Vote for your January 2022 WAB Brighton Player of the Month

An unbeaten January renewed optimism amongst Brighton supporters and leaves us with a fascinating contest for our first WAB Brighton Player of the Month award of 2022.

Anybody on the six man shortlist would be a worthy winner of the vote as a string of excellent team performances made that 11 game winless streak which had hung over the autumn months seem like a distant memory.

Brighton began January 2022 with an historic victory provided mainly thanks to an outstanding individual performance from one player – Alexis Mac Allister.

The Argentinian number 10 scored twice as the Albion won for their first time in their history away at Everton. Dan Burn was also on target in a 3-2 success at Goodison Park, the start of an fine month for him personally – even as it turned out to be his last as a Brighton player.

Burn went onto pocket Romelu Lukaku for the second time in the space of 20 days when the Albion held European Champions Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at the Amex.

The form of Bun has not gone unnoticed, Newcastle United succeeding with a bid of £13 million for his services. To sign for the club he supported as a boy was a dream come true for Burn and a deserved reward after three years of solid service for Brighton.

In that time, Graham Potter transformed him from a solid Championship centre back to a roving left wing back capable of marking a £97 million striker out of matches.

His place on the shortlist offers a chance for a little bit of WAB Player of the Month history to be made – nobody has ever won the award after being sold. If Burn were to become the first to achieve the feat, then it would be a fine way to end a wonderful Brighton career.

Burn’s impressive month came in partnership at the heart of the Albion defence with Adam Webster, who recorded the highest WAB Player Rating of the season so far against Chelsea.

Not only was Webster outstanding at the back that night, but he scored a Danny Cullip-esque bullet header from a Mac Allister corner to level the match.

Tariq Lamptey and Marc Cucurella continued to cause chaos and confusion for opposition defences when paired together in tandem.

The difference they make when deployed as a duo has never been clearer than in the 1-1 draw at Leicester City when Lamptey was rested to the bench. The Foxes did a decent job for the best part of an hour in keeping Cucurella quiet.

Once Lamptey was introduced however, it was a different story. Leicester did not know which wing back to focus their attentions on stopping and so they ended up overrun down both flanks.

Brendan Rodgers’ side went from 1-0 head and being dominant to hanging onto a 1-1 draw come the full time whistle.

The final man on our January Player of the Month shortlist is the bloke who grabbed the equaliser at the King Power Stadium.

Danny Welbeck came off the bench at the same time as Lamptey to run Leicester ragged, culminating in a brilliant header from a Neal Maupay cross with eight minutes remaining.

Even Kasper Schmeichel – who had been in typically inspired form all afternoon for the hosts – could not get close to Welbeck’s effort.

Dat Guy may not make it onto the pitch that frequently, but when he does he is a genuine game changer.

The candidates for WeAreBrighton.com January 2022 Brighton Player of the Month

Dan Burn
Goodbye, sweet prince. Burn departed for Newcastle United on deadline day, making Brighton £13 million richer in the process. He left having had his best month in two-and-a-half seasons as a Premier League regular at the Albion, including scoring at Everton and marking Lukaku out of the game when Chelsea came to the Amex.

Marc Cucurella
The Albion Twitter account ran a question recently asking who fans would vote for their Player of the Season if the poll took place right now. It was no surprise to see that the majority of responses mentioned Cucurella. The highlight of his January was the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in which he covered every blade of grass, never giving the Eagles defence a moment of peace.

Tariq Lamptey
Potter continues to carefully manage his game time, meaning that we were treated to the prospect of Lamptey coming off the bench to run Palace and Leicester ragged. Tore his former club Chelsea apart at the Amex, most notably with a sprint out of defence with the ball in which he advanced 70 metres up the pitch in about two seconds.

Alexis Mac Allister
With so many midfield options available to Potter, the challenge for Mac Allister was to make himself undroppable. He has done that in January, starting with those two goals at Goodison and following it up with a set of dynamic performances. Starting to look a real threat now from set pieces, which makes it easier to phase out Pascal Gross if that is a road Potter wishes to go down.

Adam Webster
So magnificent against Chelsea that numerous pundits were demanding an England call up for the March internationals with Switzerland and Ivory Coast. The form of both him and Burn has made light of the absences of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy. Praise does not come much higher than that for Brighton centre backs.

Danny Welbeck
Dat Guy has made the December Player of the Month shortlist and the January Player of the Month shortlist off the back of late equalisers from the bench. Imagine what he would be capable of if the Albion could get him fit, firing and performing at those sorts of standards over 90 minutes?

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Poll closes at 8pm on Sunday 6th February