Vote for your October 2021 WAB Brighton Player of the Month
October 2021 may have been a winless month for Brighton, but there still plenty of impressive performances to make for a decent WAB Brighton Player of the Month contest.
That is in stark contrast to what happens normally when the Albion to fail win in a calendar month. Usually, we find ourselves having to make up the numbers on the shortlist with a generous match official, an opposition player who scores an own goal or someone who has done something good against a relegation rival.
Not on this occasion though. The fixture list explains why Brighton have managed to impress despite not winning a match, with games against Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool making a very difficult October.
The Albion were excellent against Arsenal and on another day might have won two or three had those xG nightmares of last season not returned to rear their ugly head.
Individual mistakes when City came to the Amex meant that game was over inside of 30 minutes as the champions surged into an unassailable lead.
Once that horror half hour was over though, Brighton were the better team to the point that Ederson found his way into Kevin Friend’s book for time wasting. It finished 4-1 but that was mighty harsh on the Seagulls.
Whereas there was no coming back from a hopeless position against City, Brighton did manage to overcome a 2-0 deficit at Liverpool to shock Anfield by drawing 2-2.
Not even Jurgen Klopp could find an excuse – like there being a bit of wind or the grass being too long – for his side surrendering their lead, instead admitting that the Seagulls deserved their point for being a quality outfit.
In true Albion style, the one real disappointment of October came away at rock bottom Norwich, where the Albion owed some outstanding defending from Dan Burn and a horrible miss from Josh Sargent for enabling them to escape Carrow Road with a point.
Actually, maybe we should have included Sargent as an opposition player in our Brighton October 2021 Player of the Month poll. Without his ineptitude, the month might well have a different look to it.
What was most notable about October – other than the ludicrousness of nearly becoming the first and only side to lose to Norwich followed two weeks later by outplaying Liverpool – was that it highlighted the strength in depth available to Graham Potter.
Three players who had barely featured before the start of the month all make the shortlist. Burn is there largely for his heroics against the Canaries.
Tariq Lamptey has been so electric in an hour of playing time from the bench that he too is included. And then there is Enock Mwepu who, with goals against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup and at Anfield to go with an assist against City, announced himself to English football in some style.
All of which makes this a tough award to call. Over to you to select your Brighton October 2021 Player of the Month…
Dan Burn
Part of a Brighton defence that kept clean sheets against Arsenal and Norwich. Turned into prime Bobby Moore at Carrow Road with two unbelievable, perfectly timed, last ditch tackles without which the Albion could easily have suffered the embarrassment of losing to a woeful Canaries outfit.
Marc Cucurella
Stole the show when Arsenal came to the Amex, topping the WAB Player Ratings for the second home match running. An assist at Leicester within seconds of coming on was followed by him showing his worth as an orthodox left back when preventing Mo Salah from scoring, the first match in which the second-best Egyptian player of all time after Adam El-Abd had failed to notch since August. Can he go better than his third place in the September Player of the Month vote?
Adam Lallana
It almost feels like Brighton fans take how good Adam Lallana is for granted. That Brighton did not miss Yves Bissouma too much at home to Arsenal and in that final hour against City was because he did such a good – if slightly different – job as a holding midfielder. A worthy recipient of a fantastic ovation from the Kop, too.
Tarig Lamptey
Never before has anyone made it onto a WAB Player of the Month shortlist from only three substitute appearances. Lamptey though is a special talent, causing absolute havoc against two of the finest sides in Europe despite only being on the pitch for 30 minutes against City and Liverpool.
Enock Mwepu
Now we know why he is called The Computer. Clever play saw him get in on goal and draw a foul from Ederson when he seemed to be running the ball out of play for the City penalty. A nice glancing header opened his Albion account at Leicester and as for the goal against Liverpool when he caught Alisson completely unawares, it was a stunner.
Leandro Trossard
The Vampire of Genk needed to step up as a centre forward because of injury to Danny Welbeck and Aaron Connolly’s part-time job as a D-list celebrity. He has certainly done that with some fine performances, saving his best for last when scoring the equaliser at Liverpool with a clinical finish. Might have even had claimed the winner had he not strayed a centre metre offside.
Loading ...Poll closes at 8pm on Sunday 7th November
