconds later.